Carpe Diem

The moon is humble

Carpe Diem Special #127, Sogi’s third ”dewy evening”.

Both grasses and trees
waiting for the moon
dewy evening © Iio Sogi (1424-1502)

HAIKU

dew glisten meadow
swaying in a last dance
the moon is humble

TROIKU

dew glisten meadow
grass and flowers sing refrain
end verse is waiting

swaying in a last dance
softly kissing the sweetheart
farewell is near

the moon is humble
a scene of nature romance
eyes closed by stars

Pas de deux

Carpe Diem Time Glass #17, Dance.

bee is digging deep
dragonflies dance pas de deux
the treasure was found

The game of life

Carpe Diem #646, Card Games (Karuta).

Uta Garuta contest
tears are falling continuously
she has blacked out © Chèvrefeuille

the game of life
creates winners and losers
children like ice cream

the arrow struck

Carpe Diem #645, Sacred Arrow (Hamayumi or Hama Yumi).

a little verse
brought together a family of love –
Carpe Diem Haiku Kai © Chèvrefeuille

the arrow struck deep
wounded heart in deep sorrow
sacred dawn opens

First Prime M

Carpe Diem’s ”Ask Jane …” #7, Tanka, the grandmother of Haiku.

I wanted to vote
for our new leadership
she is a leader

history count sexteenth head
Swedens first female Prime M

Ps. Today the Moderat party in Sweden changed leader. Now Anna Kinberg Batra is the leader (before was Fredrik Reinfeldt former Prime Minister).

Snails

Carpe Diem ”Little Creatures” #15, Buson’s ”Mud-Snails.

mud-snails:
a few remain uncaught
under the evening moon   © Yosa Buson

slowly, but slowly
the mud-snail finds its way
after the heavy rains   © Chèvrefeuille

a meandering snail
examines the garden plot
the moon is hiding    © Birgitta Rudenius

Blue moth

Carpe Diem Special #126, Sogi’s ”Butterfly home”.

abandoned house
the garden taken over –
butterfly home © Iio Sogi (Tr. Chèvrefeuille)

broken windows
after the bombing – spiders spinning
their cobwebs © Chèvrefeuille

blue moth dance salsa
lilac swaying back and forth
a fly killed by swat

Rice Cakes

Carpe Diem #643, Mirror Rice Cakes (Kagamimochi).

suns of rice cakes
open for a good mornings
a must to eat two

you have to choose
among all kinds of rice cakes
expensive cheese

crossroads coming up
traffic is dense and smelly
a bunch of rice cakes

witty family
jokes about knobby rice cakes
the dog barked

a stony pathway
between ponds of light rice cakes
a grim car passes

rice cakes and coffee
life has the lot to offer
drawings come easy

I love rice cakes
lots of cheese and tomatoes
waving grass stir

Juxtaposition

Carpe Diem Haiku Writing Techniques #1, Juxtaposition.

I often hear that juxtaposition is a key to successful haiku. The contrast of two images in haiku is most often instrumental in creating resonance. © Chèvrefeuille

Robert Spiess, editor of ‘Modern Haiku’, has said the following about juxtaposition in haiku:
[…] “Juxtaposition of entities in haiku cannot be simply the throwing together of just anything; the poet must have the intuition that certain things, albeit of ”opposite” characteristics, nonetheless have a resonance with each other that will evoke a revelation when they are juxtaposed in accordance with the time-tested canons and aesthetics of haiku.” […]

an old man stumbled
while all people moved in hurry
baby girl screamed loud

the running fence
great piece of creative art
Elton still standing

technique in order
juxtaposition is fun
chaos in playground

Ps. Do you know about Christo’s ”Running fence”? And Elton Johns ”Still standing”?

Heart is sacred

Carpe Diem #642, Sacred Rope (Shimekazari).
Kigo is that little Japanese word used by haijin (haiku poets) to fix or identify a season in their poem. There are more than 500 seasonal words that can be used.