Thought Prints

Carpe Diem's Tan Renga Wednesday #11 family tombstone Five years ago this very morning my mother died.  I had spent the night with her at the new nursing home we had just moved her to the previous day.  She was not happy.  Due to loss of eyesight in one eye, falling and breaking a wrist in less than 5 weeks she developed delirium.  She was still enough of herself that as we were getting her ready for bed she made one statement.  "I am gonna get up and walk right out of this place by morning."  Around 7 AM I left to get a cup of coffee and stretch my legs.  When I returned her life force was gone.  adding father’s name to the family tombstone with room for my own © Nicholas Virgilio saints gather to greet arrivals she ran to Dad's arms © petra domina

Carpe Diem #1804 New Beginnings ... candlelight instantly flaming candles fill the sky a new year instantly warm lips meet melting the cold flaming candles fill the sky smoke fills the air stars obscured a new year corks pop as flutes clink a sea of people © petra domina To anyone who stops by for a read the following was the challenge for today's work: "Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers, Yes ... another episode of our wonderful Kai, because I was late with our Monday episode, "snowdrops". Today I love to challenge you two times. I love to challenge you to create a "fusion-ku" with two given haiku and to create a Troiku with your new "fusion-ku". I have chosen two haiku by Jane Reichhold extracted from her online Saijiki "A Dictionary of Haiku", section New Year. Here are the two haiku to work with: a new year rising from wild seas a few stars filling the glass with candlelight champ...

Carpe Diem #1802 New Beginnings ... without beginning Deathpoem by Shinsui (* - 1769) beginning first steps final breath © petra domian

Carpe Diem's Tan Renga Wednesday #10 such a cold night kazuki fusu futon ya samuki yo ya sugoki lying down with quilts over the head such a cold night © Basho (Tr. Jane Reichhold) curled into his warming hold memories of young love unfold © petra domina

Carpe Diem #1801 New Beginnings ... first cry cold sparrows huddle dream of spring and  building nest hatchling's first cry  © petra domina Chèvrefeuille, our host of the Japanese poetry blog, Carpe Diem Haiku Kai, challenges us with 'first cry'.  Us members of the Kai invite you to join us in learning and writing this wonderful form of poetry.  Click here to visit the blog.

Carpe Diem #1800 New Beginnings ... first leaf falling breezy morn silently first red leaf falls moon set  © petra domina Simply click on the opening line of this post and you can visit the Carpe Diem Haiku Kai challenge of the day.  Home page can be reached here .

Carpe Diem Weekend Meditation #112 Transformation ... sketching from life (Shiki's Shasei technique)  WYSIWYG is a computer programming term meaning What You See Is What You Get.  It seems to me that the form of writing Japanese haiku known as Shasei is basically the same thing.  To understand better read the full prompt by clicking here . Our challenge today is to take a haiku written by Shiki in the Shasei technique and make it a tanka. Sketching from life — eggplants are harder to do than pumpkins © Masaoka Shiki (Tr. Burton Watson) orange circle with shaded ribs eggplants, defined by light © petra domina Be sure to join the fun of reading and learning about this wonderful form of Japanese poetry!

Carpe Diem #1799 New Beginnings ... a huge wave (Crossroads feature) "Today I have chosen two haiku written by her ( Jane Reichhold)  and I love to challenge you to create a "fusion-ku" and with that "fusion-ku" a Troiku ... (more on Troiku above in the menu). Here are the two haiku by Jane to work with: a huge wave thundering across the beach my birthday sky-clad the new-born comes wrapped in previous lives © Jane Reichhold (extracted from the online Saijiki "A Dictionary Of Haiku", section "New Year")" pain filled wave the future is now crowned as grandma smiles pain filled wave engulfing all who stand near just breathe the future is now crowned in the pink, chubby fist mom's finger as grandma smiles dreaming of future adventures seeing the past in that face © petra domina As I read the challenge and the two haiku I thought of my husband's birth.  He is in his 80th year.  ...

