old and new

Truly an old end and a new beginning :-)
A ram of a self-shearing breed on our farm,
last summer, halfway through the shedding process.

self-shearing sheep summer’s moonspun dreams, soon ended. fleece even to the end new growth replaces old floating garment

blackbird turns over each and every unraked leaf laboriously but not in vain fresh growth beneath spent life promise and hope

Written for a prompt at CarpeDiem

Pop the corks and throw the streamers

Amidst the planets and the stars Shattered fragrance dances As strings of crystals whirl around Bright blue light enhances The dark Deep black but not stark No sound No sign of vapour trails I'm going all the way to Mars Exuberance prevails

I tried to concoct the haiku out of my earlier poem, but didn't succeed.

deep black but not dark strings of crystals whirl around exuberance floating on high with the planets and the stars shattered fragrance great outburst of fun people popping corks throwing streamers midwinter midnight fire vying with the sun outdoes the stars

Written for a prompt at CarpeDiem

peripheral

peach blossoms commuters in a hurry see only the road

Written for a prompt at CarpeDiem

stars by day

in the light of day stars evade our blinded eyes paled and unperceived

Written for a prompt at CarpeDiem

icy snow

iris reticulata

Written for a prompt at CarpeDiem

Xmas reds and gold

With best wishes for an enjoyable festive season.

Written for a prompt at CarpeDiem

chrysants and winter grasses

.

Buson: yoruno ran kani kakureteya hanashiroshi orchids in the night in their fragrance hidden -- the flowers white. == Kristjaan Panneman: samourai warrior enchanted by the beauty of orchids bows his head in praise in admiration he gives his beloved girl white orchids

hands shimmer with dew skin of nighttime ivory stroke the blossom snow

winter grass bows under the weight of snow pays homage

- -

Written for a prompt at CarpeDiem

skating

.

musical arabesques shiny steel slices through ice yuzuru hanyu he flies, he soars, he jumps, he spins, he glides he pirouettes yuzuru hanyu he makes music visible he IS the music regained perfection in an imperfect world yuzuru hanyu ice becomes his skates his skating becomes him a very becoming pair stellar bauble a glittery ornament in the skating sky yuzuru hanyu he brings tears to our eyes by just being there

If you want to see him win the grand prix final in Barcelona, take a look HERE
.
Written for a prompt at CarpeDiem

Advent candle

cedar branches glow azured by candle light warmed resin drips blue Candle created with cedar, cherries and rime melts the coldest heart melting rime of hearts love is an act of courage flame still burns bright

moon is on the wane croissant with yellow butter last treat before new

Written for a prompt at CarpeDiem

misty mornings

foggy days

moisture drops congealed half the world concealed one of winter's woes autumn fog is light winter fog lays heavy on the mind fog and snow the big concealers hiding what is bad mystery cloaked the pheasant flies into nothingness the flying saucer not stopping passes back into the mist a nothingness slowly being unveiled by the winter sun

Written for a prompt at CarpeDiem

winter hermitage

.

Life seems drab this time of year. Not enough sun, not even enough light. Both indoors and out, our mood needs help to stay on an even keel. What kind of help depends on the circumstances and one's taste. Many people like having a fire in the room: A hearth, to burn fossil fuels, coal or wood. I don't. Having seen throat cancer develop in somebody dear to me, because a daily coal fire seemed a necessity, inspite of early warning signs of its being harmful, I shun fires in the house as well as in the garden. Let the PC or TV be the new hearth: a place to gather and share and renew one's thoughts.

Written for a prompt at CarpeDiem

Nighttime snow

Crumpled leaves

clouds run together slowly drifting over woodland denuded brown trees the sky steals the eye with ever changing patterns familiar and new

glacier

ice on the march eerie silence understood unstoppable force

and just to express my relief and happiness,
a different sort of ice:
figure skating :

regained perfection in an imperfect world yuzuru hanyu stellar bauble a glittery ornament in the skating sky

Plus another beastie from the garden

"Look how beautiful I am! My black coat with its red spots. Don't fret: I'm only nibbling a few seeds of the Mullein. There'll be enough left to fill your meadow ten times over." bold red spots nibbling on the Mullein seeds hibernation soon

