Carpe Diem On The Trail With Basho Encore *falling willow leaves*

This week on the special feature “Encore” of Carpe Diem our inspiration is a haiku, written by the haiku master Matsuo Basho:

* * *
to sweep the garden
before I leave
falling willow leaves

* * *

I tried not to wander too far from the same mood and spirit in mine:

* * *
empty train station-
the chestnut in my pocket
still warm from his palm

* * *

Carpe Diem Haiku Kai

Carpe Diem Sparkling Stars *Basho’s “the autumn full moon”*

This week the source of inspiration on Carpe Diem Sparkling Stars is a haiku, written by the haiku master Matsuo Basho:

* * *
the autumn full moon:
all night long
I paced round the lake.

* * *

I tried to stay close to the same mood and spirit when writing mine:

* * *
after storm
on maple’ s bare branches
only full moon

* * *
reaching up
eager to touch the moon
even mountain top

* * *
up all night
howling at the moon
neighbour’ s dog

* * *

Carpe Diem Haiku Kai

Carpe Diem Haiku *Basho ”how rare!”*

Our source of inspiration on Carpe Diem today is a haiku, written by Matsuo Basho:

* * *
how rare!
on leaving the mountain
the first eggplant

* * *

The following ones are my attempt to stay close to the same mood and spirit:

* * *
old oak-tree shade
nurtured in maze of roots
black summer truffle

* * *
double rainbow
arches across stormy sky
time to count blessings

* * *

Carpe Diem Haiku Kai

Carpe Diem Tan Renga Challenge *Basho’s “the old lady cherry”*

This week Carpe Diem Tan Renga inspiration and the first stanza is a not well – known haiku by Matsuo Basho. Our goal is to add the second stanza to it.

the old-lady cherry
in bloom: a remembrance
                                                  of her old age                             (Basho)

feeling rugged bark at my cheek
                             childhood memories return                 (Ese)

Carpe Diem Haiku Kai

Carpe Diem Haiku *Basho ”has spring come”*

Today on Carpe Diem Haiku our source of inspiration in the first Matsuo Basho haiku that he has composed, being only 20 years old:

* * *
has spring come
or has the year gone?
second-to-last-day

* * *

With this haiku came a preface (as it was common in those times): ”Today we have the first day of spring in spite of the date”.

In the spirit of Basho’s haiku and following the suggestion of our Carpe Diem host Chèvrefeuille, I decided to post my first haiku. Yes, probably there exist some older ones, scribled on an old newspaper or in an equally old diary but none of that can be accessed at the moment. So, this is the first haiku I posted on my blog soon after starting to blog in general:

* * *
summer dawn
teardrop in spiderweb
entrapped

* * *
Carpe Diem Haiku Kai

Carpe Diem Haiku *Basho “Winds of Autumn”*

Today on Carpe Diem our source of inspiration is a haiku, written by Matsuo Basho:

* * *
a peach tree
its leaves aren’t scattered
winds of autumn

* * *

This is a rather controversial haiku because it has also a reference to Basho’ s homosexuality (in his time homosexuality was very common in the world of arts). The following haiku is my attempt not to wander too far away from the same mood and spirit:

* * *
connecting
two banks of the same river
a rainbow

* * *

Carpe Diem Haiku Kai

Carpe Diem Haiku *Basho ”autumn frost”*

Today on Carpe Diem our source of inspiration is a beautiful haiku by Matsuo Basho (1644-1694):

* * *
if taken into my hand
melting in the heat of tears
autumn frost

* * *

As it was common back then, this haiku had a preface:
”At the beginning of September I came back home. I was already long since my mother had died. The grass in front of mother’s room had withered in the frost. Everything had changed. The hair of my brother and sisters (Basho had a brother, an elder sister and three younger sisters) was white and they had wrinkles between their eyebrows. We could only say, ‘we are fortunate to be still alive’. Nothing more. My elder brother opened an amulet case and said reverently to me, ‘Look, at mother’s white hair. You have came back after such a long time. So this is like the Tamate Box of Urashima Taro. Your eyebrows have become white’. We wept for a while and then I composed this verse.”

I wrote my haiku, trying to stay close to the same mood and spirit:

* * *
dandelion fluff
escaping my palm
evening breeze

* * *
leaving
no trace on the cheek
droplets of rain

* * *

Carpe Diem Haiku Kai