Haiku Shuukan #37 Time

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

During lack of time I hadn't the opportunity to post another episode of our weekly Haiku Shuukan. And time isn't at my side. I have to much to do. I am an oncology nurse and of course the owner and host of the daily haiku meme Carpe Diem Haiku Kai, the base of the most weblogs I have created. Haiku Shuukan is part of what I love to call the Carpe Diem Haiku Kai Family and here I try to inspire you through weekly posts.

This week I have a nice quote by Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931) for your inspiration. Khalil Gibran was born in the town of Bsharri in the Mount Lebanon Mutasarrifate, Ottoman Empire (north of modern-day Lebanon), to Khalil Gibran and Kamila Gibran(Rahmeh). As a young man Khalil emigrated with his family to the United States, where he studied art and began his literary career, writing in both English and Arabic. In the Arab world, Gibran is regarded as a literary and political rebel. His romantic style was at the heart of a renaissance in modern Arabic literature, especially prose poetry, breaking away from the classical school. In Lebanon, he is still celebrated as a literary hero.

He is chiefly known in the English-speaking world for his 1923 book The Prophet, an early example of inspirational fiction including a series of philosophical essays written in poetic English prose. The book sold well despite a cool critical reception, gaining popularity in the 1930s and again especially in the 1960s counterculture. Gibran is the third best-selling poet of all time, behind Shakespeare and Laozi.

Kahlil Gibran

He has written a lot of novels full of philosophical texts and the quote I love to challenge you with is from "Sand and Foam" (1926), it's not so well known as his "The Prophet", but has a lot of wonderful words.

Here is the quote for your inspiration:

[...] "We measure time according to the movement of countless suns; and they measure time by little machines in their little pockets. Now tell me, how could we ever meet at the same place at the same time?" [...]

And this is what I came up with:

seasons come and go
every year again, without changes,
the circle of life

© Chèvrefeuille

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until January 20th at noon (CET). Have fun!

Haiku Shuukan #36 the cry of an eagle

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

It has been a while, but I finally have found time to bring Haiku Shuukan alive again. Haiku Shuukan is a weekly haiku meme with it's base in the Carpe Diem Haiku Family. I will try to bring every tuesday an all new episode here at Haiku Shuukan and this week I have chosen to use a haiku which I wrote myself to inspire you.

This haiku I published at Carpe Diem Haiku Kai (CDHK) as the closure of a story about a young shaman who lives in the Altai Mountains. Maybe you have visited CDHK recently than you have seen that last month (November 2015) all our prompts were based on shamnism, tengrism and the Altai Mountains. Feel free to visit CDHK.

whispering leaves
telling all wisdom of the steppes -
cry of an eagle

© Chèvrefeuille

 

This episode of Haiku Shuukan is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until next Tuesday December 8th at noon (CET). Have fun, be inspired and share your haiku with us all here at our Haiku Shuukan. 

Haiku Shuukan #35 Cherry Blossoms

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

This week's Haiku Shuukan episode I love to challenge you to write an all new haiku, tanka or other Japanese poetry form inspired by an image.
For those who know Carpe Diem Haiku Kai (CDHK), this challenge is comparible with the special CDHK feature: CD-Imagination.

Here is the image to inspire you:

Credits: Cherry Blossoms

At CDHK this week we will visit a Hanami or "cherry blossom viewing" as part of our festivities around the third anniversary of CDHK.

through morning mist
cherry blossoms look mysterious -
ah! that perfume

© Chèvrefeuille

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until October 11th 7.00 PM (CET). Have fun!

Haiku Shuukan #34 survival

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

My excuses for not posting last Sunday September 13th, maybe that's also a choice to survive. As you all know I am hosting a daily haiku meme Carpe Diem Haiku Kai which gobbles a lot of my time. So to give this revival of Haiku Shuukan a chance to survive I have decided to make this a two weekly "poetry" meme.

Our prompt for this week is survival and that can mean a lot, but in present time I think this is the most important rule in our world. Look at the refugees from all over the world were the heat is on, for example: the Southern-East European and Asian countries ... they all will survive ...

As I was preparing this episode I thought of "I Will Survive"

Well ... I hope this episode will inspire you to write haiku, tanka or other Japanese poetry form. Have fun!

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until October 3rd at noon (CET).

Haiku Shuukan # 33 Alone

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Welcome at a new episode of Haiku Shuukan. After almost a year I have decided to revive this weblog and so here is the first prompt of a revived Haiku Shuukan, alone.I love to challenge you all to write a haiku, tanka or other Japanese poetry form inspired on this new prompt alone and I also have a picture to help you to become inspired.

