Saturday, February 4, 2012

Bluebell's Short story slam

For the short story slam week 20  I wrote the following short story in 55 words:

WINTER FEELING

A wondrous place. Trees and streets covered with snow. The bright sunlight. Roofs like crystal.
Love is warming our bodies in front of the fireplace.Drinking red wine, eating marshmallows. This is paradise.
Our legs intwined. Lost in each others eyes. Together you and I.

making love
in front of the fireplace -
winter feeling





Haiku Heights, "music"


For this week Haiku Heights I have written a few, as I call them, Impromptu verses.

Nightingale's song
makes the night less lonesome
shedding tears


I love music
nature's full of music
screaming radio


Credits: Music


the sound of water
waves breaking on the beach
a seagull cry


mysterious
the rustling of bamboo leaves
Krishna's flute





The Haiku Challenge, day 4

Opposite emotions mm not an easy one I guess. But it's a Haiku Challenge, so I have to take this challenge serious and write a new haiku for day 4.

children laughing
while playing in the garden
it starts to rain

Opposite emotions? I think so. Children laughing and playing in the garden, but ... that sadness when it starts to rain. They have to stop playing and go inside.

Another one:

after the funeral 
the cherry tree in my backyard
makes me happy

in loving memory
A long time ago, I had to go to a funeral in the beginning of Spring. It was a very sad day and I cried my eyes out, but when I came home I saw the first Cherry blossom bloom and that made me happy again.

Well ... until tomorrow.

Friday, February 3, 2012

The Haiku Challenge, day 3


Everything can be the source for inspiration, such as a wonderful poem, a painting or a song. But also a wonderful photograph. For this day of The Haiku Challenge the source of inspiration is a wonderful photo by Anand.



I wonder if I can write a haiku on this photo and make it a 'photo-haiga'.

This was a tough one. I came up with the following haiku:

strong hands praying
on the corner of the street -
God be with you

This one feels good it has a positive energy according to the photo.


I have made several 'photo-haiga' in the past years, one of them I love to publish here. This one I made with the Benidorm (Spain) Cross as inspiration.


See you again next day ... for a new haiku for the Haiku Challenge 2012.

Thursday, February 2, 2012

Haiku Wednesday ; "Craft"

Join the fun!


A new haiku wednesday, this week on the prompt/theme "craft". I have looked for some synonyms for craft and I came up to the following one's: workmanship; trade wind; craftsmanship; a ship or in the fantasy sphere the craft can be witchcraft or sorcery.

So I will use these synonyms I think.

haiku craftsmanship
only one haiku master
Matsuo Basho

in the old harbour
a new seaworthy vessel
sails off to the world


Credits: Mother Earth

this moonlit night
witches dancing around the oak
worshipping Mother

Sincerely,

The Haiku Challenge, day 2


Day two of The Haiku Challenge has come. The theme 'Mother'. Every one can tell stories about his or her Mother, so this must be an easy one to write a haiku on.

when bad dreams come
mother makes them disappear
by singing her song

Another one:

tiny mustard seed
grows in Mother Earth's womb -
shade for summer

Thanks for the challenge it brings back good memories and happy thoughts :-)


Sincerely,

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

The Haiku Challenge, Day 1


Well here it goes. The Haiku Challenge 2012 to write in february every day a haiku on a given theme. This days theme (as you can read above) is Freestyle. In my opinion freestyle means 'write a haiku on every theme you can think about', but I think also freestyle means 'let loose the classical 5-7-5 structure'. And that's of course my goal. As you can read in the description of my blog I write in the so called 'Kanshicho-style', this is a style in which Matsuo Basho (1644-1694), a haiku master, wrote several years. In that style the classical syllable count isn't used. So here it goes.

such sadness
the spring wind has molested
cherry blossoms

The sadness is in the scattering of the Cherry Blossom. The Japanese were very anxious before wind as the Cherry trees began to bloom.

Credits: Cherry Blossoms

Another one, also on cherry blossom:

cherry blossoms fall -
it feels like an eternity
before summer

I think this first day of The Haiku Challenge was a good one. See you tomorrow.

Sincerely,

Tuesday, January 31, 2012

The Poetry Pantry, new haiku

For Poets United, the Poetry Pantry:





A new series of haiku. Well ... finally my country (The Netherlands) have winter weather. Strong frost and snow fall. So at last winter has come to the Low Lands. So I thought to write a few haiku on snow ...

first snow of the year
covers fragile blossoms
tears in my eyes

such a sad event
young cherry blossoms frozen
in a cold spring night


Credits: Cherry Blossom in Snow

And at last another haiku, but this one is inspired on a well known haiku by Matsuo Basho:

autumn evening
a crow perched
on a withered bough

I wrote:

is that a crow
in the bare branches?
it's just black plastic


I loved doing this again of course and looking forward to your comments on this series.


Sincerely,

Monday, January 30, 2012

Haiku my Heart

I ran into a wonderful weblog Recuerda mi Corazon on which Haiku my Heart is a way to participate. In this I love to share some of my haiku. Maybe I will do that sometime again so I have chosen a image to use in the contributions for Haiku my Heart.


Haiku my Heart a new challenge I think, but I have to try ... don't you think?

unconditional
the love between swans
firmly as a rock


early spring
fragile blossoms bloom
what a party



at the seashore
between foot prints of man
shell of a hermit 

It's was great to participate.

Sincerely,

Sunday, January 29, 2012

The Gooseberry Garden Poetry Picnic wk 24 "free linking"

For the: Gooseberry Garden Poetry Picnic
For this weeks "free linking" I have search my haiku archive and have found a wonderful haibun (prose with haiku) about Autumn. I hope you enjoy this read :-)

AUTUMN


departing summer
days become shorter -
the full moon

The above haiku expresses my feelings in the fall. It is now September and fall will soon come. Each season has its charm, but my heart beats more rapidly as autumn approaches. Autumn, the season of renunciation. Saying goodbye to summer and get ready for winter. The trees lose their leaves, after they have had all the colors you can imagine.

The days are getting shorter, the weather changes in to rough rains and storms.

Saying goodbye ... surely that is the keyword for fall.

From the haiku tradition, the moon is at its most beautiful in the fall. Living in Japan this thought is at least very strong. Here in the West moon viewing is best in winter. Maybe that's true, but ... I'm just a Western haiku poet who is really oriented on the east and therefore more at home with the thoughts that the autumn moon is the best.

I like the moon in autumn. I can enjoy the sight of the moon, our natural satellite. In autumn the moon is mysterious and can work miracles. That feeling I expressed in the above haiku, but also in many other haiku.

light of the full moon
shines through colored leaves
at last ... autumn

Sincerely,