Poetry ~ Waka
My muse and I playing scrabble…
(haiku)
snowflakes
kiss my nose
I sneeze
snowflakes
kiss my face
frisson
(tanka)
snowflakes
kiss my face,
sun glows
dripping down my chin
brightness blinds me
(haiku)
snow melting
reflecting golden sun
in the puddle
© Tournesol ’15
At Carpe Diem we are given a beautiful painting by Van Gogh where the artist spent his last years. Our host, Chèvrefeuille chose House of Auvers for our inspiration to write a haiku. It is an image that one can relate to in many ways. See more information at Carpe Diem – House (au Auvers)
Since the industrial revolution, so many “home visits” have been postponed until spring or summertime. In many parts here in the Montreal area and suburbs, that is mainly due to the weather and icy roads. I used to work for a steel company who gave their employees a 4-day weekend at Easter so many could drive down to Gaspé for instance, to visit their family; most of these families had moved here for work but their hearts were still back home.
village réanimé
retrouvaille familiale
cries des goélands
***
emerging village
family reunions
gulls shriek
© Tournesol ’15
It’s been a while since I sense your presence and yet, that may be a good sign. You are finally reunited with the love of your love. I had a dream last night. Bette, my feline friend who is named after your nickname was playing hide-and-go-seek in your house. We were in your bedroom. You had been on some health food diet and you were clearing your closet. I was shocked to see such order! Well, we know that that was not a priority for you. And why should it, when you had more important things to do, like sit by the window, sipping your coffee and watch the birds by the river, pecking at the bird feeder. Or getting all dolled up with your designer outfits; applying Lancôme or Clinique to moisten your skin; a touch of ombre à paupière and a trace of eyeliner; before running out to go shopping, applying your favourite rouge à lèvre and la pièce de résitance...three sprays of Shalimar.
Whenever you visited your scent lingered for days and any clothes you gave me, laundry could not remove that faint scent of your eau de toilette…that trace of Colombe.
In my dream, Bette snuck behind the wall of your closet and when I followed, feeling like Alice in Wonderland, I found a slight opening and there was a narrow room with odd trinkets and old furniture. Bette had adopted a small filing cabinet. I had never seen this room. You were busy washing clothes, sorting the closet and your commode. It was as if I was not really there but you sort of knew I was there…It felt like I was watching a movie of you…there was a screen separating us, preventing us from touching, hugging.
When I awakened, I realized this was another little visit. And now you know why I named my feline friend, Bette. I’m so glad you met her.
my shawl breathes
scents of Shalimar
trace of you
my shawl breathes,
reminiscence woven
you and me
scents of Shalimar
sweet scented sounds
your laughter
trace of you
faint trails of eau de toilette
remind me of you
© Tournesol ’15
A Troiku is a new haiku form created by Chèvrefeuille at Carpe Diem Haiku Kai
A Haibun is a narrative (prose) followed by haiku. For more information check Haibun Thinking.
grimée soigneusement
grande soirée à l’intention
piégé son homme
~
all dolled up
grand evening with intention
trap her man
*********************************
assise modestement
mine de rien, mais la notion
d’attirer un homme
~
sitting discreetly
innocent looking with the intent
to entice a man
© Tournesol ’15
Written for Carpe Diem Shuukan – Intentions
Photos: courtesy of Chris at Muscleheaded Blog
courtesy of Suzee Ques – Flickr
© Tournesol ’15
One expresses emotions in varied ways and for some it is spontaneous and simply who they are. Perhaps you are like me when you see someone you love and have not seen in a while, you run up to the person and hug them, kiss them on each cheek.
Overjoyed the morning I felt my son moving in my tummy…the basement of our new home had flooded and I could not hide my joy. Could not relate to the damage, the flood or any problem whatsoever for a human life did somersaults in MY tummy!!
Oh how I weep with joy every time I see my daughter performing in a choir, when my son did a guitar solo and sang a Bob Dylan song, when they graduated both from high school and college; and even today when I see them smiling and teasing each other…the joy just takes too much place in my heart and so I weep.
