Suikazura No Retsu #10 the last column of 2015

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

It's a while ago that I published an episode of my column "Suikazura No Retsu", but finally I have found some time to write a new column.
I love to tell you something about Carpe Diem Haiku Kai and it’s future. As you all know next October we will have our third anniversary and it will be a great festive month. I have already created our prompt-list, but I will publish it in the second half of this month.

Recently I created a few new features and I decided to change something at CDHK. Several features are now bi-weekly and that’s really fine, because the weeks are full enough and I even haven’t time enough to do those extra features as you have seen this week (week 36). I hope to have more time the upcoming
weeks and I hope to have the results of our third kukai “juxtaposition” soon.

Our first Renga-party is on the role, but I have seen that it wasn’t a great way to make our first Renga in the way I have created it, so I will look at it again to find the right way to make this a real Renga Party without troubles or stagnation …

Than I have an all new e-book created in cooperation with Jane Reichhold and as you have seen it you can download it at the right side of our Haiku Kai. “Bare Bones School of Renga” has become a nice e-book and I think you all will like it.

To conclude this column I have another announcement to make:

I have created a You Tube channel for our Haiku Kai and I will soon make this channel available for you all. I have uploaded a first “haiku-clip” with a haiku written by myself. You can find it HERE. This is all under construction, because I am learning to create those videos or clips. That's my new challenge.

I have “made” a first design for another idea of me … our Carpe Diem Haiku Kai T-Shirt and I am glad that there was one of our Haiku Family members who reached me the hand to design this T-shirt.

Well … a last announcement … in November we will return to the Altai Mountains in Central Asia to explore the steppes and the spirituality of that rich country, those challenging mountains.
I am looking forward to November and I know for sure there is at least one of our Haiku Family members who will be glad to
visit the Altai Mountains again.

Namaste,

Chèvrefeuille, your host.

Suikazura No Retsu #9 Cry of a Seagull

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

It's a while ago that I published an episode of my column "Suikazura No Retsu", but finally I have found some time to write a new column.

As I look back to the first quarter of this year than we have had wonderful posts with a lot of gorgeous haiku and tanka. And of course haiga. Haiga, giving your haiku an image, was the main theme in March 2015 and I have seen wonderful haiga. I think haiga has to become more known, because it's making our haiku better and more open for the reader, because of the image that fits the haiku, but haiga also has a "negative" taste ... why?

Haiku is the impression of a very short moment, as short as the sound of a pebble thrown into water. To catch that moment is the goal of every haiku poet/ess. You want to share your experience with your reader, but your reader has to feel how he/she (the reader) experienced the moment caught in the haiku.

Haiku isn't just written by a haiku poet/ess, but to share an individual experience of the reader too. The reader must have the idea that he/she experiences what he/she reads, sees, feels, smells and so on in the written haiku. It makes the reader part of the haiku and in a way part of the haiku poet/ess.

As the haiku poet/ess shares his/her experience in a haiga than the reader is pointed to an image, a scene which he/she maybe don't want to experience.

Then there was the daring series of Haiku Writing Techniques in which I tried to give you all more 'handles' to write/compose your haiku. I even had the guts to create an all new haiku writing technique based on balance through association, baransu, not an easy technique, but it can make your haiku better and stronger.

In a baransu haiku the association on images is very important and that makes it (maybe) difficult. I enjoyed the baransu technique a lot and I think it has brought me a wonderful tool to write/compose haiku. I will give an example:

"cry of a seagull" is the first line for this baransu haiku example. Let me look on which images I can associate on: 'cry' will do and 'seagull'. I think I will use 'seagull' ... what associations I got on seagull? Hm ... beach, shore, ocean, sea, garbage, fishing, white, grey ... a lot of associations. Which will I am gonna use? I think I will go for 'garbage' and turn that into "dumping ground". Than this will become the second line: "above the dumping ground next door".

Than up to the third line. Which images I can use from that new line to associate on: 'above', 'dumping', 'ground', 'next' and 'door'. Mostly every image I can use from this 2nd line, this will not be easy. The third line has to fit the other two lines or maybe not. I think I will use 'next door' to give this haiku a twist ... Let me think? Hm ... I think this line will do "the neighbors quarrel” ... yes a nice line. How will this haiku, made with the baransu technique, look as I bring the three lines together.

cry of a seagull
above the dumping ground next door
the neighbors quarrel

© Chèvrefeuille

And then we had our first CDHK Kukai "wisteria" which is now in its judging phase ... I am looking forward to the results of our first Kukai and I have planned already a new Kukai which I will announce after the announcement of our winner of the first Kukai. So you have to be patient.

