butterfly looking

this butterfly - it looks at me and carries on ...

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MORE of my butterfly haiku !


Butterfly -- a KIGO



Read my Haiku Archives 2007


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grains of sand

beach park - these grains of sand look really different 浜遊び　変わるがわるは　砂の粒

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........................... original version

beach walk -
each grain of sand
looks different


You are of course right in remarking that we can not watch the sand closely whilst walking ... in Japanese, I use "hama asobi", playing at the beach, enjoying the beach, a kigo for summer.

Well, it was a leisure walk, not an exercise one, whilst I was taking lots of photos, bending down, on my knees most of the time. Closely watching the different kinds of grains, different colors and marvelling at the shapes. Their reflection of ths sunshine let them look like little diamonds at times.

Lunch taken whilst sitting in the sand showed us more of these miniature marvels, sticking to the fingers and food too ....


I would need a much better macro lens to capture these individual grains. Maybe next time.

.......................................


Of course the plain statement is just a cliche, since we all know that snowflakes and grains of sand are different.

We KNOW in our educated minds ... but how many of us grown-ups have really leisurely bent down to the sand, looked at it for a while and then experienced the difference of the sand grains really personally ?

It is nothing spectacular indeed, just another wheel invented again and again, if the inner child is out there to marvel at things.


.................... A friend remarked this :

.. your first line; it doesn't add much to the poem. if you were to come up with another first line to contrast or compare with the thoughts of lines 2 & 3 ...

Dear friend,
my first line includes the kigo and I do not want to change that. I am not a friend of forced juxtapositions, that do not fit the experience when the haiku was conceived. I do not like to add some kind of first line for the sake of special effects.
I do like the ordinary in haiku, after all, my daily life is quite ordinary, grin ...

By the way, today, after a long period of rain, maybe I paraphrase this (with a BIG smile)

rainy season -
these drops of rain look
really similar


Last night I watched a tea master explaining a bit of his WAY. While the visitor sits there in the small room of two tatami mats (not much bigger that a large cupboard), he holds his hands in his lap so that the thumbs touch lightly and tries to relax. In good time he will quieten down his heart and become aware of the small things around him, the simmering water cattle, the pattern of the tatami mats, the breath of his fellow tea friends ... and somehow the smallness of the room can transform to a large universe in his heart and mind ...
Once the judgemental mind is quiet, you can experience the whole universe in a small tea room ...

just one cup of tea
served the right way
enfolding universes



©　PHOTO geo design japan

The Haiku Discussion
HH Members Only

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scots translation:

daunerin the links -
ilka dottle o saun
leuks unalik

John McDonald

..............................

Gabi, once I wrote:

each grain // thinks it is the sandcastle // the tide rises.

But now, while I'm inspecting each 'contrary' grain, I'll remember your good lines.
_Magyar

..............................

Romanian translation:

plimbare pe plaja
fiecare graunte de nisip
arata altfel

Vasile Moldovan


WHW comments


Thank you all so much for your efforts !

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My Beach Flowers


..... and each HAIKU looks different


. . . . . . . . . . . . . Try this to imporve your concentration:
Observing snow falling
yuki no metsuki　雪の目つき


Tea Ceremony Saijiki 茶道の歳時記　



Read my Haiku Archives 2007


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natsuyama ya yoku kumo kakari yoku haruru

summer mountains -
sometimes in the clouds
sometimes in sunshine

Takahama Kyoshi 高浜 虚子

This is a haiku of extreme objectivity. There is a sense of spaciousness in it. I also like the fact that the observation takes place over a summer-long period of time. I like haiku that include a sense of time passing, if for no other reason than to confound those who cling to the notion that a haiku should only be about an "a-ha 'moment'."

Larry Bole
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/translatinghaiku/message/1847

.. .. .. .. ..

a Malayalam translation

venal malakal -
palappozhum meghangalil
palappozhum soorya-prakaashathil

and a Sanskrit translation

greeshma parvathaani-
bahu-vaare megheshu
bahu-vaare soorya-prakaashe

Narayanan Raghunathan, India

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Daylily and visitor

the daylily and her hungry visitor - a break in the rains

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Daylily, daylilies (kanzoo)




Read my Haiku Archives 2007


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WKD - Goldfish and KOI

. koi 鯉と伝説 Legends about carps - Karpfen .

. higoi 緋鯉 / ヒゴイ Legends about the Red Carp .

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鯉さんも 恋煩いあるか 夜熱し
koi san mo koi wazurai aru ka yoru atsushi

can a carp
get love-sick?
hot summer night


©　Gabi Greve, Summer 2007

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This is a play on the word KOI

koi, the carp　 鯉
koi, the love　　恋

koi wazurai, lovesick 恋煩い



©　PHOTO　aimako0358.hustle.ne.jp

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carp, koi　鯉
kigo for all summer

golden red carp, higoi 緋鯉 ひごい
"carp with freckles", madaragoi 斑鯉（まだらごい）
"sun carp", higoi 日鯉（ひごい）
"brocade carp", nishikigoi 錦鯉（にしきごい）、 Nishiki
"special carp", kawarigoi 変り鯉（かわりごい）
carp changing its color





Carp is a common name for various freshwater fish of the family Cyprinidae.
©　Read the WIKIPEDIA !