Credits: Alone

And of course I will try to write my own inspired poem, haiku, tanka or another Japanese poetry form. So here is my inspired poem for this episode, alone.

without you
the world will never be the same
alone with my thoughts
I will miss you more and more
perfume of Honeysuckle

© Chèvrefeuille

Honeysuckle

Well ... I hope I have inspired you and I hope to see you all very often here again. This episode of Haiku Shuukan is open for your submissions at noon (CET) and will remain open until next Sunday September 13th at noon (CET).

Haiku Shuukan #32, "HUM"

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

This week I haven't had enough time to post on time here at Haiku Shuukan. My apologies for that, but sometimes time is not at my side.
This week we will close our journey along the six (6) sounds of the greatest mantra I know "Om Mani Padme Hum". This week "hum" is the prompt and it stands for purifying aggression and hatred (hell realm) as you can read here after:

Om purifies bliss and pride (realm of the gods); Ma purifies jealousy and need for entertainment (realm of the jealous gods); Ni purifies passion and desire (human realm); Pad purifies ignorance and prejudice (animal realm); Me purifies greed and possessiveness (realm of the hungry ghosts); Hum purifies aggression and hatred (hell realm).

And with this wonderful video we come at the end of our quest through this wonderful mantra ... this was also the last episode of this year here at Haiku Shuukan. I have to think it over if I will prolong this weekly haiku meme. Through lack of time and of course our daily haiku meme Carpe Diem Haiku Kai I can't promise you to be back here at Haiku Shuukan. Maybe I will migrate it to Wordpress and let it become one with our weekly haiku meme "Tackle It Tuesday" at Wordpress. We will see ...

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until the end of this year on December 31st at noon (CET).

Haiku Shuukan #31, "me"

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Sorry ... I am a bit late, maybe that's the consequence of being in the nightshift, but ... well no time for excuses ... let's go and create an all new episode of Haiku Shuukan.

This week we are going further with exploring the powerful 'Om Mani Padme Hum', mantra. This week it's the fifth 'sound' , "me"  ... I will give the mantra here again:

Om purifies bliss and pride (realm of the gods); Ma purifies jealousy and need for entertainment (realm of the jealous gods); Ni purifies passion and desire (human realm); Pad purifies ignorance and prejudice (animal realm); Me purifies greed and possessiveness (realm of the hungry ghosts); Hum purifies aggression and hatred (hell realm).

As we look at the mantra's fifth sound "Me" than we can see that it purifies greed and possessiveness (realm of the hungry ghosts) and this is what is said about this mantra by Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche:  

"The mantra Om Mani Pädme Hum is easy to say yet quite powerful, because it contains the essence of the entire teaching. When you say the first syllable Om it is blessed to help you achieve perfection in the practice of generosity, Ma helps perfect the practice of pure ethics, and Ni helps achieve perfection in the practice of tolerance and patience. Päd, the fourth syllable, helps to achieve perfection of perseverance, Me helps achieve perfection in the practice of concentration, and the final sixth syllable Hum helps achieve perfection in the practice of wisdom. "So in this way recitation of the mantra helps achieve perfection in the six practices from generosity to wisdom. The path of these six perfections is the path walked by all the Buddhas of the three times. What could then be more meaningful than to say the mantra and accomplish the six perfections?"

—Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, Heart Treasure of the Enlightened Ones.

This fifth sound is connected with the fourth and together with that sound it refers to Wisdom. Om Mani Padme Hum is a very strong mantra and in it self the world of Buddhism ... it offers us the basic rules of Buddhism, one of the pilars of haiku.

This sound is about purifying greed and possessiveness, but what is wrong with greed or possession? I am greedy in a positive way:

looking for more
hunting for gold and diamonds -
haiku community

© Chèvrefeuille
 

As I read all the wonderful submitted haiku than I become greedy for more of those wonderful haiku written by you all, my dear Haijin, visitors and travelers. Something wrong with that? I think not.

Another one also with a touch of greed and possession in it with (in my opinion) a clear positive meaning:

first cherry blossom
every day I look up with greed -
another cherry blossom

© Chèvrefeuille

I love to have my Sakura in the backyard and I love to see it's blossoms and yes I am greedy for more of it's beauty, nothing wrong with I think.

