Snow on Apricots

apricot branches reaching toward the sky - late spring snow

Read more haiku from

April 2006

March 2006

February 2006

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Plums in Snow

plums in snow ! shades of white on my canvas

Look at the PINK flowers in the snow.


More of my Haiku from March 2006 !


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Crocus

the soil coughs, pushing blossoms into spring . Haiku © by Robert Wilson .

Saijiki for Europa: Crocus

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Dog without Tail

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No-Definition of Haiku, my Way

If you call a tail a leg, how many legs has a dog?
Five? No, four.
Calling a tail a leg doesn't make it a leg.!
Abraham Lincoln

Before reading the parable of Lincoln, I had phrased my question in this way (and that was way before the birth of my kitten Haiku-Kun).

If you take a cat (or dog to keep in the parable),
cut off his head (kigo),
cut off his four legs (5-7-5),
cut off his tail (kire-ji) and
present this creature to the world,
what would it be called?

Maybe a very badly damaged dog, unable to live up to his nameing.

Or maybe reborn as something completely different, vaguely ressembling his former self?


AAAA, what are we to make of this?

How to name the new creature ?



Take your time to read

The Haiku Dog without Tail ... Discussion
with Susumu Takiguchi


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spring is coming -
Daruma puts his sandal
on his head




. And here is why Daruma has only one sandal ... .


ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo


Here is a koan about a dead cat



THE TEACHER Nansen found two groups of monks, from the East hall and the West hall, squabbling over the ownership of a pet cat. He picked up the cat, waved it in the air over his head, and said to the quarrelers:

"Say a good word if you want to save the cat!"
No one said a word.
Nansen went to the kitchen, brought back a big cleaver, and chopped the cat in half.
He gave one-half to each group.

That night when Joshu returned to the monastery, Nansen told him the story. Joshu said nothing; but he took off his sandals, balanced them on his head, and walked away.

Nansen said aloud, "Joshu could have saved the cat."

http://www.terebess.hu/english/zen.html



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Another thought about the Definition of Haiku

Anything goes.
In an international haiku community, there are many options based on many opinions.
The patient has a right to informed consent.
The poets are given enough information to choose what they can accept.



Basic Haiku Theories
Definition of HAIKU

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Ume Ichirin

梅一輪　一輪だけじゃ　春寒し ume ichi rin ichi rin dake ja haru samushi one plum blossom just one blossom - spring is still cold

This morning we had a radio interview starting at seven in our garden, looking for spring in our area, but it was still very cold ! And I had to cite one haiku on the spot.

I was reminded of this famous haiku:

Ume ichi-rin ichirin hodo no atatakasa

Hattori Ransetsu (1654-1707)

one plum blossom
brings us just one more
step to the warmth

(Tr: Gabi Greve)

. Radio Interview March 2006 .

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Tensaku by Susumu Takiguchi

This haiku poses a number of interesting questions, one of which is what is called 'honka-dori'. Strictly speaking, this is a technical term for waka and renga, and later was also adoped for haikai-no-renga with specific rules about its use. It therefore is not really a term to be used for haiku but nevertheless people do. Honka in honka-dori, also called moto-uta, means an original poem (if it is an original text or episode, it is called hon-setsu).

Honka-dori is an action to write a new poem but alluding to a honka. Such allusions, it seems, are banned or shied away in the American-led haiku trend but it is an integral and most legitimate part of Japanese tradition. Basho used this technique all the time, so much so that one gets under the impression that every other haiku by him is an allusion.

As Gabi has explained, this haiku is alluded to a haiku by Ransetsu, which is so famous that it is in the 'flesh and bone' of all Japanese and ranks as high as a group of masterpieces which include Basho's old pond haiku. Ume (plum, Prunus mume) represents that part of the time of the year which sits between winter and spring, or more precisely in the overlapping period of the two seasons. It therefore presupposes the possibility of the remaining cold from the winter, even if the kigo itself is for spring (of course it also depends on different varieties of ume, some bloom early, others late).

Ransetsu's haiku is like either saying that the cup is half full or half empty, i.e. saying the same thing from different viewpoints. Namely, it is talking about the warmth which increases day by day but by so doing it is also implying that coldness still lingers. Here, the kigasanari (double kigo) is seen between ume and atatakasa (warmth), both of which are kigo for spring but it is applied with care and therefore the result is very effective.

Honka-dori can become a mere parody which is of less literary merit. Gabi's haiku is not a parody but verging dangerously on it. What can make it not so?

In Gabi's haiku, there is also kigasanari, ume and haru samushi (also, haru-samu, samuki-haru, shun-kan, ryou-sho). Since the remaining coldness is given, as explained above, there should be more to be done with the kigo haru samushi.

Also, as previously pointed out, there is a slight mixing of kogo and bungo, and I would just like to keep recommending Gebi to go on studying bungo.

(This is a project dealing not with haiku in English but in Japanese. But it may be useful to point out that the word 'blossom' seems to be more commonly used as a collective noun, or even talking about individual flowers it seems more common that it is used in plural form, i.e. blossoms. So, it is normally either 'blossom' as a collective noun or 'blossoms'. Therefore, it would be safe to use the word 'flower' instead. However, I must ask native-speakers of English for right answers)

Thus my TENSAKU for this haiku is:

ume ichirin
ichirin dake ja
mada samui

(all in kogo)

or

ume ichirin
ichirin naredo
yo-kan ari

(all in bungo)

ume ichirin
ichirin ni shite
sae-kaeru

........