Written for a prompt at CarpeDiem

London Classic 01 b

Event "London Chess Classic" Date "2014.12.10" Round "1" White "Adams, Michael" Black "Caruana, Fabiano" ECO "C90" WhiteElo "2745" BlackElo "2745" 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 O-O 8. d3 d6 9. c3 Na5 10. Bc2 c5 11. Nbd2 Nc6 12. Nf1 h6 13. Ne3 Re8 14. a4 Be6 Black took a long time here, so he must have been unfamiliar with this line. But a few moves later, Adams too needed a long time. 15. h3 Bf8 16. Nh2 b4 with this move we are leaving the Spraggett-Sargissian, Linares Open 2013 game, which contimued with 16...d5 and ended in a draw. 17. Bb3 Rb8 18. Bc4 bxc3 19. bxc3 d5 a pretty tame Spanish game so far, but things are about to change. 20. Bxa6 Qa5 Adams avoids the exchanges in the center for a bit and instigates the exchange of the LSBs instead. Interesting. 21. c4 Qxa6 22. exd5 Bxd5 23. cxd5 Nb4 This Knight threatening the -d3-pawn is a bit of a drawback of this move order I would have thought. White will now start defending it with the Rook or instigate a skirmish on the kingside with a Knight exchange if he wants to deplete the officers. 24. Ra3 Nfxd5 25. Neg4 f6 26. Nf1 Rbd8 It seems a shame to take the Rook off the -b-file, which is usually its best position. 27. Ng3 c4 ==== Here the fireworks start. The move is somewhat illogical because it opens the third rank for the rook and makes the upcoming sacrifice pretty strong. 27... Kh8 17 would have given Black a solid advantage. Adams now sacrificed his Knight for a pawn. A good idea? We shall have to wait and see. 29... Kh8 Caruana wanted to keep the h7 square free for his queen. 30. dxc4 Ne7 he could have put the Knight on -f4- or -c2- with good effect. 31. Qh5 preventing the pawn to travel down on the h-file ...Ng8 32. Nf5 likewise stopping the pawn to travel on the -f- file. In fact, White seems to bring the black kingside to a standstill ..Qb7??? Surely she would have been better employed on -a7. Caruana's last few moves haven't done him much good. More a matter of him losing rather than Adams winning. But maybe the white sacrifice had a psychological effect on Caruana's confidence. 33. Rg3 Qh7 ?? Now Adams has to take advantage of the situation, and move his rook to the center: 34.Re4. But he doesn't. He lamely takes the Knight away and foregoes a wonderful ending if he had brought the last piece into the attack. 34. Nh4 from now on it will be a long slog for Adams to extract a win. I hate it when these wonderful chances get ignored. Something lost form the work of art created by two players. Ne7 35. Ba3 Nbc6 36. Kh2 Bg7 37. Bxe7 Nxe7 38. Rd1 Qg8 38... f5 39. Rxd8 39. Qf7 Qg8 19 39... Rxd8 40. Qf7 18 39. Rb1 Rb8 40. Rd1 Red8 41. c5 Rxd1 42. Qxd1 Black has managed to fend off the attack but White still has good compensation in the two queenside passed pawns and the Bishop on g7 being inactive. Rb4 6 42... Qc8 43. a5 Ra8 13 43. Qd7 Rxh4 44. Qxe7 Rd4 44... Rxa4 45. Rxg7 Qxg7 46. Qe8+ 18 45. c6 45. a5 was stronger Qf8 46. Qc7 Rc4 47. c6 18 45... Qf8 46. Qb7 46. Qc7 Rxa4 14 46... Rb4 47. Qd7 Rd4 48. Qb7 Rb4 49. Rc3 f5 50. Qd7 Rd4 51. Qe6 Rd6 52. Qxd6 Qxd6 53. c7 e4+ 54. g3 Bxc3 55. c8=Q+ Kh7 56. Qxc3 f4 57. gxf4 Qxf4+ 58. Qg3 Qd2 59. Qc7+ Kg6 60. Qb6+ Kh7 2 60... Kf5 61. Qc5+ Kg6 62. Kg2 18 61. Qb7+ Kh8 62. Qa8+ 1 Kg7 63. Qxe4 Kf6 63... Qxf2+ 64. Qg2+ 18 64. Qf3+ Kg6 65. Kg2 Qa2 66. Qe4+ Kf6 67. Qf4+ Kg6 68. Qd6+ Kg7 69. Qe5+ Kh7 70. a5 Qg8+ 71. Kh2 Qf7 72. Qe4+ Kg7 73. a6 A nice win for Adams who must be commended for his brave sacrifice on h6. It was perfectly timed with time pressure coming upon both the players. That made Caruana's defensive task quite difficult. Though Adams was not the most precise, his sacrifice was good enough to set high practical problems for the Italian. 1-0

Flash of gold and red spots

"Look how beautiful I am! My black coat with its red spots. Don't fret: I'm only nibbling a few seeds of the Mullein. There'll be enough left to fill your meadow ten times over." bold red spots nibbling on the Mullein seeds hibernation soon

Some bugs are really pretty. This one is feasting or resting on the small flower of a wild geranium, called Geranium molle or Dove's-foot Crane's-bill. flash of Summer gold feasting on geraniums resting on petals

If there is a deeper meaning to this, then it is very deep; so deep that I can't find it :-)
Unless...the struggle between the gardener and the nature lover is always there.
They eat my plants, steal the blossoms off my trees, make holes in pretty leaves....
do I hate them for it? Do I destroy them because of it? Or do I let them be and admire their gall.
A bit of each of course. That's only human.


















