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

Suikazura No Retsu #4, Oncology

Oncology

Good day dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

As you (maybe) know I am an oncology-nurse not the most easy job that for sure I can say. It's an everyday struggle for the patients I am caring for and that makes me sometimes sad and angry. As an oncology-nurse I am working in a local hospital at lung-unit and lately we see more patients which are diagnosed with lung cancer. Sometimes they have already COPD or asthma and some of them have cystic fibrosis or lung eczema. Mostly they have already a whole life behind them, but not so long ago we had a very young man on the unit. Not even in his forties. At such moments it's very hard to accept that, because, as you maybe know, my elder brother died almost 20 years ago of lung cancer. Not because he was a smoker, no he always lived healthy ... he had a juvenile kind of lung cancer which he didn't know of. As my brother died ... I was angry with the whole world and at God. "Why did He take my brother away?"
Until today I haven't found the answer, but I have learned to live with this loss and my parents also learned that. As I look back at the years we (my brother and I) were always together I remember only the nice things. We were not only brothers, but also best friends forever.
My brother became, and he didn't know that than, the one who made me decide to become a nurse and after a few years as a registered nurse I became also a registered oncology-nurse.
Oncology, all what has to do with cancer, isn't an easy thing. It's difficult to cope with it, but it's really a joy to take care of oncology patients. It has become my life and it made me who I am know.

Because of my job I needed a way out for my feelings and thoughts and so I started writing. Next to two novels which I wrote I became an internationally known haiku-poet and maybe, a haiku-master, but that's not up to me to say.
Haiku became a real way of life for me and it gave me the strength to be an oncology-nurse.

lady with the lamp
the source of my unconditional love
taking care

taking care
bringing joy and light to my patients
man with the lamp

© Chèvrefeuille

See you next time.

Namaste.

Suikazura No Retsu #3, Departing Spring

Departing Spring

June, the month of summer, has started and we are saying goodbye to spring. Spring ... the season of new life. The season of returning light after the dark autumn and winter time. I love all seasons, but spring is my favourite season. Nature's coming to life again and soon Mother Nature is again newly clothed in all her beauty.
Nowadays we dot live anymore with the changing of seasons. Sometimes I am longing for that old fashioned way of living with the changing of the seasons. Maybe that's the mind and heart of a haiku-poet. It certainly is always in my mind and heart. I am a man of nature. We, humans, are part of nature and so it has to be in my opinion. Do you feel that in the same way? Are you all also a part of nature living with the changing of the seasons?

As I was a young kid I was a big fan of the history lessons at school and especially the history of humans. I can dream away to the pre-historic time when we, humans, started to discover and ''conquer'' Earth. Going to hunt for food. That ''raw'' life ... fighting to survive, walking and running through nature. Feeling free, living completely naked, making clothes of animal-skin as winter starts. Crawling together around the fire to become warm with your wife and kids, your friends. How wonderful that life must have been ... I am longing for that kind of life, but do I really want to go back to that kind of life? Deep down inside I know that I wouldn't survive that kind of life, but dreaming of it is fun.

I try to live with the seasons and in this time of year when we are closing in to summer I would love to go back to the pre-historic time, because than I could live naked enjoying the heat of the day and the coolness of the night. What a joy that would be.

Nowadays you cannot go naked on the streets, because of all laws and regulations we have, but in my backyard, hidden behind trees, bushes and the fence I can live naked, enjoying the heat of the day and the coolness of the night. That's almost like living in the pre-historic time.

departing of spring
reliving pre-historic times
naked in the backyard

© Chèvrefeuille

See you next time ... as I will publish a new Suikazura No Retsu.

Namaste

Suizakura No Retsu #2, Carpe Diem

Carpe Diem

It's unbelievable, but CDHK is still here on the world wide web. As I started this daily haiku meme, I couldn't have dreamed that CDHK would be here, almost 2 years after the 'kick-off'. I love to write our daily posts, and (ofcourse) I use the www on a regular base. Since we have the www the world is completly open to everyone ... we can read books in libraries all over the world and on Wikipedia we can find almost everything. Using the www for our haiku-community is fun, because as I am researching I ran into several different sides with a lot of various information and knowledge.
Every post needs time to prepare and research, but I love doing it. Sometimes time is not on my side, but .... well that's life.

Everytime I am looking forward to your posts and its always a joy to read your submitted haiku, tanka, haibun and all other micro-poetry forms there are. I even thought, several days ago, to make CDHK a weblog for all micro-poetry, but I decided not to do so, because haiku is the base, the heart of CDHK. And as you all know .... haiku is my passion.
However there is more next to haiku and I think I have found a nice mix of poetry on CDHK and I think you all like that mix.
Carpe Diem Haiku Kai has become a great community, a wonderful and caring haiku-family, and I am glad that we have a steady group of submittants and that makes me happy.
Carpe Diem, a daily joy ... I can't live without it and I hope you all think in the same way.

Namaste,

Chèvrefeuille

Suikazura No Retsu #1 haiku-family

Haiku-Family

Here it is ... our first CDHK column Suikazura No Retsu (which means "Chèvrefeuille's Column"). I have thought this over and over again, but finally decided to do this. I hope this column will be fun to read (and of course) under-standable, because English isn't my mother tongue.
As you all know CDHK started in October 2012 and it's still alive and kicking. It's really my pleasure to be your host, notwithstanding my busy life as a father, grandfather, oncology-nurse and haiku-poet (and author of two novels).
Sometimes time is not at my side and that gives sometimes delay of posts, but ... well ... I can do a lot, but magic I don't possess.
I am always happy as I read all of your comments and compliments. Mostly positive, but sometimes criticizing, but that's no problem as you all know (I hope). I do understand your critics and I respect that.
Over all you are all positive and great family-members. Family? Are we a family? I think we are a family, not by bloodlines, but by our shared love for haiku (and other Japanese poetry-forms) and that makes me a happy host (and maybe ... your "haiku-family-patriarch").
As I wrote in one of my last posts at CDHK, we have a new month coming up with modern kigo (seasonwords) for summer based on Jane Reichhold's "A Dictionary of Haiku" (a modern Saijiki). Jane is one of the most wellknown haiku-poetesses of modern times and maybe ... one of our haiku-family-members will become that famous once. I hope for someone that will become reality.

Well ... see you next time.

Namaste,