This time on Carpe Diem Modern Times Haiku we are introduced to a well known haiku and tanka poetess Margaret Chula. Among several haiku of hers I was the most drawn to the following one:
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following my footprints
of fifty years ago
those endless summers
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Here’ s mine – hopefully, not too far from the same mood and spirit:
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hopscotch in the yard
jumping through childhood memories
barefoot again
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My inspiration on Carpe Diem Special this week was one of the haiku, written by Adjei Agyei Baah – a well-known poet from Ghana:
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origami frog
frozen in its trail
no jump over the moon
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Here’ s my attempt to stay close to the same mood and spirit:
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frosty window pane
he draws the ancient patterns
dreaming of home
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wild strawberries
summer flavour on a pine needle
my childhood forest
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sunburnt sand
sweat bead between my breasts
reaching oasis
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scent of green coffee
rising above soft peaks
desert moon
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lost among sand waves
i long for a crisp breeze
sea of memories
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tangle of colourful tails
racing each other and clouds
childhood memories
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grandfather’ s house
at the end of empty road
just a pile of stones
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This time on Thursday’s Special Challenge the ‘lady of the manor’ is a fellow blogger – the one and only Restless Jo. She inspires us to think of a restored property that we would like to share, or maybe one that’s in need of love and attention, so…this is what came to my mind…
All my life I have had (and always will have) a “special relationship” with Kuldīga – a town in western Latvia therefore I decided to make this post a little about it. For the first time Kuldīga was mentioned in 1242. In the 17th century it was one of the capitals of the Duchy of Courland, and today the town is proudly called “the pearl of Kurzeme” (Courland). One of the main symbols of Kuldīga for many years has been the old masonry arch bridge across the river Venta.
The red brick bridge was built in 1874, and it was done, according to the 19th century standards – 500 feet long and 26 feet wide, for two carriages to pass each other. It consisted of seven spans of brick vaults, and during the World War I two of the spans were blown up (you can see them renovated in much more pale colour also in the photo above).
Image courtesy: the archives of Google
The bridge was renovated in 2009-2010, and to this day, being 164m long, it is the third longest brick bridge in Europe.
Be inspired and inspire!
More about Paula and her Thursday’s Special Challenge here:
I still remember the strong scent of lilacs, almost trapped in the sultry summer air that night. The pitch black sand still radiated afternoon heat in waves around my feet. I had walked for hours but maybe it was much less – any sense of time had disappeared. I didn’ t want to see or hear, I didn’ t need to think and I tried not to feel. Squatting on the ground at the pond, I wrapped arms around knees, tightly, trying to protect myself…from what? The world seemed so usual but empty and big. Too big.
I nursed my grief as the night embraced everything in the dark veil. Lights went out one after another, and the town had gained its peace. The moonlight was all there was left – like the last breath, still reaching out for life.
weeping willow
rigid over the murky water
silence of the frogs
This week’ s inspiration on Carpe Diem Special is another haiku, written by a pre-Basho haiku poet Iio Sogi (1421-1502) and translated by our Carpe Diem Haiku host Chèvrefeuille:
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abandoned house
the garden taken over –
butterfly home
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Here’ s my attempt to stay close to the same mood and spirit:
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old diary
wind pages through memories
in smouldering ruins
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