Perhaps your emotions are too close to the surface and your heart swells so much you weep the moment a word hurts your feelings; perhaps it is anger that is too difficult to conceal and you shout, rage or cry again. Maybe you have always felt life dealt you a raw deal and everyone and everything you touch must be for your loss, like a child who stomps off angry because Mommy would not let him eat candy before dinner.
And then there are those who do not express emotions as easily and it eats at them, festers and makes them sick…they are not “at ease” hence it stirs “dis-ease”. The persons who cannot weep when they grieve, express their love when they long, show their joy when they are gripped with such a powerful love…yet to look at their body language, one cannot read the joy, happiness, rapture or sadness.
Sometimes I speak to a person who has gone through the most dreadful experiences in his past, heard such hurtful comments, witnessed such atrocities and yet I hear no emotion in the voice…flat, no affect whatsoever. Over time the dam may open slowly when a person feels safe…In this case, a person had to hide all emotion to survive. To give in to emotion may weaken them and so life goes on with explosive emotions inflating their soul…heart, like a ticking time bomb.
Emotions are not excluded to humans, and we can see that with animals that we love. It could be a horse you would groom for hours before riding, your dog you have walked, bathed like a baby and cuddled with a towel to keep them warm, a cat that leans in close to get a pet, a scratch but deep inside we know it is to be close to you…expressing their emotions in their loving and natural way.
My grandfather had rescued a golden mix a few years before got terminally ill. GrandPapa died later in his bed at his home; when the ambulance came to take his body, Princess, the golden mix, followed the cot whimpering along the side and then went running in the basement howling so loudly. She did not come up for a whole week, so great was her grief.
****************************
© Tournesol ’15
golden glow
greets me on a new day
timecard punched
© Tournesol ’15
Our host and Haiku mentor/master, Chèvrefeuille, prepares haiku prompts daily and sometimes three times in one day. The prompts are not just a word or sentence but also history of Haiku as well he spoon feeds us writing techniques. I started off a year ago writing 17 syllables not really putting too much meaning into the form and have learned so much since then. Check on the link below to see what he is teaching us today...Tournesol.
Carpe Diem Haiku Writing Techniques #8, Karumi (Lightness)
“Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,
It’s Wednesday again and it’s time for a new episode of our Haiku Writing Techniques. This week I love to tell you more about one of the most delightful concepts of haiku writing, Karumi (or Lightness). The concept of Karumi isn’t a new idea, it comes from the other Japanese arts and Basho has tried to bring that Karumi concept into haiku writing in the, say, last ten years of his life.
Not so long ago I got a gift from Jane Reichhold, a copy of her book “Basho, the complete haiku”. You all will understand that I started immediately with reading it, after all (as you all know) I see Basho as my haiku-master.
Jane has put a lot of effort in this book, more than ten (10) years, and of course I was excited and anxious to learn all the wonderful haiku by Basho.
Basho has meant a lot for haiku. He created several new ideas and writing techniques and was really a master of haiku. During his life Basho became in a way a Zen-Buddhist (he studied under Butcho, a Zen Buddhist monk), however he was never really a monk, only during his journeys.
In his time the Japanese roads weren’t great, sometimes only small paths and travelers often were robbed along the way. The most travelers chose to travel like a monk or priest, because that provided them free and save passage. Basho also traveled like a monk or priest, clothed in a black robe and a shaved head.
 |
| Matsuo Basho (1644-1694) |
Basho had a big group of disciples and followers close around him, but also widely spread over Japan.
Basho, the traveling poet (he undertook his journeys almost all in the last ten years of his life), had one goal in his last years. He was anxious to spread his idea, his concept, of Karumi (Lightness) in haiku….” reach more here
I stood in awe
watched a work of art
angels created
I stood in awe
only eyes can admire
an artist paint
watched a work of art
pictured brush strokes in the sky
I stood in awe
angels created
arched moon woos
sparkly stars
© Tournesol ’15
TROIKU, is a new form of haiku (an abstract of one of the Carpe Diem Previews) created by Chèvrefeuille.
Tournesol dans un Jardin 