rainforest concerto (tanka)

CARPE DIEM HAIKU KAI, Narratives, tanka, Tournesol dans un jardin 2 Minutes

 

The Time Glass  prompt today at Carpe Diem  Valley Stream, is to use the haiku composed by your host AND the photo of a waterfall.  It was tempting to complete this into a tan renga but he did mention a “solo” renga or a tanka.  I could not help but notice the waterfall was a photo in Maui, Hawaii. When I saw the last line of our host, “the silence” I thought of birds singing being masked by the sounds of gurgling streams OR the roar of the waterfalls.

I wanted to include birds from Hawaii and liked the sounds of the honeycreepers such as ‘l’iwi , hearing several examples on Youtube. I wanted to add the name of a tree that these birds inhabit and fell upon the Ohia lehua tree.  Well, that brought me to a legend and Carpe Diem is keen on legends and stories.

Legend explains the birth of the Ohia tree and its flower, the Lehua blossom. The legend is tied to the volcano goddess, Pele. This story explains that if you pluck this flower, it will rain on the same day (for a tragic reason).

The legend of the Ohia tree and the Lehua blossom

The legend says that one day Pele met a handsome warrior named Ohia and she asked him to marry her. Ohia, had already pledged his love to Lehua. Pele was furious  so she turned Ohia into a twisted tree. The gods took pity on Lehua and decided it was an injustice to have Ohia and Lehua separated. So, they turned Lehua into a flower on the Ohia tree so that the two lovers would be forever joined together. So remember, Hawaiian folklore says that if you pluck this flower you are separating the lovers, and that day it will rain.

What a beautiful legend…so romantic too!  Now to complete this prompt:

Our host wrote:

Gurgling valley stream
brings joy to the heart of Mother Nature –
Il Silenzio © Chèvrefeuille

l’iwi – wikimedia

 

Waterfalls
drown echoes of wildlife
ohia tree
‘l’iwi chirps a concert
sucking on a lehua

© Tournensol ’14

 

I’iwi honeycreeper sees off an Apapane

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A little bit about moi: I am a mom, a nana, a sister, a woman, a friend, a human being…a youth counsellor, Family Life Educator. I have been working in the helping profession for over 25 years and volunteered in various capacities from youths to seniors. Tournesol is my nom de plume for haiku and other Japanese form poetry here at Tournesoldansunjardin https://cheryllynnroberts.wordpress.com I hope you enjoy reading through my daily waka. I also have another blog "Stop the Stigma" where I may stand on my soapbox now and then and hope it will become a place to drop in and share or comment on issues important to you. In that vein this could be a great way to learn from each other. http://stigmahursteveryone.wordpress.com

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15 thoughts on “rainforest concerto (tanka)”

    1. Ah beaming with chest stuck out with pride…merci bien, ma chère. Tonigt a friend at work saw me posting my last haiku and said, how do you get ideas every day like that so quickly? My response was, “Quickly? no no, I work at it all day and evening for a few posts…no, not quickly.”

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      1. Ah .. but your colleque feel that he/she couldn’t do it in a month of Sundays … that’s what he/she was saying. I know what YOU mean too … sometimes the prompt percolates forever before the brew is done!

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      2. I was a good student but I always had to work extra…so when my peers would say I was lucky…nope, suffering distractions easily (we didn’t know about ADD) I had to reread chapters 2 and three times.

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    1. Yes, we are a family and one I am so glad to be a part of. I enjoy your blog(s)…learning much from your travels…always a pleasure to read and learn or live vicariously through your journeys.

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