Miya Ando’s Oborozuki (Moon Obscured by Clouds) at Nancy Toomey Fine Art, courtesy Marina Times
You listened for the songs and heard them! Here’s to you, Lark-loving haijin! Congratulations to all contributors:
Haikai Challenge Participants
| 1. qbit 2. Ken Gierke / rivrvlogr 3. KanzenToni 4. Linda Lee Lyberg 5. Jane Dougherty 6. Revived Writer 7. Reena Saxena |
8. Vivian Zems 9. Jules 10. Merril D. Smith 11. Zander 12. Sue Vincent 13. Xenia Tran 14. Janice (Ontheland) |
15. Pat R 16. Jane Dougherty 17. Suzanne 18. Petru J Viljoen 19. joem18b |
Powered by… Mister Linky’s Magical Widgets.
And now, to this week’s challenge!
What a week we have coming! The 23rd Winter Olympics are underway. Valentin’s Day falls on Ash Wednesday. And Lunar New Year kicks off on Friday, February 16th! What’s a haijin to do? Check the season, look to the sky and find the common elements that inspire.
The moon will be 1% visible this Valentin’s Day/Ash Wednesday and 3% visible by Friday. the next New Moon is right in between, on Thursday. The themes of this week fall into place in light of the moon:
- Love blossoming in the growing moonlight.
- Our collective call to change our lives, as the moon wanes to new, then waxes anew.
- The struggle for Olympic gold continuing as the moon ever brightens.
All happening in this late winter that corresponds to traditional spring, with all the clouds that implies.
Therefore, your kigo this week is hazy moon (oborozuki). Write the haiku, senryu, haibun, tanka, renga, haiga or any other haikai of your choice that states or alludes to hazy moon.
As always:
Here’s how the challenge works:
1. write the haikai poem of your choice.
2. post the link of your post to Mister Linky.
3. pingback by posting the link to the challenge on your site.
4. read and comment on other contributors’ posts.
Write on, haijin! Happy Valentin’s day to all that celebrate (and happy black Wednesday to all that don’t); A good Lent to those celebrating the penitential season beginning this Wednesday; and Happy New Year to those celebrating Lunar New Year 2018!
Share the love. Spread the haikai:
Categories: haikai, haiku community
Frank J. Tassone 
I’ve left out the syllable count this time, Frank. I still don’t know if these are haiku.
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They are, Jane. And they’re beautiful haiku, at that! 🙂
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I’m pleased. Must mean that I’m finally cracking the mystery 🙂
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Indeed! 🙂
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🙂
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Wonderful poems again, Frank.
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Aren’t they, Sue? 🙂 These haijin deliver!
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🙂
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Those pesky clouds!
https://rivrvlogr.wordpress.com/2018/02/10/shifting-clouds-mask-moon/
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LOL!
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Hi Frank, you have a lovely family–and I so admire the work you do, teaching. This looks like a fun blog challenge…but I have a question: how strict are you going to be? I was an English Major, but I confess I have trouble keeping to a rigid structure with many poetry forms. I don’t want to join in if I’m not going to measure up…and look like an idiot 🙂 Blessings to you.
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Thank you for your kind words, Sandal. As to the haikai challenge, as long as it is some form of Japanese-style English-language poetry, it’s in. While I have my own aesthetic, which you can see from the haikai poetry that I reblog from others as well as my own published work, I’m easy-going about the haikai submissions of others. Feel free to read the poetry others contributed to past challenges to get a sense of what others share. And enjoy! 🙂
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Thanks much, Frank 🙂
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The moon is always a fun subject. I replied as if I could have seen the moon… as it was we had heavy fog (after a good day of rain yesterday) which returned to rain throughout the night and continues still… Might need help building an ark as the creek is rising fast!
if the sky were not hazy…
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Happy you enjoyed the kigo this week! 🙂
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Depending on the thickness of the waxing and waning moons our family has nick-names of “banana moon” and “fingernail moon” – but I am sure we were not the first or are the only ones to think of those shapes 🙂
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Happy Monday Frank! I hope you have a wonderful week. Thanks for a great prompt.
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aloha Frank. every moonlight is worth haiku moments. i like the kigo, hazy moon. although i may have forgotten how to ping back. still, fun on. aloha r.
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Salude, Rick! I received your pingback and just commented. Beautiful ku!
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aloha Frank. ha. it seems i remember how things work shortly after i i discover i can’t remember how to do something, and then some how get it done any way. bwahahahaha. welcome to the planet earth, rick. ha. and fun on too. thank you. aloha r.
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This may or may not contain haiku…
https://methodtwomadness.wordpress.com/2018/02/13/from-one-to-the-next/
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Works for me as an avant-garde haiku sequence.
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