For closure ... April is half way and is running to its end. This month it's all about 'peace of mind' and we had a new co-host, Hamish Managua Gunn. Next month we will go 'on the trail with Basho' and through his haiku (and haibun) we will discover the beauty of ancient Japan and maybe we will learn from the master himself ... you never know ...

Namaste,

Chèvrefeuille, your host

Suikazura No Retsu #8, Be Like A Child

Be like a child ...

As I cycled to my work last evening, I am in the nightshift, I came along a street which I always come along, but now it looked so different. It was as if I saw this street for the very first time. The streetlights I had not seen earlier ... or ... , maybe the streetlights were hidden behind the leaves of the trees or I had never had the attention for those streetlights ... I don't know.

At that moment I realized that this "seeing/not seeing" was a revelation ... I had to be like a child again. I had to look at my surroundings, my neighborhood, nature with the eyes of a child. Everything I had to look at as if it was the very first time that I saw it, just like children who see with surprise e.g. the first snow, the first flower or anything else.

I had to look again to my world and I have to look again to the future of Carpe Diem ... I will look at Carpe Diem as if I saw it for the very first time ... have I reached my goals, the dream I had? Yes ... I have reached my goals and the dream I had is still alive, but ... I have to look again at all the extra features e.g. Soliloquy no Renga, Little Ones, Kamishibai ... there are to many extra and special features ... I have to reduce them and to accomplish that I have to look at Carpe Diem like a child which sees his/her world for the very first time ...

feel like a child again
nature is full of surprises -
young brown eyes

© Chèvrefeuille

Suikazura No Retsu #7, ''who did it?''

Who did it?

Here in The Netherlands we are still in shock. Last Thursday (July 17th) 192 Dutch citizens, and several other country's citizens, lost their lives in a brutal attack. An airplane of Malaysian Airlines was shot down, but who did it?

Ukranian rebels and separatists and Russia are pointing to eachother. As the days are passing this disaster is shown all over the News around the world and everytime again the same question is asked: ''Who did it?'' There are certainly ideas, but who ... who finally will give the answer?
First the Ukranian rebels pointed to the Ukranian separatists and vice versa. Russia is in shock and first says they will help with the investigation and bring the truth out in the open, but a day later they say not to be willing to help. Recently the Ukranian rebels have secured the spot of the shot down airplane ... so the investigations had to stop. Those rebels were screaming and shouting against the world. Shooting with their rivals while they danced on the remains holding personal belongings of the casualties in their hands above their heads. I saw one of the rebels showing a teddybear while he shoots with his gun. Awefull, this isn't right, one should think that the rebels did it, because they are celebrating on the remains.Russia remains silent and doesn't want to help anymore ... did they (the Russians) do it?
On all diplomatic and political levels high ranked people are discussing what to do. What can they do? They have to take action and bring those who did this to their knees and to justice.
And what will follow? This tragedy must have consequences for those who did it. The Dutch Government does nothing. As far as I know our Government wants to keep the friendship with Russia and the Ukraine good, because we need them for our gas and oil, we need them for our trading.
Trading looks more important for the Dutch Government than finding the answer on ''Who did it?'' All the money and power of the world will not give, those who lost beloved ones in this tragedy, comfort and peace ... no they will have to bare this tragedy their whole life ...
The question stays unanswered ... ''Who did it?'' Will it be answered? I hope so, because those who have done this must be brought to justice.

It will take time to heal, that we all know, but ... if the aggressor who did this will not be punished ... there can be no healing. The question remains ... ''Who did it?'''

the cry of an eagle
shedding its tears with the lost souls -
decaying roses

© Chèvrefeuille

See you next time

Namaste

Suikazura No Retsu #6 Summerheat

SUMMERHEAT

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

It's summer here in The Netherlands the temperature is rising to tropical hights around 30 degrees Celsius, the earth is starting to dry out and I have to water the garden almost everyday.

