Hello, haijin!
I know, I know: It’s been a long time since I posted a #Haikai challenge. A long time. & to be completely honest with you, I was uncertain if I would ever post one again.
Longtime readers lived through the experience; for newcomers, I will say this: I hit the wall midyear of 2021. The worst writer’s block of my life arose. I scarecly wrote, and the first series of #Haikai Challenge became the principal casualty.
Things have changed, however. Beginning this past fall, I worked my way out through the block. The worst of it has passed.
And today, Roman Catholics (along with many other Christians?) celebrate the feast of the Epiphany. Often nicknamed Three Kings Day or Little Christmas, the feast commemorates Magi from the East visiting the Holy Family, presenting gifts to the infant Jesus, the newborn king whose star they followed. It is a feast that celebrates all spiritual seekers discovering what they’ve searched for, symbolizing that encounter with the Truth that makes all of the difference.
Such a celebration offered me an epiphany of my own. And so, I inaugurate the #Haikai Challenge II series!
Each week, I will offer a kigo (season word). Your challenge, should you choose to accept it, is to write the haikai poem of your choice (haiku, senryu, haibun, tanka, haiga, renga, etc.) that alludes to that kigo on your own blog. That’s it!
This week’s inaugural Kigo is first dream (hatsuyume). A traditional New Year’s Kigo, hatsuyume (first dream) offers a wide array of interpretation. Allude to it any way you like.
But as the devil is in the details, 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.
Happy New year, haijin! Happy Three Kings Day/Little Christmas to all celebrating!
Frank J. Tassone 
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