Thank you for acknowledging your independence, haijin! Congratulations to last week’s contributors:
Haikai Challenge Participants| 1. Jane Dougherty 2. Reena Saxena 3. Tessa 4. The Dark Netizen | 5. Janice 6. Petru J Viljoen 7. Jules 8. Ken Gierke / rivrvlogr | 9. Merril D. Smith 10. Linda Lee Lyberg 11. Dwight L. Roth 12. Revived Writer |
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Looking ahead
We are at the cusp of the second week of July. This is the last month of summer according to the traditional lunar calendar. The temperature in the New York Metropolitan area has flirted with 90 degrees F, with smothering humidity accompanying the heat.
So let us contemplate a late summer kigo that has serious cultural cache: the lotus:
A prominent figure in Buddhist and Egyptian culture, and native flower forย both India and Vietnam, the lotus holds enormous symbolic weight. It spans various thousand-year-old Eastern cultures and yet, is still considered one of the most sacred flowers today. So what is it about this mysterious blossom that people find so enrapturing? Its colorful bloom is an obvious suspect, but the lotus also has a life cycle unlike any other. With its roots based in mud, it submerges every night into murky river water, andโundeterred by its dirty environmentโit miraculously re-blooms the next morning without residue on its petals.
Although cultures have their own interpretations of this daily process, there is a general consensus among ancient texts that it symbolizes spiritual enlightenment and rebirth. The lotus stunned people with its ability to dip into the grime and revive itself unscathedโan incredible daily cycle of life, death, and a sudden immaculate rebirth that can only be described as spiritual. It is no wonder the lotus is associated with such celestial symbolismโthe flower simply defies logic.
byย KATIE ROBINSON The Secret Meaning of the Lotus Flower
This week, write the haikai poem of your choice (haiku, senryu, haibun, tanka, haiga, renga, etc.) that alludes to the lotus (hasu)
As always:
Hereโs 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 contributorsโ posts.
We leave for vacation tomorrow. While I will schedule the next #haikai challenges, expect a round-up post when I return, instead of the usual in-challenge post round-up.
Savor the enlightenment, haijin!
Frank J. Tassone 
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