The flowers starting to decay in a fast way. It's so sad to see the decay, but ... decay is needed to bring new life. Can we look at that according to humans? I don't know. In my opinion, our bodies are just a shell, so I think that we can say that also about humans. As we die our soul is leaving our body to resurrect into another body. Yes I believe in reincarnation, but why does a soul reincarnate?

In my opinion we all have a goal in our life, maybe a kind of lesson we have to learn. That goal we have to fullfill and maybe we cannot reach that goal in just one life. So we have to prolong our goal by reincarnation. Maybe I am in my hundreds life, I don't know.

As I was a little boy I thought that I once was Alexander the Great and as I became older and wiser and discovered haiku I started to believe that I once was a haiku-poet. Haiku crossed my path and I never had heard of it, but I was immediately in love with this little poem. Maybe I am the reincarnation of a (great) haiku-poet, but where do I got that idea from? I don't know ... it will be the summer heat and maybe I have a heatstroke.

Haiku is really my passion as you all know. Several years ago I wrote a haiku, in my opinion not a masterpiece, but a lot of my readers said that it was as if it was written by Basho. A bigger compliment my readers couldn't give me.

Back to the summerheat we are in the middle of here in The Netherlands. I love summer, but I am not a fan of this heat, not in our country. If I was in Spain for example than I could stand the heat. Here in The Netherlands this kind of heat is moist and is always followed by thunderstorms and heavy rains ... they are so refreshing.

decaying flowers
the heat is unbearable
still no rain to come

© Chèvrefeuille

sunflowers reach

for the sun to expand his light
during the night

© Chèvrefeuille

See you next time

Namaste

Intermezzo

SOON TO COME A NEW EPISODE OF SUIKAZURA NO RETSU ... PLEASE BE PATIENT.

inbetween worlds
lost without translation
a silent monk

© Chèvrefeuille

Visit our other blogs at blogspot:

Haiku Shuukan
Carpe Diem Haiku Kai Special

or at Wordpress

Carpe Diem's Haiku Family

See you soon ...

Namaste

Chèvrefeuille, your host

Suikazura No Retsu #5, World Championship Soccer

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP SOCCER

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

As you sure have noticed the whole world is under the spell of soccer. In one of the commercials of Coca Cola they say something like 'why can't be the world always be like the world during the world championship soccer'. Maybe there's something in that were we can contemplate about.

Once in four years the world is one. Differences are falling away. For just four weeks the whole world is sharing their love for soccer with each other. It's awesome to watch all those soccer-games and see how the winners and losers hugging each other after the game. No differences, just different scores, showing the way to the final.
Soccer is like Honeysuckle, which spiritual meaning is 'searching the path to inner wisdom and the inner Self'. Soccer is just like that. All those soccer-players are on their own path to find their inner wisdom and inner Self. All are looking to find their path to the goal, to be the best. They will find their selves in the missed passes, the loss of the ball, missed goals and the lost game. Losing the game is not a joy. That we will understand, but losing the game opens your eyes to new ways, new paths to become better. Isn't that the same as we all do? As we are writing and sharing haiku we are all looking for the better, to learn more and make our haiku-skills better.
Every soccer team that will be knocked-out of the world championship will accept that. They have gained respect of the other. The respect of their country, and that ... in my opinion ... is just as good as being a winner ... they had the honor to be there to serve and honor their country.
It doesn't matter which country will become the new world champion soccer (of course I am a little bit patriotic and therefore I am hoping that my country, The Netherlands, will be that new world champion). All those countries present at the world championship soccer are winners, because they have brought the world together, for just four weeks sadly, and brought (in a way) peace to the world.

What has soccer to do with haiku? More than you would think. As we compare the world championship soccer with haiku than we see something great.
Soccer brings the world together, and haiku brings the world together as we all can see here at Carpe Diem Haiku Kai. Our family of haiku-poets comes from all over the globe. We share our love for haiku as the world now does share the love of soccer.
Is there something else we have in common with the world championship soccer-players? Yes we have ... soccer is art as haiku is art. Soccer-players are the poets of the game. Will there be more we have in common? I think so, but I don't know it yet, maybe you know it!

writing haiku
while watching soccer -
two worlds together

© Chèvrefeuille

See you next time ...

Namaste