.
Written for a prompt at CarpeDiem

london classic

a semi slav of sorts. We'll soon see where the knights jump to. D43 5....dxc4 is a slight deviation when 5...h6 gets more votes. Kasparov drew with Tal in 1983, both as Black and as White. e5 h6 Bh4 g5 Nxg hxg Bxg5 Nbd7 in fact just like today's game. but here Kramnik deviates from the Kasparov-Tal games. 11. exf6 Bb7 12.g3 With 11.g3 they are still in book by move 16. and they have reverted back again to the Kasparov Tal draws. 17.Na4 played mostly with the eval for the other choices slightly below par for white. Kramnik used up an extra 10 mins. and goes for Na4. Now 16...Qb5 was played by both Tal and Kasparov. These two went on playing the same moves and drew at move 43. Not much to look forward to here than, I suspect. I can't see any point where there is a superior choice for either side. They might as well draw now. Not sure what the rules are for this particular tournament. Black has a chance to deviate at move 17...* I rather fancy 17....Bh6 followed by Bh4 and then exd5 and the exchange on -b4-. But what do I know. Clearly not what is in Anads mind as he toes the line and plays 17....Bb8 and we are back with Kasp. Tal both ways. Today these two are playing this as if they don't know the 1983 games. They're certainly well known enough. Again we have a chance of a change here, if Kramnik refuses to play 19.Be3 but does something new like placing his Queen on -d4- or even -g4-. Here's hoping.... I never enjoy watching queenside castling games, unless both sides do it. Makes for a disjointed board. Kramnik now has used up 20 mins more than Anand Hurrah! White does not play Be3 put listens to me and moves Queen to -g3-. Now what? Quick as a flash Anand plays 19....Bxd5 - well obviously. And we can all see what is coming next. Or can we? No exchange on -d5- but a fresh look at the attack. Great. I was just about to get out of here, overcome with boredom. 20. Rfc1....* is a magical choice. Still a handful of games left in my database, with mixed fortunes. Sokolov is in there, as is Van Wely. 20...Rxd5 switches the whole game over to the queenside. 20. Rfc1 was very clever of White because now Be3 is no longer required, nor possible and the kingside can stay intact for a while. I wonder what Kasparov is thinking about this. But then, 30 years of chess is a long time. I'm surprised to see Anand taking the DSB now. Not much point in taking his eye off the ball I would have thought. Getting the King off the back rank would have been my choice. move 24....Rxg3* was a canny move! Waiting with taking the Rook on -c6- makes all the difference. Oh they are good, these two. We are still in a game between Yussopov and Tukmakov in 1987 , a draw I'm afraid, in 41 moves. Oh well... They have each got about 70 mins left. But they won't need much more time as a draw seems imminent. 26...Qc7 is clever as it requires a lot of thinking from Kramnik, to figure out a new direction. 26....Qc2 would have been much more straightforward for White. with 27.h4 . Now it is a choice between pulling the Queen back or pushing the b-pawn. I suppose putting the Queen on the Seventh is also tempting, if only psychologically. Kramnik has been thinking for ten minutes on this devious move 26....Qc7 White opted for pushing the -b-pawn. Wise choice. Even though Black can now get macho and push the Queen out of the way on the e-file, then bring his DSB forwards and give check with his Queen, but White can easily deflect this and come out on top. after 27.b3 e5 seemed obvious, but they are now testing each other for time usage and 27....Kc8 seems dangerous but could still be justified from a tempo p.o.v. even though 47 minutes for 13 moves seems not too much of an ask. Is 28.Qe3/e4 the safest queen move at this junction? It pushes black into Kb8 with 28 more minutes on his clock but I'm expecting a rep draw now. A scant 20 mins left for White, vs an hour for Black. Oh oh, a not-so clever choice here? 33. Qxc3+ bxc3 it seems to be OK. I'll have a think on the line I had in mind later this evening. By move 39 Black's Rook has not moved at all. Galloping towards the inevitable draw. Still, it has been a nice game. I've enjoyed it. I hope they have too. Especially Anand, after his Homeric WCC match, which he played beautifully.

