Haiku for National Haiku Writing Month – May 2025 First Half

 

National Haiku Writing Month has been founded by the well known haiku poet Michael Dylan Welch. The goal is to write at least one haiku a day. National Haiku Writing Month is in its 14th year. [1] I enjoy writing to the prompts on Facebook. Here are some interesting links: [2]. Our daily writing prompter for May 2025 has been Andrea Piscitelli Narciso, who already had been providing prompts for May 2017, June 2023, and May 2024 [3]. Thank you very much, Andrea! 

玉樓天半起笙歌，
風送宮嬪笑語和。
月殿影開聞夜漏，
水晶簾捲近秋河。
宮詞。
顧況。
Songs from the Jade Chamber float halfway up to the sky,
The cheerful voices of the concubines mingle with the wind.
The shadows of the moon quietly flit into the night, and
Beyond the open curtains, water drips towards the Autumn River.
A Palace Poem
Gu Kuang [4]

an apple, an apple 
rushing before closing time 
adam and eve 
~ Closing Time 

sand flowing 
through the hour glass 
the tides come and go 
~ The Hours

on bare feet 
walking off the miles 
twist in my sobriety 
~ Sober

passing sober 
ascension day 
quite a challenge 
~ Sober

a galore of 
bachelor pad ideas 
just walden cabin 
~ Bachelor Pad 

before sunrise 
still sleeping and dreaming 
those wonderful kids 
~ Before Sunrise

the night owl 
not burning midnight oil 
too busy hunting  
~ Night Owl

after midnight 
peaches and cream 
I still remember 
~ After Midnight
l
ight by light 
evanescing from the city 
after midnight 
~ After Midnight

night falling 
embers still glowing 
and the saxophone 
~ Saxophone

angélique 
before the french revolution 
and all that jazz 
~ All That Jazz [5]

little hands holding 
two scoops in the cone 
dad's happy, too 
~ Two Scoops [6]

dr walter bishop's 
obsession for desserts 
in both universes 
~ Dessert Table 

do not let love rest 
because of lost love letters 
start anew 
~ Love Letters

the library of babel 
or the book of sand 
forking paths 
~ The Library [7]

bayeux tapestry 
woven as history 
still vivid colors 
~ Tapestry

many courses 
teaching first aid 
none first kiss 
~ First Kiss

Links and Annotations:
[1] National Haiku Writing Month https://www.facebook.com/NaHaiWriMo  
[2] „To help with haiku fundamentals, please have a look at "Becoming a Haiku Poet" at https://www.graceguts.com/essays/becoming-a-haiku-poet. Please review the "Haiku Checklist" at https://www.graceguts.com/essays/haiku-checklist. I also recommend to read: https://www.nahaiwrimo.com/why-no-5-7-5. 
[3] https://www.nahaiwrimo.com/meet-the-prompters/andrea-piscitelli-narciso-2023 BTW, Andrea previously prompted under the name Andi Nicks.
[4] If you read the English Wikipedia article, you know that Gu Kuang (顧況) was a poet of the Tang Dynasty and lived from approximately 727 to 816, although these dates are far from certain. The Chinese article is very comprehensive and reveals that he wrote 20 volumes of poetry collections. 239 of his poems were preserved in the compilation Complete Poems of the Tang Dynasty (全唐詩). Only one of his poems was included in the anthology 300 Poems of the Tang Dynasty (唐詩三百首). I have therefore translated entirely. 
[5] Angélique, Marquise des Anges is a 1964 historical romance film starring Michèle Mercier [5a]. It is based on a 1956 novel of the same name by Anne and Serge Golon. A co-production between France, Italy and West Germany. All That Jazz is a 1979 American musical drama film starring Roy Scheider [5c]. I associate Roy Scheiden more with films like Jaws.
[5a] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ang%C3%A9lique,_Marquise_des_Anges 
[5b] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_That_Jazz_(film) 
[5c] Roy Scheider (1932–2008) was an American actor and amateur. who tarred in more than 80 movies. boxer. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy_Scheider  
[6] Blame it on me, but I had to think of the Minne di Sant'Agata. Cited and translated from the German text [6a]:
Agatha of Catania lived from 225 to around 250. She probably died a martyr. Agatha rejected the marriage proposal of the pagan governor Quintinianus because she had taken a vow of virginity for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven. He then had her taken to a brothel for a month, but Agatha would not be persuaded. He then had her breasts cut off. According to the saint's legend, St. Peter appeared at night to tend to her wounds. When this was noticed, Quintinianus had her laid on hot coals, which is how she died. A year later, Mount Etna erupted, and the residents took the saint's veil to the lava flow, which then stopped. There are other legends. And culinary ones. You may think this is tasteless, but they do exist: the Love of St. Agatha, or the breasts of St. Agatha. These are small breast-shaped cakes with ricotta, chocolate, and candied fruit, topped with a red cherry. The Minne di Sant'Agata (Italian) are served in pairs. The cakes were eaten during festivities honoring the saint and commemorating her passion. [Yes, that's what you get when you look at a beautiful village church and then do little in-depth research.]
[6a] https://rheumatologe.blogspot.com/2020/07/st-apollinaris-und-agatha-in-kall.html  
[6b] Interested to know more? Look here (includes a picture!): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cassatella_di_sant%27Agata
[7] This haiku is referring to three works [7a] of Jorge Luis Borges [7b], who's works I read and reread.
[7a] The Library of Babel, The Book of Sand and The Garden of Forking Paths. 
[7b] Jorge Luis Borges (1899–1986) was an Argentine author regarded as a key figure in Spanish-language and international literature.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jorge_Luis_Borges 

.