Category: Haiku

Heaven’s fragrance (Troiku)

© Clr ’14

Snuggled in the trailer with a good novel, she heard the tap dancing on the tin roof.  After the rain, she walked through the garden and allowed the fragrance to wash over her.

(Troiku)

after the rain
fresh scents from heaven
sparrows chirp

after the rain
birds bathe in puddles
children giggle

fresh scents from heaven
garden lily beguiles
rapt butterfly

sparrows chirp
concert in the elm tree
after the rain

© Tournesol ’15

My dear friends Justine and Karuna mentioned this poetry writing course they are taking at The Daily Post – Writing 201 Poetry . Although I know I  will not have time to follow daily prompts, I will certainly enjoy reading from their blogs. They are already gifted writers. Since the first prompt of the day suggests writing a Haiku, well, I had to play with this for fun.  I have written a haiku and then continued on to form a Troiku which is a form created by our host Chévrefeuille at Carpe Diem Haiku Kai who offers daily Haiku guided prompts and shares Haiku form great masters such as Basho and Issa. The Troiku can be explained better by Chévrefeuille but as you can see I used a line from the first Haiku in each successive haiku. You really need the story explained in a lovely historical Russian story by our host about the Troiku, at Carpe Diem Haiku Kai.

Café St-Valentin (Haibun)

(c) 'Clr 15
(c) ‘Clr 15

 

I seem to be truly enjoying this new form of sets of haiku created by Chévrefeuille here at Carpe Diem Haiku Kai called the Troiku.  As I sit here at a Café in the warmth looking out at the snow, I hesitate to leave. It is cold and I have to take a bus to get home and I also like the atmosphere here. It is so pleasant writing in this ambiance, hearing the saxophone blaring in the background with  uninterrupted jazz melodies.   I am a sucker for saxophones and base…it isn`t live music but the sound system is a good quality to drown the chatter of the patrons so I feel the company of jazz musicians and my thoughts percolating before my fingers dance on my keyboard.

(Troiku)
evening idles
at the coffee shop
sipping un café

evening idles
swimming in my mind’s eye
writing

at the coffee shop
jazzy tunes fill the room
saxophone blares

sipping un café
gazing out the window
a poem trickles

(c) Tournesol ’15

evening train (Troiku)

Here are three haiku composed by Stevenson all three are about trains and we are to write a haiku trying to stay in the same mood of this sparkling star our host has chosen.

the train picks up speed,
in a paper coffee cup
concentric waves

the river always
out there in the dark
late train home

coming home
on the train
… the backyards

(c) John Stevenson

I’m not sure I stayed in the mood but I tried to also capture moments living by train tracks. I grew up by the train tracks in Farnham, Québec  and the first few years I was married we lived just below the main train station with at least 10 tracks. Needless to say we would hear trains passing through, shunting and changing tracks most nights and we could actually feel the vibrations when trains sped by.  I chose to write a Troiku and tell a brief story at the same time. The Troiku was created by our host, Chévrefeuille.  To see more about this form click here

Farnham, Québec Railway Station – Wikipedia

cooking supper
kitchen window shakes
evening train

cooking supper
called children to the table
train whistles

kitchen window shakes
pot of stew boils over
train screeches

evening train
children squeal with joy
Daddy’s home!

(c) Tournesol ’15

Carpe Diem Sparkling Stars

Charlie the fisher-cub (choka)

Since this blog is mostly devoted to Japanese forms of poetry, I decided to add this Choka here following a 3-Word Wednesday prompt.  The 3 words are: devious  – frown  – venomous 

 (choka)

Mama frowned at him
worried for her baby cub

Charlie insisted
I’ll be okay, Mama Bear

he went to the lake
he’d have to be devious

to outsmart those fish
but she didn’t know his friend

Pooh Bear was his pal
brought his bucket of minnows

they caught many fish
Mama would be proud of him!

then he heard a sound
a rattle snake snuck near him

Pooh jumped up and down
excited and petrified

not grasping he’d squished
that venomous rattle snake

Hurray, Hurray! Pooh!!
Mama’ll be ever grateful

you’re a shoe in now
come on let’s break the good news
off they marched with the day’s catch

© Tournesol ’15

a prayer (Troiku)

poppies
say a prayer
in remembrance

poppies
put them all to sleep
but the Tin Man

say a prayer
soldiers now in heaven
blessings

in remembrance
poppies on all lapels
bugles sound

(c) Tournesol ’15

Carpe diem Poppies

The tulip garden (haibun)

(c) SeasonalCelebrations at Pinterest
(c) SeasonalCelebrations at Pinterest

When I was a young child we lived in a flat next door to the Franks family. Mr. and Mrs. Franks would work from May to October tirelessly in their garden. I had never seen such a garden that took their entire backyard. There was a small patio and the rest was all flowers. But not just any kind of flowers…tulips of so many colours. Mr. Franks would smile at me when I would dawdle by the fence. Well, hello, Mr. Franks, I would think to myself, I sure would love to have one of those yellow, white  or red soft as silk tulips there. But he never seemed to read my mind and it was rude to ask, so I would walk up and down the dirt driveway very very slowly pretending I was searching for pebbles. The siren would blare at noon and still I would wait. Of course my mother would have to come out to call me in for lunch by now and she would see me by the fence; and as soon as my beautiful mother walked down the steps, Mr. Franks would lift his head and have the nicest smile. Actually I think his face lit up when he saw my mother. She would smile back and do what she did so often with her eyelashes (I tried for years to bat my lashes as quickly as she did but never succeeded!) Mr. Franks would prepare a bunch of tulips and hand them over the fence to my mother. Now it wasn’t Mr. Franks beaming but yours truly with a huge smile on my chubby face.

CLR 2014
CLR 2014

long slender stems,
chubby face peeks in wonder
red and white tulips

red and white tulips
plead to be shown
in a crystal vase

(c) Tournesol ’15

Carpe Diem Tulips

Tranquility (haibun)

SOURCE
Lillie McFerrin Writes

Jonathan sat on the curb and waited for someone to give him enough change to meet his quota so he could finally reach nirvana. The night had been so slow since the snowstorm had started up and “pedestrians were just rushing to get home in their nice dry, cozy homes” he snickered to himself with a bitterness that was not like him.

Nightfall came slowly and the only customers he got were the odd city maintenance men taking a break at MacDonald’s for a hot coffee after plowing the streets of Montreal most of the night.  He was shaking and knew he would not be able to tough the night here, so he dragged his shaky twig of a body to an air vent near the Métro Berri…just right to warm up enough and not die of hyperthermia.

Just as the sun was rising over the grey, damp and cold city, he woke up and walked over to rue St-Pierre to stand in line until le Centre du Petit Voyageur, a methadone clinic would open at nine o’clock,

killing a pain
an opiate buzz offers
tranquility

© Tournesol ’15

Five Sentence Fiction Open

Lillie McFerrin Writes

Today’s Quote

Wise words and stunning photo d”un tournesol:)

echoes of her son (troiku)

Carpe Diem Haiku Kai – Poppies

pins a poppy
looking in the mirror
echo of her son

pins a poppy
children dancing in the street
wonder why the tears

looking in the mirror
ghosts from battlefields
tears on her cheeks

echo of her son
whispering soothingly
I’m okay.

or

echo of her son
tear not for me
I’m okay

© Tournesol ’15

Carpe Diem Haiku Kai “Poppies”

Our host shows us how to write a Troiku (a new form of Haiku)  here