Due North

'








.

rooks in the icy cold look as if they are viewing the spectacle Northern lights slanting through the sycamore tree rooks cawing in surprise gaseous palette elevating sky to canvas ephemeral art greatest show on earth all who see it open-mouthed once in a lifetime

Written for a prompt at CarpeDiem

emptiness

early winter joy

kitchen window sill no fighting off the frost safe 'n warm indoors Somehow I find it impossible to make something happen in my haiku. I can set a scene, give an outcome and sketch a mood. Provide an explanation or a reason and give an opinion. But finding a suitable protagonist and create a 'happening' within the constraints of the haiku, is outside my reach and imagination. Any suggestions?

To me, plants grown in my garden, are my children. I react to them and they react back. [Often by giving up the ghost or disappearing, it has to be said :-). So in a way flowers and leaves and trees are as much of an actor in my scenes as the birds and animals are. But if I start giving them dialogue, or assigning opinions and emotions to them, then I feel things are going too far. This haiku crystalization process is bringing these facts home to me. More than the hundreds of longer poems I have written, even more than the many sonnets, which are also severely restrictive. Writing yesterday's haibun gave me a rush of freedom.

Written for a prompt at CarpeDiem

first snow fall

'Snow, ssssnow' The word alone sounds like the window being pushed open.... ...and there it is: flat, smooth, stretching out before you... snow, schnee, sneeuw, nieve, neige, snej.... white in any language. But even before I opened my eyes this morning, I could hear it. I could hear the snow. Even here where we live, where it's usually quiet and still, I could hear a different kind of quiet. Cloying, all-encompassing, protective and yet restraining. A strange non-sound that one can actually interpret with the ears. bright winter night departs leaves us with a soul bereft all stars extinguished

???
winter night departing
leaves us with a soul bereft
now all stars have left

solitude

alone in a crowd singled out by her colour yet feeling secure harsh wind and no sun one poppy stands straight by herself single and upright within windswept surroundings proudly unmoved army of many grain in ear bows to the breeze flower withstands

Written for a prompt at CarpeDiem

haiku+

Mixed bag.

sunny afternoon a butterfly on ivy shifts its seat whenever a shadow falls but returns to the same place

dusting of snow I was grumpy when a big black bird stirred the snow just above my head gave me a dusting unexpected but quite fun cheered me up no end based on an 8-line poem by Robert Frost, who says it so much better than me in roughly the same number of syllables Written for a prompt at CarpeDiem

curvaceous towers glitter, glam and nudity china's skylines dwarfing humans gaping at monstrosities into submission Take a look HERE

frosted winter field a thousand December moons sparkle Indra’s web dancing god of thunderstorms. who drunk of Soma juice My tail end to a hokku/haiku by J. Hanagan [?], still to become a prompt I hope.

misery saturation point we lose interest in the pain that isn't ours no longer saddened by another person's woe how I wish it weren't so we are gladdened by the joys of others share their happiness when we ourselves are sad I do not think that's bad ...and yes, I know this doesn't have the tanka sentiment, but I still wanted to write it. So there!

.

first winter light

first winter light as seen through bedroom windows quick - back to bed

not much to see out a foggy winter morning I'll stay indoors

withering wind drives bird into a corner feathers bristle

Written for a prompt at CarpeDiem

the holly and the ivy

white holly blossom
immaculate conception
Mary gave birth



red holly berries
signifying blood
Mary gave birth





sharp holly prickles
stinging pain like thorns
Mary gave birth

.

Tanka 01

Moon viewing

-

crumpled golden Moon in an origami boat talking with the shore

Winter moon

tsukimi 月見 つきみ moon viewing one of the few pleasures in life that is absolutely free for all. Above and below my moon, ten minutes ago.

Written for a prompt at CarpeDiem

Beggars can't be choosers

No sign of snow nor frost. One dip below freezing last week did for the final fuchsia flowers. so now it is time to find pleasure in greenery and a bit of grey here and there.

winter sky

Borrowed lines

Borrowed from Basho: 見るところ花にあらずと云ふことなし、 Miru tokoro hana ni arazu to iu koto nashi, There is nothing you can see that is not a flower; My interpretation: a day without flowers is like a year without sun a life without love

This is all very nice and sweet, but...doesn't tally with the Jane Reichhold essay. So, I'll start again:

bitterly cold the North wind does not reach where the pheasant sits

Now I have the two parts. Still a mental connection between the single and the double though. bitterly cold sets the scene and gives the reasoning behind the pheasant sitting in its preferred spot. Often these 'dabs of paint' inside a translated haiku seem to have little or no connection. Obviously cultural differences between the Japanese and European societies play an important role here. There can be so many inside jokes that we as outsiders are not aware of. But I feel certain that for us writing these gems there is absolutely no reason to introduce deliberate obscurities of understanding and relationship between the fragment and the phrase.