Kengin, Susumu

Thank you so much, Susumu sensei.
I like the koogo 口語　better, but I will work on my bungo !

A few days later we even had snow on the plums !



plums in snow !
shades of white
on my canvas



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. WKD : Plum blossoms (ume) 　


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Buds in Kenya

spring sunshine - young buds sprouting from the dry earth For my friends in Kenya, who are trying their hand at haiku.

BAHATI Haiku Club, Kenya


Kenya Haiku Discussion Forum


Kenya Saijiki


Click on the first photo to read more of the Bahati Haiku Club activities.

March 2006

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Shadow of Seeds

spring is a-comin' ! the shadow of seeds on a wall ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo a star of autumn left in the weeds - spring is a-comin' !

The atmosphere is indeed more like autumn.
Photos taken in March 2006, though ! :o)

Read more of my Haiku from March 2006

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Amanojaku

天の邪鬼　春の日差しに　悪さなし you can't do harm in the spring sunshine - pretty monsterlin

Look at more of these monsterlins, called
Ama no Jaku (Amanjaku)

The Japanese story is about our local monsterlin Amanjaku in Ohaga. My friend, the potter Takagaki Mondo 高垣門土, makes these little figures from Bizen Pottery.


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天邪鬼 Heavenly Evil Spirit

. アマンジャク( Jizai-Ten 自在天. Daijizaiten 大自在天) .

Amanojaku is a small demon-like creature who can provoke a person’s deepest and darkest desires, instigating him to do evil deeds.
In the fairytale “Urikohime”　瓜子姫, a girl borne from a gourd was raised by an elderly couple, sheltering her from evil. One day she let Amanojaku inside the house and he killed her, using her skin to impersonate her.



アマノサグ Amanosagu from Aomori
tells the story of Urihime 瓜姫子 from 五戸町 Gonohe Town.
. . . The Amanojaku impersonating the Girl was to be wed. At the Wedding Party the "Girl" ate all the food and was thrown out of the house as a bakayome 馬鹿嫁 useless, dumb bride.

. Legends about Plants　植物と伝説　shokubutsu to densetsu .

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The amanojaku is commonly held to be derived from
Amanosagume (天探女), a wicked deity in Shintō myth, which shares the amanojaku's contrary nature and ability to see into a person's heart, "a very perverted demon".

The creature has also entered Buddhist thought, perhaps via syncretism with the yasha, where it is considered an opponent of Buddhist teachings. It is commonly depicted as being trampled on and subdued into righteousness by Bishamonten or one of the other Shitennō.
In this context it is also called a jaki (邪鬼).
©　More in the WIKIPEDIA !

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jakibarai 邪気払い to purify the place or person from evil influence

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Amanojaku at temple Gansenji, Kyoto

岩船寺の三重の塔を支える天邪鬼



amanojaku no mayoke no o-mamori 天邪鬼の魔除のお守り
amulet with Amanojaku

Temple Gansenji 岩船寺
京都府木津川市加茂町岩船上ノ門４３

. Amulets and Talismans from Japan .　

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. Legends about Amanojaku 天邪鬼 .

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Spring Bee

ミツバチも　黄線の蜜　飲みにけり a first bee - sipping from the yellow spring erste Biene - wir trinken von den Gelben Quellen

A more litteral version of the Japanese haiku would be:

Yellow Springs of Death !
even the bees drink of the
yellow honey

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..... The Yellow Springs in Chinese Mythology

Spring Festivals in India (Vasannta Utsav)

Bee (mitsubachi) Kigo for All Spring

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Rainclouds

Morning Meditation morning meditation among the clouds a wandering monk morning meditation a monk wanders among the clouds ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo morning meditation the smoke of incense hangs in the tree

Two Wandering Monks -
Kanzan and Jittoku 寒山拾得

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Red Dots

an old root cradling new life - spring sunshine The red dots are not even one milimeter in size.

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More Haiku from March

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Spring Weeds

雑草や　道端の春の　色となり all the colors of spring - weeds by the roadside

To take part of the full Spring walk,
click on the flower !

More haiku from March 2006

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Haru no Kokoro

春日差し　わが心　空となり spring sunshine - my heart becomes the sky

More Spring Haiku


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Buds in March

木瓜　Quince ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ready to start the circle of life - buds, buds buds

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More Haiku from March

World Kigo Database: Quince blossom (boke no hana)

World Kigo Database: Daphne (Jinchooge)

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Reading

Suggested Reading ... for a rainy day


She regards herself to be deeply religious but with no denomination.
Karen Armstrong in the Washington Post,



Daruma Museum Library

Koreaforum : Korea Asia Forum by Gabi Greve

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snow in March

三月や　まれに見られし　今朝の雪 already march ! the sparkling snow of this morning

Look at more photos here.

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060301 March

............ this old plum tree




古梅や　不思議に見えし　幹の苔





old plum tree -
growing so wonderous
moss on your stem


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Read the Archives of February 2006
２月の日記を読んでください


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