Carpe Diem Autumn Retreat 2017 (9) leaving home

Dear friends,

Maybe you have noticed it, but the Carpe Diem Autumn Retreat 2017 is running. This Retreat the theme is "departure" and I think it is a wonderful theme for autumn, but ... and that you will have seen also ... I am not a regular publisher in this Retreat, but I love to change that.

So here is a new "impromptu" verse themed departure:

leaving home
in a hurry
grandfather again

© Chèvrefeuille

No ... I have not become a granddad again, it is a haiku I wrote, because two (2) of my grandchildren had birthday last month. And two (2) other grandchildren this month ...

See you ...

Carpe Diem Autumn Retreat 2017 (7) leaving home

Dear friends,

As you maybe know I am hosting a daily haiku meme, also on blogspot, titled Carpe Diem Haiku Kai and maybe you know that I am initiating a seasonly retreat every season. The Carpe Diem Autumn Retreat 2017 is running already for a month and I have already read wonderful haiku and tanka, but until today I didn't publish a lot for this autumn retreat, so today that's going to change.
The theme for the Carpe Diem Autumn Retreat is departure, because I associate autumn with departure and leaving or letting go ... not an easy theme maybe, but of course I just want to challenge you and myself.

leaving home
the youngest son of four kids
finally on his own
cherishing the love of his life
being together as one

© Chèvrefeuille

It's a strange idea that the last of your children is leaving the nest ... of course we all know that they have to go one day, but as that day comes it gives you a real feeling of departure ... your life as parents is changing immensely ... an empty nest ...

See you again ...

Tanka Kukai "Winter Love"

Dear friends,

Here is my submission for the first ever Tanka Kukai at Carpe Diem Haiku Kai, my daily haiku meme. This first ever Tanka Kukai is themed "winter love" and here is my submission:

wonderful trees
covered with fresh snow
crystalizing sunlight
the backyard covered with snow
finally a white Christmas

© Chèvrefeuille

If you would like to participate in this first ever Tanka Kukai "Winter Love" than visit the post about it HERE.

See you ...

Carpe Diem Winter Retreat 2016 "Find The Silence" #20 the sound of rain

Dear friends,

The Winter Retreat of Carpe Diem is almost over. It runs until December 15th at 10.00 PM (CET), so just a few days to respond. This Winter Retreat was a joy, but also a challenge. Trying to write a haiku or tanka on a daily base wasn't easy, but as I see how many responded than it was for sure a success.

the sound of rain
on the tin roof of the cabin
deepens the silence

© Chèvrefeuille

See you ....

PS. If you would like to participate .... than feel free to visit Carpe Diem Haiku Kai by clicking on the above (fat) link.

Carpe Diem Winter Retreat 2016 "find the silence" #19 a tanka

Dear friends,

Just a few minutes ago I created a new post for Carpe Diem Haiku Kai. In that episode I shared a tanka that was inspired on a piece of music, but it fits also the theme of the Winter Retreat, so I love to share that Tanka here too for the Winter Retreat of Carpe Diem.

heavenly music
resonates through the neighborhood
early sunrise
birds praising their creator
I embrace my love

© Chèvrefeuille

See you ...

Carpe Diem Winter Retreat 2016 #12 New Year's Eve

Dear friends,

Another submission for the Winter Retreat "find the silence" of Carpe Diem Haiku Kai.

Ah! that silence
the first day of a new year
the wind of last year
plays with bare branches
nothing has changed


© Chèvrefeuille

See you ...

Carpe Diem Winter Retreat 2016 "find the silence" #11 a new day

Dear friends,

As you all know the first Winter Retreat of Carpe Diem Haiku Kai is running and I haven't had time enough to publish every day for this Retreat, so my excuses for thst. For today I have a beautiful tanka, if I may say that myself, a little bit immodest ...

silence
listening to the rain
this morning
the birds celebrate
a new day

© Chèvrefeuille

See you ...

Carpe Diem Winter Retreat 2016 "find the silence" #8

Dear friends,

I am on the nightshift and that means that I have not enough time to write for this or my other weblog. However ... a haiku in which the theme of this Carpe Diem Winter Retreat "find the silence" is used must be done.

I love writing haiku (or tanka) and it's really a joy to create haiku (or tanka) on a daily base. So I just had to do it.

Today I have a nice tanka for you, maybe you have read this one already on one of my other blogs, but as I stated above ... I don't have time enough. This one is from my archives:

autumn departs
in deep silence willow leaves fall -
tears on this grave
as the willow is green again
another year has gone

© Chèvrefeuille

Willow Tree in Autumn

 

See you ...

