Kamishibai

Last Saturday I left home a mother and made a journey of just over four hours to visit my daughter and look after her home while she was in hospital. The train journey was chilly and the landscape covered by a blanket of snow, with the constant worry that at some point the train might not be able to go any further, so it was a relief to alight at London’s King’s Cross Station and descend into the tunnels of the Underground and the warmth of a crowded carriage. After a change of line and another over-ground train, I arrived in Surrey, where there was no snow at all. It was a difficult start to the week but finally, on a warmer sunny day, my grandson was brought into the world with the first breaths of spring and crocuses blooming in next-door’s garden. This Saturday I returned home a very happy grandmother.

blackbirds start to sing
knowing winter’s worst has passed
tomorrow blossoms

Kim M. Russell, 2018

Sketched Crocus

My response to Carpe Diem Weekend Meditation #23 Kamishibai, the art of story telling

In this new weekend meditation, the challenge is to create a haibun and be a storyteller like Basho – with a few rules:

Our haibun have a maximum of 250 words (including the haiku). The haiku in our haibun must be classical: 5-7-5 syllables, a season word, a cuttingword, an interchangeable first and third line, a deeper meaning and of course nature. The haiku has to be that really short moment similar to the sound of a pebble thrown into water – and our haibun must be on the theme of springtime.

26 thoughts on “Kamishibai”

      1. I did, thanks! Well, your status HAS changed… so you’ve got new responsibilities. Please pass on any tid-bits of useful info to those of us still coming along (I’ve got 2 girls in their 20’s)

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      2. I’ve just come back from a presentation to 5 and 6 year olds at the library, for which I prepared a scavenger hunt. I popped in the local baby shop and came away with two cotton hats and three babygros, all for under £12! All the clothes they’ve been given are far too big for him but the two I bought originally from that shop fit him perfectly, so I got the same size in different patterns and colours. I must stop spending all my pension on baby clothes!

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