In a way this fifth sound "Me" brings me the feeling of happiness of being greedy and possessive, and that happiness is more in the way of I am happy with the things I have, the beauty of haiku, the beauty of Cherry Blossoms ... that's what this fifth sound means to me.
This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and I hope it will inspire you to write wonderful haiku (or tanka) ... I am looking forward to all of your wonderful posts with a kind of greed ... (smiles). This episode is open until next Wednesday December 17th at noon (CET) Have fun.

 

Haiku Shuukan #30, "Pad"

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

I am so happy that I have some spare time to create this new post for our Haiku Shuukan ... really it's a joy to have finally a little bit of time to be on time with publishing here.

This week we are going on with our quest through the six "sounds" of the mantra "Om Mani Padme Hum". And this week we have the fourth "sound" of this mantra "Pad". Before I dive in this episode I will share the meaning of "Om Mani Padme Hum" here again.

Om purifies bliss and pride (realm of the gods); Ma purifies jealousy and need for entertainment (realm of the jealous gods); Ni purifies passion and desire (human realm); Pad purifies ignorance and prejudice (animal realm); Me purifies greed and possessiveness (realm of the hungry ghosts); Hum purifies aggression and hatred (hell realm).

And I love to share a video:

This week's sound is "Pad" and it stands for diligence and purifies ignorance and prejudice (animal realm). It's color is blue and the symbol the deity is equanimity and wishes to be born in the presence of the Protector.

H.H. Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama, "On the meaning of: OM MANI PADME HUM":

"It is very good to recite the mantra Om mani padme hum, but while you are doing it, you should be thinking on its meaning, for the meaning of the six syllables is great and vast... The first, Om [...] symbolizes the practitioner's impure body, speech, and mind; it also symbolizes the pure exalted body, speech, and mind of a Buddha[...]"

"The path is indicated by the next four syllables. Mani, meaning jewel, symbolizes the factors of method: (the) altruistic intention to become enlightened, compassion, and love.[...]"

"The two syllables, padme, meaning lotus, symbolize wisdom[...]"

"Purity must be achieved by an indivisible unity of method and wisdom, symbolized by the final syllable hum, which indicates indivisibility[...]"

"Thus the six syllables, om mani padme hum, mean that in dependence on the practice of a path which is an indivisible union of method and wisdom, you can transform your impure body, speech, and mind into the pure exalted body, speech, and mind of a Buddha[...]"

Thoughts to be had whilst chanting transcribed in simplification keeping essence:

Being and non-beings proliferate loving compassion and indivisible intelligent equanimity; Om Mani Padme Hum.

That is the natural ubiquitous pervasive force of consciousness. These frequencies are in the Sanskrit tongue, act as a harmonic sound resonance against blocking energy, or sleeping energy. Plants reflect this action as well because of the phonetic strength of vibration that is stimulated by natural pronunciation.

Credits: H.H. Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama

How to respond on this all with a haiku? ... Not an easy task ... as I look at the above explanation I think I will go for the wise animal/bird Owl to write a haiku with, because the two "sounds" "Pad-Me" symbolize wisdom. So here is my try to write a haiku in response on this week's prompt "Pad".

lost in the field
only stars as my compass -
cry of a snowy owl

mysterious fields
hidden in mists and greyness -
the cry of an owl

the cry of an owl
resonates through the night
mysterious fields

© Chèvrefeuille

Well ... I hope you did like this post and I hope that it will inspire you to write an all new haiku and share it with us all here at our Haiku Shuukan, our weekly haiku-meme and part of the Carpe Diem Haiku Family.

This episode will be open for your submissions today at noon (CET) and will remain open until next Friday December 5th at noon (CET). Have fun!

Haiku Shuukan #29, "Ni"

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

After not being here for a week, just because I hadn't time to write a post, I am here again to create you an all new episode of our weekly haiku-meme Haiku Shuukan.
As you all know we are busy with the well known mantra "Om Mani Padme Hum" and this week we have arrived at the third sound of this mantra "NI" which purifies passion and desire (human realm). Here is the complete mantra and the meaning of the divers sounds.

Om purifies bliss and pride (realm of the gods); Ma purifies jealousy and need for entertainment (realm of the jealous gods); Ni purifies passion and desire (human realm); Pad purifies ignorance and prejudice (animal realm); Me purifies greed and possessiveness (realm of the hungry ghosts); Hum purifies aggression and hatred (hell realm).

Om Mani Padme Hum

And here is my response on this "sound" of "Ni":

on temple grounds

dogs mating in front of the Buddha -

chanting monks

© Chèvrefeuille

Not a strong response I think, but I like the scene (a bit of humor).

