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.
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.
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…
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 bullied but I digress.
This music brought me to a whimsical place but not quite lost. My desk faces a patio window and I see the trees shedding more each day especially with the cold rain in the past three days. So listening to this beautiful piece of music I can’t help but see fairies working tirelessly adorning warm coverlets before the white duvet that is far from warm, but cold…very cold will cover our earch.
Here is the music our host has posted to inspire us:
Adrian von Ziegler – Sacred Earth
And here is his beautiful haiku:
Mother Earth blossoms
while I dream of unknown paths –
the scent of roses
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 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:
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.
Water is actually my lifeline in so many ways. At first I looked at this prompt and attempted several completions that appeared morose and yet it is meant to show the power of water and how its presence in my life changes the currents in my heart, soul and moods. So I wrote several and reread the instructions of our host giving us a choice to write another haiku or completion. Ah, so back to the drawing board and here are my haiku that map a part of my journey before I arrived to the above completion.
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?
Maui Hawaii 
Tournesol dans un Jardin 
