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 March 2025 is Shasta Hatter, who has been providing prompts for the first time [3]. Thank you very much, Shasta!
閑門向山路,
深柳讀書堂。
幽映每白日,
清輝照衣裳。
闕題。
劉慎虛。
The gate in the fence points to the mountain path.
My study lies beneath dense willows.
Every day the sun shines through the shadows
And then also plays on my clothes.
Untitled
Liu Shenxu [4]
a gorgeous feast
after lent
~ Feast
a little darker
during garden work
just wondering
~ Eclipse [5]
the moon sets
after an exhausting eclipse
bright feller
~ Eclipse
at the old pond
no jump no splash
heir of the frog
~ Heir
ashes to ashes
and the grave long gone
still with me, cousin
~ Cousin
sweating
from the eyes
getting cold
~ Tears
outside the graveyard
despite the thick fog
one sees your tears
~ Tears
a walk
with her wife
that's spring
~ Wife/Partner
no, not just
equal rights and justice
peace, too
~ Justice
... pronounce ...
husband & wife
... -: oh, kiss, yes, kiss
~ Husband
out of time
i remember my granddad
when he was my age
~ Grandfather
still snow
on the mountain tops
granny's hair – still
~ Grandmother
nature is without
authentic renewal
spring simply does
~ Renewal
the nightmare
realizing you have a grandchild
and the bliss
~ Grandchild
just after college
fiancée and finance
should be a match!
~ Fiancée
bare garden
with a green glass bottle
... and sunshine
~ Green
a bourbon on reunion
or a reunion on bourbon
ready to go
~ Reunion [6]
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. And please review the "Haiku Checklist" at https://www.graceguts.com/essays/haiku-checklist.
[3] https://www.nahaiwrimo.com/meet-the-prompters/shasta-hatter
[4] We don't know much about Liu Shenxu (劉慎虛). Neither the year of his birth nor the year of his death is known. He graduated during the Kaiyuan period (開元); this reign lasted from December 713 to December 741. The historian and governor Wu Ji (吳兢) mentioned him; Wu Ji lived from 670 to 749. This single poem by Liu Shenxu was included in the compilation 300 Poems of the Tang Dynasty (唐詩三百首). 15 of his poems are included in the 1705 compilation Complete Tang Poems (全唐詩).
[5] I missed the eclipse of the sun yesterday! I was working in the garden, when I wondered why it had gotten a little darker as there had been hardly any clouds. I shook my head and kept cleaning the ground between the redcurrant bushes.
[6] On second thought I should add: La Réunion is an island in the Indian Ocean and Île Bourbon is an old name for this island.
.