Many of you enjoyed the afterglow, Haijin! Thank you for the anniversary well-wishes.

Congratulations to last week’s contributors:

Haikai Challenge Participants 

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Moving forward!

I’m back from Portugal! It was an extraordinary experience that I’m still processing. Some of you may have followed my “Portugal Notes” posts. I plan to submit more as I continue wrapping my mind around the journey.

All journeys have their end, however, and with returns comes unfinished business. Today, I tended the yard. Yesterday, I heard a sound that heralds the late summer that all-to-quickly approaches: the cicada:

The Cicada’s song has long been associated with late summer in Japan:

Japan’s summers ring in to an annual soundtrack. The melody rides the humid summer breeze from the mountains, down through the forests and along the rivers and roads. Although the musicians prefer the trees, their performance is nearly inescapable. And it’s long. The symphony starts slow in the spring and builds to a crescendo midsummer before fading into autumn.

This week, write the haikai poem of your choice (haiku, senryu, haibun, tanka, haiga, renga) that states or alludes to the cicada (semi)

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.

Enjoy the high summer, Haijin! Relish that musician’s song!