 



Carpe Diem Summer Retreat 2016 (22) ghostly cobweb

Dear friends,

Today I have chosen to create a tanka for you to submit for the Carpe Diem Summer Retreat. I am not a great tanka poet, but I like to use this form on a regular base just to stay in touch with the form.

ghostly cobweb

shimmering in the early daylight

pearls of dew

fainting away when the sun rises

like a phantom

© Chèvrefeuille

Ghostly cobweb

Well ... I hope you did like this tanka. See you tomorrow.

Have an awesome weekend.

Carpe Diem Summer Retreat 2016 (21) sunflowers

Dear friends,

Here is my new submission for the Summer Retreat of Carpe Diem. This time I love to share a "cascading" tanka.

in my garden
sunflowers bow their heads
in honor of the sun
I plant a pair of sunflowers
in the backyard

in the backyard
no sun at all will be seen
only sunflowers
those beautiful little suns
in my garden

© Chèvrefeuille

See you tomorrow.

Carpe Diem Summer Retreat 2016 "one with nature" (17) silk tree, a tanka

Dear friends,

As you all know I am a haiku poet and the most poetry I wrote are haiku, but today I love to share a tanka with you. A tanka, is like haiku, an ancient Japanese poetry form, but instead of three (3) lines a tanka is written with five (5) lines.
Several years ago I started to create as they are called "cascading haiku", and nowadays I "re-write" those "cascading haiku" to tanka, or stand alone haiku. Today's tanka "silk tree" is a re-done cascading haiku:

silk tree blossoms

in a soothing summer rain
trembling in silence
silk tree blossoms, so fragile,
in a summer breeze

© Chèvrefeuille

Silk Tree

Well .... see you tomorrow again. Have a great week.

Honeysuckle coolness, a tanka

Dear friends and followers,

It's a new dawn ... I, Chèvrefeuille, will start to compose tanka. Tanka is another nice Japanese poetry form. It looks like waka, 5-7-5-7-7 and maybe you recognize it as part of renga or as a Tan Renga.
Recently we had an 'ask Jane' episode at Carpe Diem Haiku Kai, my daily haiku meme, about the beauty of tanka. Jane even has said that I could be a tanka poet. I am not a tanka poet, but I do like tanka. So I have decided to pick up the challenge to become a tanka poet next to being a haiku poet and ... seriously I love to try tanka.

Tanka is known as 'love-poetry', because tanka was used, like waka, as the way to give the deepest feelings of love, mostly hidden in the words and lines, to your loved one ...

Here is my first attempt ever to write tanka, as a love poem ...:

Lilies of the valley
their sweet perfume makes me drowsy
hot summer night
between silken sheets her warmth
honeysuckle coolness

© Chèvrefeuille

Well ... what do you think of this first attempt?

Other link for an episode of "Ask Jane" about Tanka

My New Weblog Is Launched!

Dear friends,

It's my pleasure to introduce to you my second Carpe Diem Haiku Kai weblog. As you maybe know I started a daily haiku meme in October 2012. At that weblog I give every day a prompt for your inspiration to write haiku, senryu, tanka or kyoka and share it with the world. I also started several Special items for inspiration. For example: "Tanka Shrine", a Special about Tanka or "Distillation" in which item I ask you to distil a haiku from a longer poem.
All those Specials, except the weekly Tan Renga Challenge and the Specials in which I share a haiku from another haiku-poet for your inspiration, I have brought to a new weblog.

That new weblog  titled "Carpe Diem Haiku Kai Special" is online now since January 6th 2014. I love to invite you all to visit that new weblog to read and be inspired to participate if you like haiku and other Japanese poetry forms.

You can find that new weblog at: http://carpediemhaikukaispecial.blogspot.com
and my first Carpe Diem Haiku Kai weblog you can find at: http://chevrefeuillescarpediem.blogspot.com

Feel free to visit and share, if you wish to, your haiku with these haiku-communities. You're welcome.

Namaste

Chèvrefeuille

Thursday Poets Rally, week 57

Another week has gone by. The Thursday Poets Rally week 57 has already begun. So another weeks challenge to write a few haiku for this Poets Rally.
Sometimes I don't have enough inspiration to write my haiku, but the last days there was an overwhelming inspiration by reading Haiku Vol. 3 by R.H.Blyth. In our haiku world we call the Haiku series (4 volumes) of Blyth "the Bible of haiku". Blyth has a great feeling with haiku of the ancient masters such as Matsuo Basho and Kobayashi Issa. Vol. 3 of this series is titled "summer-autumn". I love both seasons, but My heart begans beating a little bit harder when it's autumn. So I have chosen a few haiku with autumn as theme.

autumn tranquility

the days shorten
the colourful leaves
Ah! what a sight

mysterious moon
behind thin clouds
leaves falling

tears fall
this autumn day
has gone by
such sadness
without the full moon

credits: moon behind clouds

This series of haiku and one tanka (the last one) made for Thursday Poets Rally week 57

A cold winter day
I think of days gone
and days to come

Sincerely,