Carpe Diem's Tan Renga Wednesday (9) I ate a persimmon Today's challenge is to take a haiku, add two lines of 7 syllables each to make a Tan Renga. When I ate a persimmon The bell rung The Horyuji temple © Shiki O bāchan gathers the fruits Cookies for tomorrow's tea © petra domina Hope you will stop by Carpe Diem Haiku Kai to join in the fun of all forms of Japanese poetry.

Carpe Diem #1797 New Beginnings ... First Snow I grew up in an area that was too far south to get snow 99% of the winters.  I would hardly freeze.  Then I met a man who grew up in the hills of Missouri.  Within a few years of our marriage we moved to his home town.  Our first winter there were six weeks where the temperature never reached 32℉, 0℃.  It snowed.  We did not have a sleigh so I used a paint roller pan to pull my two year old son around our yard.  I loved the snow.  Especially the early morning quiet of a snowfall. morning breaks winter's bleakness hidden first snow © petra domina Such a great place to enjoy haiku and other forms of Japanese poetry.  Be sure to visit Chèvrefeuille's Carpe Diem Haiku Kai to see what you can learn about this unique form of poetry.

Carpe Diem 1795 New Beginnings ... Rainbow What a wonder to my mind is a rainbow.  Imagine for a moment you are the Creator of all things.  You decide to paint the sky as a promise.  You look around and all you have is water, soil, air, a bunch of planets and a star.  A star so bright that it warms the soils and turns the water into a vapor. The vapor rises.  The vapor then gets cooler and begins to form droplets.  Clouds are formed from the droplets.  Now you make the droplets get bigger and become so heavy they begin to fall back to earth.  That star is at just the perfect angle to shine on the falling drops.  Almost by magic the droplets split the light from the star into all the colors of your imagination.  An arced painting appears in the air.  Imagine. wondrous colors spread across the heavens Creator's vow © petra domina © petra domina 2019 Japanese poetry especially the haiku is such a great wa...

Carpe Diem #1794 New Beginnings ... new born In our 1999 Jeep Wrangler Hubby, Janer and I were bouncing along the country lane one early spring day.  Top down, enjoying every bit of nature along the way.  Just on the other side of a barbed wire fence we heard a sound.  The momma cow dropped a new baby. tender grass shoots embracing the new born calf tongue's caress © petra domina One of the most inviting and helpful haiku and Japanese Poetry sites on the web is Chèvrefeuille's Carpe Diem Haiku Kai .  Come join the fun and write a few lines yourself!

Carpe Diem's Tan Renga Wednesday (8) New Year's Morning New Year's morning the first day begins in the same dream © Jane Reichhold (1937-2016) awakened to reality by rockets red glare © petra domina Enjoy haiku or other forms of Japanese poetry?  Would you like to learn more about the art of haiku?  Maybe you just want to read some nice poetry.  Come on over the Carpe Diem Haiku Kai .

Carpe Diem #1793 New Beginnings ... first day of spring Living in Central Texas our winters are very mild.  Sure we have a few days below the freezing point but most days are warm or warmish.  Today on the 6th day of January we stopped for frozen custard. Customers were in their shorts playing corn hole.  It surely felt of spring. custard melts kites filling the blue sky this first day of spring sticky little fingers  point to the swallows above © petra domina Learn about the art of Japanese poetry or just enjoy the work of these participants on   Carpe Diem Haiku Kai .

Carpe Diem #1792 New Beginnings ... New Year's Day © petra domina first sun rises glassful of mulled rice wine  toasting lion dance © petra domina From our Master's original post/challenge: " The theme for this month is New Beginnings and today we start with ... New Year's Day ... Our classical haiku masters wrote a lot of haiku about New Year's Day ... here are a few examples:" it’s play for the cranes flying up to the clouds the year’s first sunrise … © Chiyo-ni the first dream of the year — I keep it a secret and smile to myself © Sho-u New Year’s Day– everything is in blossom! I feel about average. © Issa Year after year on the monkey’s face a monkey’s face © Basho New Year's eve -- through the bare branches the wind as always © Chèvrefeuille Come join in the fun of haiku at the Carpe Diem Haiku Kai .