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 (15) amazing autumn

Dear friends,

Here is my new submission for the first Carpe Diem Summer Retreat themed "one with nature". This time I have chosen for a whole new haiku inspired on the "free-style" haiku-ing of Santoka Taneda (1882-1940).

Santoka Taneda

Let me first tell you a little bit about this idea of "free-styling". What is different about Santoka compared to Basho, Issa, Ryokan, Saigyo, or Dogen, is that he did not follow the traditional conventions of the poetic form in which he worked. Santoka was a disciple of Ogiwara Seisensui (1884-1976), the leader of the "free-style school of haiku". This school of haiku discarded the traditional use of the season word and the 5-7-5 structure. Instead it opted for a freer verse form. John Stevens, in his book Mountain Tasting (published in 1982), explains that after Shiki's death in 1902, [...] "there became two main streams in the haiku world, one working more or less in a traditional form using modern themes and the other which fell under the 'new development movement." [...]

I think this so called "free styling" is what I mention "Kanshicho-style" in which the rules of haiku-ing are more free interpretable. It's a kind of haiku-ing I like to use and that made me once a renown haiku poet.

still life -
colorful forests
amazing autumn

© Chèvrefeuille

Of course the scene in this one is not really summer, maybe departing summer, but it is created with the the idea of "one with nature".

See you tomorrow.

Carpe Diem's Rose (a reprise verse)

For Carpe Diem, seize the day, a daily haiku meme I have written the next haiku on 'rose'. I love this prompt and I hope that you like the haiku.

november ending
while the first snow falls -
a last rose blooms

departing Autumn
the end of this year coming nearer
longing for Spring

a new hope rises
departing of this years autumn
lighting a candle

credits: yoruba girl dancing

Sincerely,

Laughing Autumn

For Carpe Diem, seize the day a daily haiku meme

This is our November logo for Carpe Diem

Today the prompt for Carpe Diem is "laughter", it's the opposite of our yesterday prompt "tears" and I love to share a few haiku on "laughter".

laughing Autumn
joyful colored leaves
and Chrysanthemums
 
late night walk
the sound of decaying leaves
beneath my feet

Credits: Romance

romantic night
burning candles, red wine and my love -
the sound of rain

What a feast! Laughing Autumn ... well ... I love Autumn in all of it's facets. Maybe ... this is a continuation of the haiku I gave in our new Carpe Diem episode. It's up to you ... I enjoyed writing these haiku ... It gave me a real Autumn feeling.

Autumn Flowers

Image courtesy: autumn flower

We are halfway Autumn and nature around us becomes more colorful ... colored leaves, the autumn flowers, e.g. chrysanthemums, asters and more. It's a wonder and a joy to see all those different colors and see the decay of Mother Earth's surface.
What a joy ... because without decay of nature no new springtime and new life.

To me Autumn is about detachment, stormy weather and Chrysanthemums. All the wonderful colored Chrysanthemums giving me a feeling of hope and a feeling of real joy. On Carpe Diem one of the prompts was Chrysanthemum and I published there a few haiku by Basho on Chrysanthemums. Here I would like to publish a few Chrysanthemum haiku by other haiku poets e.g.:

A dead chrysanthemum
and yet - isn't there still something
remaining in it?

(c) Kyoshi Takahama (1874-1959)

For his morning tea
A monk sits down in utter silence-
Confronted by chrysanthemums

(c) Matsuo Basho (1644-1694)

white chrysanthemums
the smell of winter tickles my nose -
northeaster wind

(c) Chèvrefeuille

Autumn ... yes ... that's my season.

in full bloom
all the chrysantemums in the garden
my own rainbow


Wow! What a wonderful impromptu haiku ... yes I know it, that's immodest for a haiku poet, but really I love this haiku very much.

Tackle It Tuesday, Butterfly

Dear Haijin,

A new Tackle It Tuesday is on. I am a little bit late with publishing, but ... well I think that's the result of having also a daily haiku meme Carpe Diem on my new weblog. This week's theme for Tackle It Tuesday is butterfly. It's not really a seasonword for Autumn, it's more of Summer, but ... well I have visitors form all over the world ... so there will be for sure one who's living in a country were Summer is still on.

Awesome ... I love butterflies, these fragile creatures are so wonderful to look at. They are really a little present of Mother Earth.

on the verandah
a yellowish butterfly
the light of sun down

And another one:

waving on the wind
butterflies resting in the sun
on the Buddleia

And for closure ... a last one:

on the Honeysuckle
the fragile wings of a butterfly
a fluttering sound



That was it for this week. Have fun, be inspired and write wonderfully composed haiku.
This Tackle It Tuesday will stay on 'till nex Monday October 22th 11.59 PM (CET) Please share a comment after linking ... Thank you.

Autumn has come

Also published and shared on: Thursday Poets Rally of Hyde Park

Autumn ... yeah that's my season. I love the colors, the scent of decomposing leaves. I love the autumn weather ... heavy rains, thunderstorms and the strong winds. The days becoming shorter, cosiness returns to the living room. Wow! What a wonderful season. And than ... the awesome moon of autumn. As you may know I am a bit a Japan addict and they say that the moon of autumn is the most wonderful moon of the year. I like that thought ... ah! the moon ...

autumn has come
leaves re-painted by Mother Earth -
she ... the moon ... lovely

she ... the moon ... lovely
hiding behind a veil of clouds
what a mystery

what a mystery
the cosiness of the living room
autumn has come

Credits: autumn colors

September Heights, day 15 Creation

Inspired by the theme at

Creativity as an inspiring source for writing haiku ... hm ... nice prompt. Let's go do this ...

