CD : 528 Basho 6

CD-528-basho-6-my-dreams-start

Basho's own death poem is thought provoking and enlightening:

tabi ni yande  yume wa kareno wo  kake-meguru

ill on a journey

my dreams start to wander

across dessicated fields

© Matsuo Basho (Tr. Chèvrefeuille)

will there be any -

words left when breath becomes slow

so many already

some shared, some read, some blue too

the journey continues now...

©JP/davh

CD : Ghost 19 : spotlight

Just because they are fun...and I thought of this last night...

not sure what sparked it but I like how it polished up.

CD ghost-writer-19-Georgia

Georgia asks us to try a kyoka - please go to the CD link for full instructions:

Here is my third act...

spotlight

miss Gypsy Rose Lee

only sold you a look look-see

when prancing on stage

wardrobe malfunctions were staged

in her Burlesque act, right ma?

©JP/davh

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gypsy_Rose_Lee

CD : Ghost 19 - advance

CD ghost-writer-19-Georgia

Georgia asks us to try a kyoka - please go to the CD link for full instructions:

Here is my second ...

advance

parry and thrusting

are actions to take forth

when dancing with swords

fair maidens indeed concede
to the gallant gent who wins

©JP/davh

I think little explanation is needed ;)

CD : Ghost 19 Georgia

CD ghost-writer-19-Georgia

Georgia asks us to try a kyoka - please go to the CD link for full instructions:

Here is her kyoka followed by my attempt:

in Busch Stadium

the pitcher smiled then let loose

smashing the batter's arm

he sure balled up that inning

two others’d been based on balls*

© G.s.k. ‘14   (use G.s.k. sample without instructions?)

*base on balls - if the pitcher throws four balls, the hitter is awarded a free "walk" to first base.

For some modern English examples:  http://simplyhaiku.com/SHv7n2/reviews/Streetlights.html

kyoka?

Asian Limerick?

by another name, to tame

by taking a pun

like *”balls to the wall” without

a pilot or aeroplane

©JP/davh

*balls to the wall = slang; origin: The "balls" (in older aircraft) are knobs atop the plane's throttle control. Pushing the throttle all the way forward, to the wall of the cockpit, is to apply full throttle. "Balls to the wall"which has come to mean: To push to the limit, go all out, full speed.

CD : 527 Shiki 5 : haiku series; treasure hunter

CD -527-shiki-5-departed-soul

sponge gourd has bloomed

choked by phlegm

a departed soul

© Masaoka Shiki

from a bathing tub

I throw water into the lake -

slight muddiness appears

© Hekigoto

far fireworks

sounding, otherwise

not a thing

© Hekigoto

morning dew

evaporates in the early sunlight -

spirit climbs to the sky

© Chèvrefeuille

haiku series:

treasure hunter

child in the sink

a warm bath - she remembered

at her grandmothers’

silent stepping there;

no one spoke of who was not -

the angel mother

words like fireworks

exploded then stopped  - as if

death completed life

memories never

spoken, were allowed to be

lost until later found

in old photographs

that were stored and covered with

decades of grey dust

©JP/davh

CD : 526 Issa 5

CD -526-issa-5-new-years-writing

wanpaku ya mazu tenohira ni fude hajime

in the naughty child's

palm first, a brush...

New Year's writing

© Kobayashi Issa

New Year's Eve

children playing with the fresh fallen snow -

fireworks coloring the sky

© Chèvrefeuille

celebrate many

new year holidays

at any time

some follow lunar calendars and

others follow the earth around the sun

starting in autumn

continuing throughout winter

many celebrate

©JP/davh

http://patch.com/michigan/bloomfield-mi/5-97364391#.U9VS9PldX1g

CD : 525 Buson 5

CD -525-buson-5

shira ume ni akuru yo bakari to nari ni keri

the night almost past

through the white plum blossoms

a glimpse of dawn

© Buson

white cranes

flying above the meadow -

church bells ring

© Chèvrefeuille

matriarch, she drew

just enough breath those last days

to say her goodbyes

living twenty years without

her husband - did she join him?

enduring cold weather;

stayed close to her family -

yet independent

whispering a few regrets

into the bells of my ears

her white wispy hair

framing her face, lined in age

by a good long life

©JP/davh

7.26.14

Note: This is in honor of my mother-in-law who lived a very long life, mostly her way.

I can only hope her glimpse of dawn has brought her peace.

CD : 524 Chiyo-Ni 5

CD 524-chiyo-ni-5-waterweed

waterweed

floating away, despite

the butterfly’s weight on it

© Chiyo-Ni

seaweed, harvested

is freed from sandy soil

watch for the snails

©JP/davh

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edible_seaweed

CD : HS 15

CD /haiku-shuukan-15

young girl and her friends

fell deeply asleep, what dreams

slowed their way to Oz

*

Alice ate and drank in

followed a rabbit throughout

her own Wonderland

*

This is what happens when I am half asleep myself

and mix up two of my favorite stories...:

Alice and her friends

fell deeply asleep, what dreams

slowed their way to OZ

©JP/davh

CD : TR 44 : Sho-u

CD TR 44 Sho-u

mannaka ni  fuji sobietari  kuni no haru

in the centre,

mount Fuji towers up:

spring in our country                                   © Sho-u

a gathering of families

celebrates the cherry blossoms                 (Chèvrefeuille)

*

in the centre,

mount Fuji towers up:

© Sho-u                                      spring in our country

around the table; laud freedom -

©JP/davh                   bless each other with presence

CD : 523 Basho 5

CD 523-basho-5-how-rare

mezurashi ya   yama wo ide ha no   natsu nasubi

how rare!

on leaving the mountain

the first eggplant

Basho

the sweet perfume

of the Honeysuckle

makes me drowsy

© Chevrefeuille

kiku-no-hana

(listen of - or perhaps to the - flower)

chrysanthemum or

kiku so close to being

my birth month flower

symbol of both love and death

the daisy salad evolves -

once an herb for tea

now official seal and crest

for the emperor

©JP/davh

note: kiku-no-hana translates to listen of flower;

perhaps the many petals look like ears?

http://www.nybg.org/gardens/home-gardening/tips/chrysanthemum-history.php

http://www.nicjapanese.com/english/e-cul-kiku.html

CD : 522 Shiki 4

CD 522-shiki-4-cuckoos-cry

minazuki no  kokū ni suzushi  hototogisu

in the coolness

of the empty sixth-month sky...

the cuckoo's cry

© Masaoka Shiki

the summer heat

trembles at the horizon -

a cooling breeze

© Chèvrefeuille

small bird chatters loud

in the cottonwood’s cool shade

remember them all

©JP/davh

CD : Ghost 18 : Bats

CD : ghost-writer-18-jessica

hot night --

bats dangle

at the river's edge

Issa (tr Lanoue)

July dusk

bats flitting in the lamplight

shadows flicker

© Jessica Slavin

late at night

bats fly around the block

on the hunt for food

© Chèvrefeuille

creek bats

make no sound

that I can hear

worth their weight in gold

tipping natures scales

while they dine

during the moody dusk

just before dreams

©JP/davh