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until next Friday November 28th at noon (CET). Have fun, be inspired and share your haiku with us all.

Haiku Shuukan #28, "Ma"

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Last week we started with a new series of weekly haiku-prompts and it was fun to make that episode, it's a bit sad to see that there are not that much contributors to this weekly haiku meme, maybe that's because of my choice of prompts or they cannot find the way to Haiku Shuukan.
It all doesn't matter, but I would like to see more contributors. The upcoming prompt is "MA" and it is the second syllable or sound of the mantra "Om Mani Padme Hum" which means:

Om purifies bliss and pride (realm of the gods); Ma purifies jealousy and need for entertainment (realm of the jealous gods); Ni purifies passion and desire (human realm); Pad purifies ignorance and prejudice (animal realm); Me purifies greed and possessiveness (realm of the hungry ghosts); Hum purifies aggression and hatred (hell realm).

So this week's prompt is about purifying jealousy and need for entertainment (realm of the jealous gods). It means that with this "syllable" or "sound" you become free of jealousy and the need for entertainment. I think "Om Mani Padme Hum" is a very strong mantra and I love to share here a video of monks chanting this mantra:

I hope it will help you to become inspired to write an all new haiku in response of "Ma".

broken mirror

grabbing the pieces together -

finally free

© Chèvrefeuille

Not a very strong haiku, but it was one of the first which came in mind as I listened to the mantra sung by those Buddhist monks ... in some way I realized that mirrors are the source for jealousy ... don't ask me why I thought that ... I can't tell you ...

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until next Friday November 14th at noon (CET). Our next prompt will be, "Ni" the third syllable or sound of this purifying mantra.

Haiku Shuukan #27, Om

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Here is our new episode of Haiku Shuukan. I love to take you with me into the realm of the Himalayas and the Tibetan Buddhism/Lamaism. And first I love to look with you all to the wellknown mantra Om Mani Padme Hum which has the following meaning:

Om purifies bliss and pride (realm of the gods); Ma purifies jealousy and need for entertainment (realm of the jealous gods); Ni purifies passion and desire (human realm); Pad purifies ignorance and prejudice (animal realm); Me purifies greed and possessiveness (realm of the hungry ghosts); Hum purifies aggression and hatred (hell realm).

This wonderful mantra has six (6) syllables, which stand for six (6) Paramitas. "Om" stands for generosity and purifies pride/ego. The color which belongs to "Om" is white and it stands for the deity of Wisdom.

My attempt to write a haiku inspired on "Om" ...:

entering Heavens
finally purified and without ego
I became wise

© Chèvrefeuille

Well ... it's a wonderful mantra and I hope to read all wonderful haiku inspired on "Om". This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until next Friday November 7th at noon (CET). I will try to post our new episode, "Ma", later that day. For now ... have fun!

haiku Shuukan #26 Zapateado

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

It's almost over our first 26 weeks of Haiku Shuukan. Today I will share the last prompt of these 26 weeks, Zapateado.

After this week's prompt I will try to create a new prompt-list for Haiku Shuukan until the last Friday of this year ... Why? I am having second thoughts about this weekly haiku meme ... I don't know yet if I am going on with this weekly meme ...

I have created a new logo by the way for the upcoming weeks here it is:

Zapateado is a kind of dance ... it's a dance from Spain and Mexico and it's similar with Flamenco and tap-dance. Here I have a nice video with Zapateado ... dancers ... it's a short video, but it gives you an idea what Zapateado is.

What a joyful dance this is ... it's a bit similar with "The Lord of the Dance", Irish folk-dance .... but I like this Zapateado more

under the full moon
zapateado-dancers celebrating -
summer solstice

© Chèvrefeuille

Well ... what do you think of this haiku?
This episode will be open for your submissions October 17th at noon (CET) and will remain open until next Friday October 24th at noon (CET).

Haiku Shuukan #25, Youngsters

Dear haijin, visitors and travelers,

This week there is a lot to do around Carpe Diem Haiku Kai, our daily haiku-meme. I am busy to "renovate" that weblog together with the contributors there. It's exciting to make plans for CDHK and doing it together with the contributors is just a joy.

This week's prompt for Haiku Shuukan is Youngsters .... and I think I only will give the prompt and a haiku written by myself for your inspiration.

cherry blossoms bloom,
under an avalanche of pinkish flowers
their first kiss

© Chèvrefeuille

Credits: Cherry Blossoms at Newark

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until next Friday October 17th at noon (CET). Have fun!