Mother Earth's art
leaves are changing in color
to re-create

creation of our world
with our spirit we can do that
co-creators we are

pillars of creation

Well ... see you all tomorrow ...

September Heights, day 12 Rain

Inspired by the theme at

Today's prompt is Rain a wonderful prompt, because we are entering autumn and in that season rain falls are very common and often accompanied by thunderstorms and strong winds. At least ... in my country.

autumn has come
every day heavy rain falls
leaves tolling around

leaves tolling around
covering the streets and gardens
their sweet perfume

their sweet perfume
of dead and decomposing
autumn has come

See you all tomorrow.

September Heights, Autumn

Inspired by the theme at

Day 5 of September Heights is there, write a haiku on Autumn. Nice prompt I think. Autumn is one of my favorite seasons so I have to come up with a good one (smiles). What do I like of Autumn? I love the Autumn moon, she is gorgeous in this season. The feeling of loss and departing. All those different colors of the leaves, the sweet smell of decomposing leaves. I love the mushrooms of this season. And what of the weather? The weather can be great. It can be warm and sunny, but it can also be cold and rainy with thunderstorms and heavy wind. Ah! Autumn ... a wonderful season.

The beautiful autumn colors of the American Oak ... aren't they wonderful and so fragile.

vanishing summer
leaves begin to color
Autumn will soon be there

Autumn will soon be there
the heavy rains and storms collide
trees uprooted

trees uprooted
tiles broken on the streets
the force of nature

the force of nature
finally after the Autumn storm
the sight of the full moon

the sight of the full moon
brings back good memories
vanishing summer

A wonderful cascading haiku I think in which I have tried to paint Autumn ... you, my dear visitors, may decide if I have touched Autumn.

See you tomorrow.

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,
 
 

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,

Another Sensational Haiku Wednesday

A new challenge, again a week went on so a new Sensational Haiku Wednesday has come. Also a new prompt "absence", not an easy one, surely a tough one, but I will give it a try. In this time of year (late autumn) surely there are images that are inspiring for this new prompt.

the first snow
autumn has come to an end
a last leaf falls

today a sad day

the bright autumn sun is absent
only the rain

Credits: Bare Branches

the bare trees
the backyard gloomy
no colours at all

the absence

of the blooming trees of Spring
makes me sad

Oh! that loneliness
the absence of all the leaves
even more alone

Sincerely,

On A Withered Bough

Matsuo Basho (1644-1694)

Matsuo Basho, my haikumaster, wrote in is lifetime around 1000 haiku. Some of them, such as the well known 'Old Pond' haiku, are classical ones. Another:

autumn evening
a crow perched
on a withered bough

This is one of his well known haiku. I have written a haiku in almost the same sense.

heads in the wind
crows in the bare Planetree
departing autumn

Sincerely

Silent Shadows a new haiku

Matsuo Basho (1644-1694)

Not so long ago I have read all Basho's haiku (As Jane Reichold did collect them). Amazing. He wrote 1000 haiku in his whole lifetime. One of my favorites is:

deep autumn -
my neighbor,
how does he live, I wonder


This one inspired me and helped me crafting a new one in the same sense:

in the mist
silent shadows passing by
is it my neighbor?


I wrote this haiku just a several minutes ago. Looking through the window and seeing the fog, that's so common for the autumn weather of november in The Netherlands. The world looks smaller and quieter. The air feels colder and wet, but also the scent of the rotting leaves is becoming stronger. I love that smell.

Credits: Shadows in the mist

Sincerely,

New Haiku (11.17.2011)

A few new haiku which I love to share with my visitors.

in the twilight
mist creeps low over the field -
stars twinkle

the sound of church bells
moves towards my house
through the Spring haze

a long day's walk
through the mist of autumn -
finally the moon

Sincerely,

The Poetry Palace, thursday poets rally (week 56)

thursday poets rally, week 56

A new week. So again a new thursday poets rally (week 56). I love this rally and I am glad that I have been invited to join. This weeks theme (a theme I choose autumn). I am a haiku poet and the autumn is one of the most lovely seasons (in my opinion). Just like the classic haiku poets I love the autumn moon. In my opinion the autumn moon is the most beautiful moon.

in the twilight
the autumn moon shines bright
on fallen leaves


through the branches
without leaves
the autumn moon


"look daddy!"
the little child yelled
the full moon


through the torn window
I am gazing to the full moon
of late october

Sincerely,

Haiku Wednesday prompt "meditate"

What to do with this new prompt "meditate". I love to meditate and writing haiku can be a meditative activity. So I will give this one a try.

walking on the heath
in the light of the full moon
the scent of autumn


a new day rises
inbetween the night and day
I meditate

credits: straatkaart.nl

'till next sensational haiku wednesday

A Few New Haiku

The days are becoming shorter. Autmn is moving to it's closure, the air is further cooling down and the winds are becoming stronger and colder. Autumn is THE season for me. I love the colouring of the leaves and the branches becoming 'naked'. The scent of the decomposing nature is sweet and sour, but always the loving smell of the earth. After the rainstorms the Earth is smelling stronger and stronger. Autumn ... the haiku season.

the scent of earth
decomposing leaves
the rain storms


through the branches
without leaves left on them
naked nature


bare branches
spooky lines and profiles
in the moonlight


nature changes
the fresh summer colours
fading away

credits: goodlightscraps.com

Sincerely,

SENSATIONAL HAIKU WEDNESDAY (26/10)

This week's prompt "scare"

My interpretation of this prompt uses "scary" in stead of scare:

a scary sight
the bare branches
in the moonlight

Sincerely,