light of grace (tanka)

[...] "All the darkness in the world cannot extinguish the light of a single candle.” [...] by Francis of Assisi

lost in darkness,

shower of despair halts,

light of Amma`s grace

her children feel compassion

melting in her warm embrace



 

© Tournesol '14

 

 

Amma's darshan

 

 

 

Carpe Diem Special #107, Words said by Francis of Assisi  

 

 

 

Tree of Life (tanka)

Today, Hamish Gunn of Cabin Fever is our Ghost Writer.  He is presenting us with the image of the Tree of Life which he has visited in his past in the desert of Bahrain.

He says: 

"Quite a few times Chèvrefeuille has alluded to the deeper meaning in haiku, and his haiku. Try to bring that into your haiku about the Tree of Life. That deeper meaning is not there in the first reading, or maybe not even in the second. But have it there.

In this haiku by Chèvrefeuille for example, in his 'Carpe Diem lecture 1':

the fence looks bright

in the early hazy sunlight -

crystal cobweb

(c) Chèvrefeuille

We see the intense image, but also a story. Why 'early'? It helps the imagery, but also evokes youth, as does the bright, and therefore freshly painted fence of the new home. The crystal cobweb further nudges the scene of a newly married couple – the precious stone of wedding ring – but the cobweb is the warning, the path that will not be easy, full of traps. The effect, then, is of a wonderful morning in a new home, with cutting, dark edges to the innocent scene."

Hamish invites us to dig deep inside our souls as we write with this prompt "Tree of Life".  This is to be our title we must use to ensure we do not use those words in our haiku or tanka. We are asked to give our verse depth as well as imagery.

Our host has upped the bar with such vivid picture here:

the Garden of Eden,

entrance to paradise,

will there be Bonsai?

© Chèvrefeuille

Tree of Life Bahrain (© Hamish Gunn)

L’ermite

erre le désert en explorant

serpents attardent

béni d’une présence sacrée

ramures et  feuilles enlacent

~

the hermit

roams the desert in quest,

serpents lie in wait,

blessed with  sacred presence

branches and leaves embrace
+

seek not alone

branches hold the leaves

ants applaud

© Tournesol 2014

Submitted for: 

Carpe Diem Ghost Writer #24, Hamish Gunn's analyzed a haiku.

Posted by Cheryl-Lynn Roberts, 2014/09/09

bare branch (haiga)

(c) C.L.R, 2014

perfect sunny day

twisting apples off a branch

a caterpillar snores

praying for clumsy hands

a worm smiles at the child

basket full

naked branch safe for some leaves

dogs wrestle

(c) C.L.R. 2014

(c) Tournesol `14




Posted by Cheryl-Lynn Roberts, 2014/09/07

Haiku Horizon, Branch

spirits rest (haiga)

Submitted for Carpe Diem #555 Cemetery

 

From a Dictionary of Haiku by Jane Reichhold here are are some of Jane's haiku on this theme:

 

sleeping peacefully
the Best Western Motel
by the cemetery

grave marker
as a cradle headboard
rest in peace

abandoned cemetery
iron keys cross the ground
no one going in

© Jane Reichhold

 

I have chosen mostly photos from Notre Dame des Neiges Cemetery in Montréal, where there is a huge family tombstone on a plot,  my great-grandfather O'Donnell had purchased.  My aunt told me that he had allowed several friends who could not afford a plot to be buried here. My grandparents and my father are here. 

 

Notre Dame des Neiges Montréal, Qc.

 

 

dansant toute la nuit

auberge des biens heureux

Grand-papa rigole  

 

pierre familiale

crie les noms de les ancêtres  

hommage sacré   

plus d’un siècle d’irlandais

jig au violon des séraphins

 

family tomb

cries the names of ancestors

sacred homage

a century of Irish folks

jig to the seraphim’s strings

© Tournesol 2014

 

Cemetery rich in wild flowers

gravestones

veiled in weeds and dandelions

spirits moan

 

© Tournesol 2014

 

 

 



Notre Dame des Neiges Cemetery Montréal, Qc.



 

 

 

spirits gather

soon it will be Hallow’s Eve

fox lookout

 

 

© Tournesol 2014

 

 

 

Posted by Cheryl-Lynn Roberts, 2014/09/07

Tournesol dans un Jardin

foresaken

© C.L.R. 2014

waters in danger
earth is heating, species dying,
mother nature weeps

wars camouflage the plain truth
why have you abandoned me?

alone,
survival of the fittest
mother nature weeps.

© Tournesol

Last hope for survival: work globally and not forsake our planet.

© Tournesol

Posted by Cheryl-Lynn Roberts 2014/09/01

Carpe Diem Haiku Kai #551 "Abandonned"


kissed by serenity (tanka)

© C.L.R. 2014

 

the river mirrors

sails hang loose in silence

wind stands still

coast on an inward journey

kissed by serenity.

 

© Tournesol

 

 

 

© Tournesol

 

Posted by Cheryl-Lynn Roberts, 2014/08/27

Mother Nature's loom (tanka-American sentence)

This is a prompt I missed due to lack of time but I keep rereading it and it spoke to me. Our host wrote such a beautiful piece relating to Life being a Tapestry and it is quite meaningful and insightful, so I am sharing it here:

Life is like a tapestry by Chèvrefeuille, August 18, 2014

The creation of a tapestry starts at the beginning with an empty weaving loom. The weaver sits in front of it and meditates and contemplates about what he/she would like to create. Is it just a piece of art-work or does it have meaning? It doesn’t really matter. The weaving technique is the same (I think), but the result can be so much different. After he/she has decided what to make he/she will make a sketch and decides which colours, which material and which technique will be used.

Than he/she starts to create his/her tapestry and while looking at that process one can see how the tapestry becomes as was the idea … the colours are coming together making patterns, creatures, flowers and so on are becoming real … at the end the weaver sits back looks at his/her work and will smile, maybe will applaud and yell “eureka!” Another wonderful tapestry has been created and can be sold … or just put on the wall at their home. 

Chèvrefeuille goes on to say:

I think that our lives can be compared with a tapestry. As we are born the Weaver (God or Higher Self) starts his work with us. He looks at us and sees our future already, but he doesn’t know how our path would be going … which decisions we make … say ‘karma’ … The Weaver cannot interfere in our life. We are making our own mistakes, making the wrong decisions and so on. But … the Weaver has an idea about our lives. He has a design in mind for us and that design he starts weaving on his weaving loom.  © Chèvrefeuille at Carpe Diem #542 Tapestry

I have added a photo that I took last Fall that felt like a "moment of grace" when I witnessed such beauty. I was driving East to visit my mother at the nursing home and had to stop the car off the highway and find a side street in a tiny village to catch this for I knew I would lose that sky by the time I reached my mother`s town.

© C.L.R. October Masterpiece '13

Mother Nature’s loom.

(tanka)

toiling with patience

a chef d’oeurvre was created

muse des beaux arts

etched meticulously

ages before the Big Bang

(An American sentence) 

Trees stood in reverence at a masterpiece woven with magenta threads.

© Tournesol '14

Posted by Cheryl-Lynn Roberts, 2014/08/24

slow caterpillar (tanka)

Inspirations etc

caterpillar crawled

I dreamed I ran in water

treading so slowly

resting on the elm tree branch
a butterfly was born

© Tournesol 2014

Submitted for Carpe Diem's "Little Creatures" #2, "I dreamed I was a butterfly"