Haiku Shuukan #24, Xenolith

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Our prompt for today, Xenolith, will not be an easy one. I had to search on the Internet to find something about this prompt. And I found the following about Xenolith at Wikipedia.

A xenolith (Ancient Greek:  “foreign rock”) is a rock fragment which becomes enveloped in a larger rock during the latter's development and hardening. In geology, the term xenolith is almost exclusively used to describe inclusions in igneous rock during magma emplacement and eruption. Xenoliths may be engulfed along the margins of a magma chamber, torn loose from the walls of an erupting lava conduit or explosive diatreme or picked up along the base of a flowing lava on Earth's surface. A xenocryst is an individual foreign crystal included within an igneous body. Examples of xenocrysts are quartz crystals in a silica-deficient lava and diamonds within kimberlite diatremes.

Although the term xenolith is most commonly associated with igneous inclusions, a broad definition could include rock fragments which have become encased in sedimentary rock. Xenoliths are sometimes found in recovered meteorites.

Credits: Xenolith

To be considered a true xenolith, the included rock must be identifiably different from the rock in which it is enveloped; an included rock of similar type is called an autolith or a cognate inclusion.

Xenoliths and xenocrysts provide important information about the composition of the otherwise inaccessible mantle. Basalts, kimberlites, lamproites and lamprophyres, which have their source in the upper mantle, often contain fragments and crystals assumed to be a part of the originating mantle mineralogy. Xenoliths of dunite, peridotite and spinel lherzolite in basaltic lava flows are one example. Kimberlites contain, in addition to diamond xenocrysts, fragments of lherzolites of varying composition. The aluminium-bearing minerals of these fragments provide clues to the depth of origin. Calcic plagioclase is stable to 25 km depth. Between 25 km and about 60 km, spinel is the stable aluminium phase. At depths greater than about 60 km, dense garnet becomes the aluminium-bearing mineral. Some kimberlites contain xenoliths of eclogite, which is considered to be the high-pressure metamorphic product of oceanic basaltic crust, as it descends into the mantle along subduction zones (Blatt, 1996).

I hope you can write/compose a haiku with this prompt ... I couldn't ....

This episode is open for your submissions today at noon (CET) and will remain open until next Friday 
October 10th at noon (CET). Have fun ... be inspired and share ... Our next week's prompt will be "Youngsters".

Haiku Shuukan #23 Wasabi

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Another week has gone by and it's time for a new weekly prompt here at Haiku Shuukan. This week our prompt is Wasabi.

Wasabi (Wasabia japonica or Eutrema japonica), is a member of the Brassicaceae family, which includes cabbages, horseradish, and mustard. It is also called Japanese horseradish, although horseradish is a different plant (which is often used as a substitute for wasabi). Its stem is used as a condiment and has an extremely strong flavor. Its hotness is more akin to that of a hot mustard than that of the capsaicin in a chili pepper, producing vapors that stimulate the nasal passages more than the tongue. The plant grows naturally along stream beds in mountain river valleys in Japan. The two main cultivars in the marketplace are W. japonica 'Daruma' and 'Mazuma', but there are many others.

Credits: Wasabi (Dutch website)

I am not really familiar with this plant and I think that there will be no haiku about it. ... As I was on twitter however, I ran into a 'twaiku' (haiku on twitter) which was about Wasabi and I love to share it here.

Small, spicy, and green,
I want to eat all of them,
But they burn my tongue.

© Emily Suderman

And now it's up to you. This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until next Friday October 3rd at noon (CET). Have fun!

haiku Shuukan #22, Violin

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

I am a bit late with posting this post, but there were other things which were a little bit more important. It's a joy to bring you our new prompt for Haiku Shuukan, Violin, so here it is ... Our new prompt is

VIOLIN

and this is my haiku:

the sound of violins
resonates through the summer night -
Tchaikovsky comes to life

© Chèvrefeuille

The violin player on this video is a Dutch woman named Janine Jansen, she plays the violin like a goddess.

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until next Friday September 26th at noon (CET). I will (try to) post our next episode, Wasabi, around that time too. For now ... have fun, be inspired and share your haiku about violin with us all.

Haiku Shuukan #21, Universe

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

I have a busy today. I am creating a few episodes of our daily haiku meme Carpe Diem Haiku Kai and another new post here at Haiku Shuukan our weekly haiku meme. I had what time left, so I could do more than one posts today.

