One Single Impression 209: Muse

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Emily Dickinson: The Gentlest Mother

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One Single Impression Prompt 197: Sapid

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Hanakotoba & The Victorians

Hanakotoba is the Japanese language of flowers. I get a monthly e-mail newsletter from the flowershopnetwork.com and this fascinating piece was in today's mail. Mandy Maxwell wrote that "Not only did the Western world have its own coded, flower language, the East had one as well— Hanakotoba, the Japanese language of flowers. Although, obviously not as popular today as it once was, Hanakotoba is still used in many Japanese movies and animations." I'm wondering if this is knowledge I can use with haiku.

I have added the Western (Victorian) meanings for the flowers given in the Hanakotoba list. I wanted to see if there is an intersection of meanings in the two cultures. There frequently is. Now we know.

Kanji	English	Hanakotoba meaning	Victorian meaning
アマリリス	Amarylis	shy	pride, pastoral poetry, radiant beauty
アネモネ	Anemone (white)	sincere	forsaken, anticipation
椿	Camelia (red)	in love	you're a flame in my heart
椿	Camelia (yellow)	longing	not given
椿	Camelia (white)	waiting	you're adorable
カーネーション	Carnation	passion	fascination, woman's love, pride
桜	Cherry Blossom	kind, gentle	not given
黄菊	Chrysanthemum (yellow)	imperial, elegant	slighted love
白菊	Chrysanthemum (white)	truth, self-esteem	truth
水仙	Daffodil	respect	regard, unrequited love, you're the only one. The sun is always shining when I'm with you, chivalry
天竺牡丹	Dahlia	good taste	dignity, elegance, good taste
雛菊	Daisy	faith	innocence, loyal love, purity, I'll never tell
勿忘草	Forget-me-not	true love	true love, memories
フリージア	Freesia	immaculate	trust, innocence
梔子	Gardenia	secret love, pure	you're lovely, secret love
紫陽花	Hydrangea/td>	pride	frigidity, heartlessness. Thank you for understanding.
アイリス / 菖蒲	Iris	noble heart, good news	Your friendship means so much to me. Fleur-de-lis, emblem of France, faith, hope, wisdom and valor. My compliments.
白百合	Lily (white)	purity	virginity, purity, majesty. It's heavenly to be with you.
百合	Lily of the Valley	sweet, promise of happiness	sweetness, tears of the Virgin Mary, return to happiness, humility. You've made my life complete.
鬼百合	Tiger Lily	wealth	wealth, pride
マグノリア	Magnolia	natural, love for nature	nobility
雛芥子	Poppy	comfort	eternal sleep, oblivion, imagination
紅薔薇	Rose (red)	love, in love/td>	love, I love you.
薔薇	Rose (white)	innocence, devotion	innocence and purity, secrecy and silence. I am worthy of you. You are heavenly.
桃色薔薇	Rose (pink)	trust, confidence	thankfulness, perfect happiness, Please believe me.
黄色薔薇	Rose (yellow)	noble	decrease of love, jealousy, try to care
チューリップ	Tulip	charity, trust	perfect lover, frame, flower emblem of Holland

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One Single Impression 139: Grace

Canada thistle (Cirsium arvense)

fluffy lavender shock of yarn graces your barbs — pastel coronet

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One Single Impression 133: Passing

Breezes slip by me,
stirring flow'ry meadows with the
first breath of autumn.

For some reason, I got my haiku flowing this week. That hasn't happened in a long, long time. I enjoy sharing with all of you and I love doing the OSI blog with Sandy. I love writing haiku, also, but it is extremely challenging for me. One way I become inspired is by reading haiku at my leisure. I have been reading and re-reading Classic Haiku: The Greatest Japanese Poetry from Basho, Buson, Issa, Shiki, and Their Followers (Eternal Moments). It is a beautiful book that I keep by my bed.

But recently I ran across another book of haiku in the library and I enjoy it so much that I will have to buy it: Haiku: This Other World by Richard Wright. Wright is correct: haiku does create another world (at least for me).  The haiku in this book are more modern with both urban and pastoral themes. The notes and afterword in the back are comprehensive and valuable. I wanted to share this title with you in case you have missed it at the library.

Writing haiku helped Wright mourn. Wright's daughter writes in the Introduction that haiku is "a form of poetry which links seasons of the soul with nature's cycle of moods." I know that poetry, for all of us, heals and expresses our souls. I want to share a couple of my favorite Wright haiku here:

#728

Beneath pale stars,

Breathing wet on cattle horns,

A faint winter fog.

#721

As my anger ebbs,

The spring stars grow bright again

And the wind returns.

#716

With mouth gaping wide,

Swallowing strings of wild geese, —

Hungry autumn moon.

I can't share more with you. There are too many that fascinate me. Thank you for reading this rather long post. I hope you all have peaceful and beautiful week! 

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One Single Impression #123: Roads

Ferns rife with deep trails — deer must walk side by side here chatting, gossiping

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Haiku Bones: Infestation

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Haiku Bones: Sleep

This is my first submission to Haiku Bones. I welcome gentle suggestions. I continue to get conflicting advice about punctuation. I felt I needed it here. I also am not convinced that "powder" is the word I want. Thank you for visiting and reading.

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One Single Impression: Reincarnation

Amy says, "No names! She isn't Henny Penny 'cause she'll be Parmesan!"

OK, not a true haiku. But it serves my purpose this week! My daughter Amy's flock of Barred Rocks are so much fun to watch. And to indulge myself, I am posting my newest Barred Rock movie below — all 11 seconds of it. I took a series of burst photographs and strung them into a short where each photo is a frame that lasts 0.15 seconds. To see my other chicken movies (and to learn a bit about New England's Barred Rocks), click here to go to my previous post.

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My Haiku Set

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One Single Impression: Conquer

Zorro
Mighty hunting cat
warm days stalking in the fields
conquered by north winds

Zorro is our mighty hunter.
Look here and here if you have the stomach . . .

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One Single Impression: Pets

Ginger tabby drops in

from the woods and stays —
uneasy truces

What's this guy's name? We still don't know!
I say Ozzie, Amy says Louie.
One thing we know: after living in the
woods for who knows how long,
he will no longer go outside voluntarily.

UPDATE (6/9/08): I have decided to keep the word "truces" because this cat has to negotiate a seperate truce with each cat in the house. That is quiet a complicated task because of the power that the matriarch, Mouse, holds, and the aggression of the males. The "minor" cats (I call them minor because of their lack of power in the cat hierarchy — not because of their esteem in my heart) are no problem. They accept every cat that moves in. Also, I enjoy the sound of the word "truces."

And thank you to Zazzy for the suggestion of naming this guy George. Amy and I finally agreed that George is his name!

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