same old pond behind yellow roses the splash of a frog Kim M. Russell, 14th November 2019 My response to Carpe Diem #1780 The Old Pond by Basho Today we have a ‘Revise That Haiku’ challenge, in which we have been given one of the best-known haiku by Matsuo Basho, as well as the story […]
Gentle Winter Reminder
Snow has been falling for half an hour and already the garden is covered with white. Slumped by the log store, only the tip of an old sack is visible as I approach, feet firmly in my wellies, one sock creeping down to my toes. The logs are frozen to the touch, landing in the […]
White Crane Tan Renga
how I wish to call a white crane from Fukei, but for this cold rain Kikaku desolate drips from the roof instead of soothing wingbeats Kim M. Russell, 13th November 2019 My response to Carpe Diem Tan Renga Wednesday (5) White Crane In today’s new episode of ‘Carpe Diem’s Tan Renga Wednesday’, we have a […]
Star Birth
How much gas does a mother need? Forget the air – there’s none in space. Energy and gravity played their part, pulling together at the heart of the conception, a passionate ménage à trois. A single push excruciatingly long, squeezing an interstellar nebula into a brand-new star, a twinkle in its mother’s eye, a cosmic […]
New Graffiti
Our world is alive with public declarations, territorial admonitions and artistic explorations, scribbled, scratched, stencilled and daubed, bombed and tagged on toilet walls, buildings, trains, bridges and the underground. Simple words chipped on ancient tombs, elaborate murals sprayed with paint, angry political cartoons drawn with marker, some in monochrome, others fluorescent, we leave semi-anonymous traces […]
Leap of Faith
so many haiku between cliff and eternity into the unknown Kim M. Russell, 12th November 2019 My response to Carpe Diem #1779 Cliffs of Moher: a tribute to Jane Reichhold Today our inspiration comes from a haiku written by Hamish Managua Gunn (a.k.a. Pirate), a tribute to Jane Reichhold: the temptation at the chalk cliff […]
Dark Chocolate
The day was blackly overcast, rain fell steadily, and Alice hadn’t seen a soul all day, not even her nosy neighbour. She’d almost given up hope, when the doorbell rang. In the hallway, she screwed up her eyes, trying to identify the silhouetted outline in the patterned glass of the front door. The bell rang […]
I could never get the hang of perspective
As a child, art was my first love; I drew, chalked and painted freehand, thinking I knew it all. Then came the lesson on perspective. I couldn’t see the point in the distance where all the lines joined up. My landscape of road and houses was lopsided, a landslide tumbling down a non-existent mountain. A […]
Haiku for Cats
Holding up my purring cat to the moon I sighed. Jack Kerouac rain on the window cup of hot tea in my hand purring with the cat Kim M. Russell, 11th November 2019 My response to Carpe Diem #1778 Free-styling haiku In a new episode of Carpe Diem’s ‘Never Change A Winning Team’ month, in […]
Basho’s Journey
coming to the eye especially at this time May’s Mount Fuji rising in a clear blue sky […]