Reading one of J.Reichhold's translations I once more tumbled into a quandary: old pond a frog jumps into the sound of water Yes, but..... here we have one of the vagaries of English syntax: these lines can be read two different ways: old pond (that) a frog jumps into------ [ phrase 1] the sound of water----------------------[ fragment 1] or: old pond--------------------------------[ fragment 2 ] a frog jumps into the sound of water----[ phrase 2 ] I hope this mirror image juxtaposition is a mere fluke, and not a requirement, or this whole thing would be out of my reach.

Written for a prompt at CarpeDiem

Nordic Noir

absence of light

the dark as concrete existence

a definite presence

a vicious outburst

of malicious energy

hangs in the air

aggressive cities

play the part of accomplice

like a dying fire

Written for a prompt at CarpeDiem

Here's looking at you....

From a woolcraft point of view, the haiku on the image above ought to read: rainbow threads spun from rose-coloured water woven into

Written for 2 prompts at CarpeDiem

Winter is here

.

snow getting denser as we sledge the grey fields all horizons fade the past is behind us our lives are torn asunder kindling our fears low hanging clouds when we rush across chasms hamper our journey night stands between us as your face turns to darkness will tears wash it clean? hearts are still filled with the warmth of affection that glows in the ice

Written for a prompt at CarpeDiem

Translated haiku

Och natten strömmar från öster till väster med månens hastighet. Copyright Thomas Tranströmer My translation would be: and nights are flowing from the East to the West with the haste of the Moon haste rather than speed. Haste infers that things are going too fast and in possibly too unconsidered a fashion. Like in "Act in haste, repent at leisure" sort of thing. That doesn't really fit in with the set orbit of the Moon, cast in stone and certainly not designed in haste nor ever varying in speed. I'm assuming hastighet is not the general word for speed in Swedish? hastighet: velocity ; speed ; driving speed ; haste ; hurry ; rush ; hastiness ; overhaste ; quickness Wiktionary: hastighet → , velocity , speed , pace , appearance , aspect , look , sight , view , countenance , guise , respect , promptness , promptitude , quickness , swiftness , rapidity Now which of these shades of meaning would the original author have chosen? I'm not completely happy with his usage of the word in this haiku in any of the possible definitions. Nor do I like seeing 'med' [ = with ] at the end of the middle line. To my eye it gives this haiku the look of short prose rather than a gem of poetry.  This would be a poor enjambment even for poetry where its use would be acceptable: An ordinary preposition linking two parts of a sentence together without any excuse for a final place in a sentence, does not look good in a haiku of this nature to me. As regards the function of the Moon in this poem: I see the Moon not as the main character in this, but more as a witness to things she can't change. She falls in with what the situation requires, more like a willing collaborator than a protagonist. For those reasons my lines would be: Sunlight travels west it drags the day in its wake we make do with the Moon. I placed the Sun and the Moon at either end of the haiku, giving balance and structure to the haiku. I chose the verb 'drag' showing the day to be reluctant to leave us [ and vice versa ] rhymed 'wake' and make' because I love a bit of melodious rhyme, even where it is not expected to be used the verb 'make do with' indicating that in the scheme of things, the Moon is secondary to the Sun, in our opinion if not in the whole of nature. I selected drags / day / make do / for assonance with the letter -d- The poem sums up our role in nature, where we may have minor influence, but as a rule are subjected to laws larger than ourselves. We have to accept this even though we don't always like to. Line one presents a statement of fact Line two is still fact but begins to introduce opinion Then comes the volta: Line three introduces humanity, as a contrast to the planets and also expresses our dissatisfaction with the state of things. After all, most of us would love to have more daylight, if not necessarily sunlight. And now we come to the irony of the whole thing: the original haiku was composed in a country where day and night play games throughout the seasons.

Written for a prompt at CarpeDiem

Kind sky

Seeing that it was Kindness Day, I found a kind sky. No idea what this cloud formation is called, but it looks ever so benign. I suppose the diagonal line at the bottom, from left to right, must be the remnants of a contrail [ vapour trail ]. These days it is hard to find a time when there aren't any planes coming over. At least in Europe.

See what I mean? This is going on as I type. Since Russia forbade foreign planes overhead, we are more swamped than ever. I feel threatened and saddened by the overcrowded skies over my head.

for Skywatch