This week our prompt here at Haiku Shuukan is Universe that great space around us and the universe needs no further explanation so here is my haiku for this week's episode:

Orion's Belt

Orion's Belt

brighter than ever
in a moonless night

in a moonless night
wandering over the heath -
the Milky Way

the Milky Way
a path of thousand stars -
like a river

© Chèvrefeuille

It's really beautiful to see Orion's Belt, earlier this day, it was already dawning I saw Orion's Belt arise above the horizon ... gorgeous and breathtaking ...

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until next Friday September 19th at noon (CET). I will (try to) post our next episode, Violin, around that time. For now! Have fun!

Haiku Shuukan #20, Tears

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Another week has gone by, it was a wonderful week, but also a very busy week, but ... well being busy is part of my life. I never will spill a tear about it and that brings me to our new prompt of this week, tears. As you maybe know we are reading "Sand and Foam" by Khalil Gibran at our daily haiku meme at Carpe Diem Haiku Kai and this week I love to share also a 'verse' by Khalil Gibran on 'tears'.

[...] "There must be something strangely sacred in salt. It is in our tears and in the sea". [...]

A nice and very spiritual 'verse' I think and it is here also for your inspiration and mine. I have written the following haiku on 'tears', a year ago:

with tears in my eyes

I see how the wind is ruining
fragile beauty

fragile beauty
a gust of wind tears apart
Cherry Blossoms

© Chèvrefeuille (2013)

Credits: tears

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until next Friday September 5th at noon (CET). For now ... have fun, be inspired and share your haiku with us all here at our Haiku Shuukan.

Our next episode will be universe.

Haiku Shuukan #19, Sleepless

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

A new week has started for Haiku Shuukan and it's time for a new prompt. Our prompt for this week is sleepless and it needs no further explanation I think. So this week I will (try to) keep it short.
Haiku Shuukan is a steady haiku-member of the Carpe Diem Haiku Family and it gives me the same joy as all my other weblogs, there is just a little tiny thing ... I would love to see it grow. So invite other haiku-poets to visit Haiku Shuukan and maybe participate in it. Of course I know that there are several other weblogs about haiku ... but it would be fun to see more participants at Haiku Shuukan.

OK ... back to our prompt for this week SLEEPLESS ... write a haiku inspired on this prompt and share it with us all. I have found a picture to go along with this episode and maybe it will help you to become inspired.

Credits: Sleepless Nights

Well ... have fun, be inspired and share your haiku inspired on sleepless with us all here at Haiku Shuukan.

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until next Friday August 29th at noon (CET).

Haiku Shuukan #18, Rose

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

It's a joy to prepare a new episode of our weekly haiku-meme Haiku Shuukan. I see sometimes new names, but also family-members of our Carpe Diem Haiku Family which is not only this weblog, but several other weblogs too.
For example our Carpe Diem Haiku Family has two weblogs at Wordpress and they are also worth visiting. Here are the URL's of these Wordpress weblogs:

Carpe Diem Haiku Family on this weblog I have also a few haiku-memes, but those are not on a regular bases ... here your can share your haiku inspired on a prompt given in our "Shadow"-meme and on our "reprise"-meme (were I publish on a irregular base prompts from older post of Carpe Diem Haiku Kai on Blogspot.

Carpe Diem's "Tackle It Tuesday" on this weblog, a weekly haiku-meme on (as the name already says) Tuesdays. At this weblog I am giving a weekly prompt more based on the "spiritual" ways of haiku.

Baccarat Rose

But ... that is that ... back to our prompt for this week rose. the Queen of the Flowers, as I may call her that? I love roses and they are so special ... I can remember the first time that I bought a bouquet of roses for my wife. I had asked her to marry me and after that I had a nice romantic dinner organized for the two of us. The keeper of the restaurant was great. She had prepared a nice table in a cosy corner of the restaurant and had decorated the table with the very big bouquet of Baccarat roses (red of course) which I had bought for my wife. Candles burnt and Champaign already in wonderful flutes of crystal ... it was really awesome ... and yes she said yes. Well .... this happened 25 years ago (1989) and we married in April 1991 after the birth of our first son.

roses for my love
on the floor before the fireplace -
the sound of Champaign

© Chèvrefeuille

Well ... I hope you did like this little story and that it will inspire you to write new haiku. This episode will be open for your submissions at noon (CET) and it will remain open until next Friday August 22nd at noon (CET). For now ... have fun, be inspired and share your haiku with us all here at Carpe Diem's Haiku Shuukan.