artfully pouring tea,
a geisha dances
flute’s harmony
(c) Tournesol ’14
Category: Tournesol dans un jardin
river heals (Tan Renga)
Such a lovely prompt today at Carpe Diemto complete a Tan Renga. Our host shares his heart warming delight that Carpe Diem has become an engaged and loving family. Here are two completions by our host.
river stones
caressed by flowing water
pale moon shines (Becca Givens)
the sound of a waterfall
makes the night more silent (Chèvrefeuille)
river stones
caressed by flowing water
pale moon shines (Becca Givens)
behind a thin veil of clouds
she, the one I love, smiles at me (Chèvrefeuille)
Indeed, I am a late comer, more like the half-sister or step-sister whichever seems the nicest {grins}. A family that creates an art painters do, a mood great writers do and encouragement and guidance a caring parent or older sibling do. In that vein I have written this. I am starting with the completion that suits the mood of this prompt best.
river stones
caressed…
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rainforest concerto (tanka)
Maui Hawaii
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.
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Mother Earth’s quilt (haiga)
Our host has posted music to inspire us. I don’t know about you but fairies, leprechauns and angels keep fluttering in my mind’s eye. Perhaps it is the Irish in me for I do love Celtic music and this piece brings me close to my Irish roots on Ballybunion. I am not much of a fairy tale writer as you may have noticed in my other blog I wrote for the Lavender Lady at MLMM prompt. My children told me while they were growing up all the bedtime stories, I invented when tucking them in, were not subtle enough…all had a morale to the tale and they quickly figured it out. . Well, what do you want with a mom who is a counsellor and family life educator? But I do remember one tale of the rabbit with those long droopy ears and that extra tall giraffe who were…
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rainforest concerto (tanka)
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
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
serving tea (haiku)
soothing tea (haiku)
I love sipping tea in porcelain tea cups. My great aunt bequeathed her collections to my father and I now have them in the same curio my Auntie Mae O’Donnell had. Although the tradition is on my Father’s side, my aunt being Irish, my mother taught me how to brew my tea as young as five. She would let me drink it in espresso cups which was just right for my tiny fingers.
My grandson loved to drink tea as well and would choose his tea cup whenever it was tea time. One day I invited my friend and her daughter who was grandson`s playdate. Well! I set up their tea cups with the tea pot brewing their tea. Ah, the cute things they do at five. I doubt he would want to even admit doing this now that he is 10.
I had a dear friend living next door when we were raising the children. I would often tuck in the children and run off to spend the rest of the evening with her sipping tea for hours. We had an understanding…when I`d call to say I was coming over, she would put on the kettle so when I arrived the water would be ready for my tea.
I find tea to be soothing. It is a lovely social ritual and different in many parts of the world but mostly, I like the subtle comfort it brings, the aroma of herbs, fruits and flora. Some teas are quite eccentric with a flower that expands in a special transparent tea cup. Tea is often a nice desert after a meal. How do you like your tea?
served in fine china,
floral and herbal teas
soothing the soul
(c) Tournesol ’14
Pearly grey isn’t so bad (haibun)
Things rarely turn out as I imagine. This is sometimes best for what joy, discoveries and excitement would I find if my life was all mapped out. I’d be like a peg on a wall map. My need to control would actually make me a slave of my making. Do I get disappointed with the outcomes of life’s events? Of course I do many times. The heartaches, the disappointments and the self-degradation are part of life and in some ways who I am. I am a product of my past and life experiences. How I make of it, is still my choice. We always have choices…not always in abundance. I may have to choose for a pearly grey from a drab grey but still, I have a choice. And with the darkness of despair how else would I be blinded by the beauty of the glowing stars as well as golden sun? If I have doubts about love and being loved, I meet exuberance when I am embraced by those who do love me. It may come from someone I have not been waiting and then that makes it a double bonus cherished and forever imprinted on my heart.
I am a daydreamer by day and by night. Many times I cannot tell where a dream started or where a fantasy ended. And is that important? When life takes too long to show its glowing stars, I escape into stories I devour for days and days. And more recently, I dip into my consciousness and write what transpires from many escapades in delusions and fantasies, me, myself my muse and I.
skies weep,
autumn showers
paths shimmer
raindrops
on golden leaves
hold me hostage
tints compete
greys lose race,
autumn scoffs
© Clr ’14
© Clr ’14
mediocre mouse
corn field plays
bumblebee
dreaming on canvas
beauty penned at night
© Tournesol ’14
Luminescence – Tan Renga
Photo credits: WhiteDovesofModesto
Here is my post at Tournesol dans un jardin submitted for: Carpe Diem Tan Renga Challenge #46, Jamie Wieland’s “the glow of thedawn”
Tranquility-Haiku (Carpe Diem TackleItTuesday #1 Serenity)
Sri Swami Sivananda (1887-1963)
This week the first episode of Tackle it Tuesday is Serenity and it is based on the philosophy of Sri Swami Sivananda (1887-1963) who composed the song of the 18-ity. He was born in the south of India an studied medicine. He worked as a doctor several years in Malaysia. After that he settled in Rishikesh at the foot of the Himalayans where he devoted his life to yoga and the spreading of it.
The first ity was serenity and the goal was to meditate and contemplate about this ity and become silent. Every ity needs a week (or a month) to learn. After you have done all 18 ‘ity, you start again with number one and so on. There will become a time that you have changed into a better person, more in balance.
deep silence
at the top of the mountain
I discover myself
© Chèvrefeuille
centre on my breath
silence, picture open meadows
OM, I`m at one.
&
eyes closed
cross-legged, breath relaxed
tranquility
© Tournesol 2014/08/04
Tournesol dans un Jardin 
