Poetry ~ Waka
doubt it not:
the blossoms of the tide also show
spring upon this bay
© Basho (Tr. Barnhill)
Oh the giddiness!
ruffles and crinolines
frilly waves
Oh the giddiness
rolling over laughing
foaming at the mouth
Ruffles and crinolines
rising and falling like –
can can dancers
Frilly waves
memories of yesteryear
our innocence
(c) Tournesol ’17/02/27
Written for: http://chevrefeuillescarpediem.blogspot.ca/2017/02/carpe-diem-1162-ueno-iga-province.html
Shinano’s deep wooded mountains
even in Fifth Month…
cherry blossoms
©Kobayashi Issa
gusts from the Rockies
kiss the tide at Stanley park
cherry blossoms
©Tournesol’17/02/21
In regard to the poem, called “Oh, Morning Glory!”, Hirshfield quotes D. T. Suzuki:
“The idea is this: One summer morning Chiyo the poetess got up early wishing to draw water from the well…She found the bucket entwined by the blooming morning glory vine. She was so struck…that she forgot all about her business and stood before it thoroughly absorbed in contemplation. The only words she could utter were ‘Oh, the morning glory!’ At the time, the poetess was not conscious of herself or of the morning glory as standing against [outside] her. Her mind was filled with the flower, the whole world turned into the flower, she was the flower itself…
“The first line, ‘Oh morning glory!’ does not contain anything intellectual…it is the feeling, pure and simple, and we may interpret it in any way we like. The following two lines, however, determine the nature and depth of what was in the mind of the poetess: when she tells us about going to the neighbor for water we know that she just left the morning glory as she found it…she does not even dare touch the flower, much less pluck it, for in her inmost consciousness there is the feeling that she is perfectly one with reality.
“When beauty is expressed in terms of Buddhism, it is a form of self- enjoyment of the suchness of things. Flowers are flowers, mountains are mountains, I sit here, you stand there, and the world goes on from eternity to eternity, this is the suchness of things.” Taken from WomenMasters
the well –bucket
taken by the morning glory:
I ask for water
© Chiyo-Ni
My humble offering inspired by Chiyo-Ni’s haiku:
on a bed of daisies
prickly grass no longer,
dandelion puff
dandelion puff
my body
floats
©Tournesol’17/02/21
chanting her mantra
leaves nodding gracefully
by the maple tree
chanting her mantra
barely a sparrow’s lilt
lazy afternoon
leaves nodding gracefully
momentary pause
praising the sun
by the maple tree
hum shanti shanti shanti
all-embracing joy
©Tournesol’17/02/18
May all beings everywhere be happy and free, and may the thoughts, words, and actions of my own life contribute in some way to that happiness and to that freedom for all. Peace, Peace, Peace.
the sound of rain
baby’s
bedtime lullaby
~
the sound of rain
a thousand feet
tap dancing
~
the sound of rain
tat tat tat
on a metal roof
~
the sound of rain
tapping on the window
a cat yawns
~
the sound of rain
angels in heaven
applauding
Carpe Diem Haiku Kai ~ The Sound of Rain
the sound of rain
drumming against the window
lovers’ serenade
the sound of rain
in the night
muffling their moans
drumming against the window
keeping in time
with their heartbeats
lovers’ serenade
tangle of limbs
spellbound
©Tournesol’17/02/15
evening
waves come into the cove
one at a time {Jane Reichold 2000}
silent mist sprays
over our nakedness
©Tournesol’17/02/10
sandals in petals
yet he’s so poor
his hat’s a sack {Matsuo Basho}
my starving artist
fills me plenty
©Tournesol’17/02/10
sleeping outdoors
with friends
summer constellations {Matsuo Basho}
backs on ticklish grass
seven sisters beaming
©Tournesol’17/02/10
softly brushed his arm,
gracefully pouring tea
her silk kimono
©Tournesol’17/02/06
on the rooftop
in quiet contemplation
sun bows gracefully
wishing love and happiness
shanti shanti shanti
©Tournesol’17/02/05
She likes starting and ending her day wishing peace and happiness worldwide.
Carpe Diem Haiku Kai – Namaste
Lokah Samasta Sukhino Bhavantu
Our host, Chèvrefeuille, at Carpe Diem Haiku Kai, published the two winners of the Autumn Kukai last week. I have to say the winners’ masterpieces truly inspired me today. I find haiku is like an abstract painting. The artist knows what he or she is seeing and feeling at that very moment. The reader is like the admirer of the artist’s work, seeing and feeling the words painted on the canvas.
Both haiku inspired me to write. I could not help but see myself in the moment of each ku. Starting with the runner up, Sara McNulty who is a gifted poetess writing waka as well as other forms. I find her poems make you stop…and think.
steaming gold
on chilled October evening
mug of hot cider
© Sara McNulty
Such a lovely and colourful image I see and remember coming home from school shuffling through falling leaves. The crisp air a sign of the season and walking into GrandMaman’s kitchen…
harvest scents
eventide
spiced with her love
©Tournesol’17/02/05
I’m reminded of November, where November 1st, All Saints’ Day seems to set the stage. Where saints are remembered and their ghosts hover over cemeteries and barren parks. Where naked trees have shed their colours and long bare arms outstretched like Jesus on the cross, weighs on our hearts. November days, damp and cold has not seen the first snow yet to soften the blow of endings.
tearful skies
November rains
say goodbye
And now, the winner’s haiku, Hamish Gunn who is a published author, storyteller and poet, writes a haiku that speaks to me. Yesterday, I wrote an entry in my personal journal on another blog and “letting go” seems to be a sign the universe is telling me in so many ways.
we learn
from autumn
to let go
© Hamish Gunn
What a thoughtful ku that any reader of any age can relate to in so many ways, starting with …
letting go
autumn leaves
summer love
©Tournesol’17/02/05
Any parent knows the feeling the first day you bring your child to daycare or school…that first day, that moment you see your child walk into a new setting without you and you still remember what you felt.
chubby little hand
a world away from home
lets go
©Tournesol’17/02/05
Of course at any stage of their lives, you remember those moments. I remember the first day my first-born went to nursery school, the first day at Kindergarten; and then my youngest at fifteen months, going to daycare for a few hours with her brother, wailing, clinging to my breast. Her brother watching over her like a big brother feeling her sorrow tries to make her smile.
tiny tot clings
mysteries of the unknown
pleading eyes well
mother’s reassuring smile
gently lets go
©Tournesol’17/02/05
I could go on and on with so many life cycles with those three perfect lines, we learn/from autumn/ letting go but I will end with my mother’s passing in late autumn, on December 2nd, 2014. Typically, in Québec, we consider December winter but officially it is not until December 22nd, the shortest day of the year. So here I share a series of haiku in a form created by our host, Chèvrefeuille, called a Troiku.
mother’s last lesson
listen to leaves falling
in autumn
mother’s last lesson
teaching me
letting go
listen to leaves falling
return one last time
to Mother Earth
in autumn
one last
goodbye
©Tournesol’17/02/05
Daily moments inspired by Hamish and Sara at Carpe Diem Haiku Kai
Lessons on Letting Go – Troibun Febuary 5, 2017
Tournesol dans un Jardin 