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kigo for all summer

kingyo 金魚 goldfish
Goldfisch

some special names, all kigo

wakin 和金（わきん）"Japanese Gold"
ranchuu 蘭鋳（らんちゅう）
ryuukin 琉金（りゅうきん）
maruo 丸子（まるこ）"round kid"
onaga 尾長（おなが）"long tail"
demekin 出目金（でめきん）"eyes popping out"
shinakin 支那金（しなきん）chinese goldfish
shishigashira 獅子頭（ししがしら）"maks of a lion dancer"
oranda shishigashira 和蘭陀獅子頭（おらんだししがしら）
shuukin 秋金（しゅうきん）"autumn goldfish"
shubunkin 朱文金（しゅぶんきん）
kinranshi 錦蘭子（きんらんし）


gingyo 銀魚（ぎんぎょ）"silver fish"


. kingyouri kingyo uri 金魚売 (きんぎょうり)
vendor of goldfish 　




kingyodama 金魚玉 (きんぎょだま) round goldfish bowl

..... kingyobachi 金魚鉢（きんぎょばち）


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plant kigo for mid-summer

kingyosoo 金魚草 (きんぎょそう) "goldfish plant"
common snapdragon
Antirrhinum majus. Löwenmaul (lion's mouth) in German




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plant kigo for all summer

. kingyomo 金魚藻 "goldfish water weeds" .
..... matsumo 松藻（まつも) kind of hornwort）
matsubamo 松葉藻（まつばも）
Analipus japonicus
some of them are placed in goldfish bowls.


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kigo for late winter


kangoi 寒鯉 かんごい carp in the cold
itegoi 凍鯉（いてごい）freezing carp

kangoi tsuri 寒鯉釣（かんごいつり）
fishing for carp


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. Goldfish - a Hobby in Edo ! .

kingyo shiiku 金魚飼育 breeding goldfish
Before the advent of glass containers, people used pottery basins to look a the goldfish "from above" (uwami 上見）.



Breeders　tried to produce fish with an attractive back.
Later glass containers were used, and fish cold be
yokomi 横見 viewed from the side.



Individual goldfish where carried around in small glass bowls.

- source : hakomoto.com/kingyo -


- quote -
Past and Present: The History of Goldfish
The history of goldfish begins with the red species found among a group of wild “funa” also known as Crucian Carp, in the southern district of China some 2,000 years ago. These red ancestors have developed into the goldfish we are familiar with today through selective breeding over the centuries.
It is generally believed that goldfish were introduced to Japan from China in 1502, during the middle of Muromachi period. However, in those days, they were exclusively kept by the aristocrats and the wealthy as rare pets. It was not until the Meiji period, after the Edo military government was brought to end, that they became popular among common people.
The history of goldfish cultivation in Yamatokoriyama City is said to date back to 1724 when Lord Yanagisawa Yoshisato entered Yamatokoriyama domain from the realm of Kai (present Yamanashi prefecture). . . .
- source : city.yamatokoriyama.nara.jp -

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"Two Koi
Swimming Towards Happiness"　喜


- TigerHouseArt print studio　－


Two fishes are a symbol of good fortune throughout Asia.
They originally represented two rivers in India -- the Ganges and Yamuna, and in later centuries spread to China, Korea and Japan.
Since water is the source of life, food and wealth, the two fishes have become a standard ICON of good fortune throughout most of Asia.

- Thanks to Mark Schumacher, fb -


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引越しのたびに大きくなる金魚
hikkoshi no tabi ni ookiku naru kingyo

every time we move
the goldfish
grows bigger

Hoshino Tsunehiko 星野恒彦


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. Crucian carp (buna 鮒) in all seasons 　
Fam. Carassius


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fuku Daruma 福ダルマ / 福だるま / フクダルマ
goldfish named DARUMA




a goldfish
named ”Daruma” -
yes, we KAN

The new prime minister of Japan, Kan Naoto　菅直人, is now in office.
June 2010.


. Daruma Museum 　


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Koi Herpes Virus
Symptoms include a loss of coordination, skin lesions, sunken eyes, bleeding gills. The ranger tells us they'd lose thirty of the beloved old fish each day at the height of the epidemic. Even the survivors had to be euthanized. Since then, the pond has been drained, cleaned, treated, and now awaits new filters before restocking. The problem is that people still come to the garden to dump their outgrown pet store koi.

a flash of orange
deep in the isolation tank--
spawning season

Linda Papanicolaou
June 2010

Recently, the Yuki Teikei Haiku Club did its annual meeting at the Japanese Friendship Garden in San Jose, California. The central feature of the garden is a koi pond, once filled with fish that were a gift in 1966 from San Jose's sister city, Okayama! Part of our day's activities was a talk by one of the park rangers about their experiences with the Koi Herpes Virus, and a tour of the new fish that are waiting to be reintroduced.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_Friendship_Garden_(Kelley_Park)
http://www.panoramio.com/photo/36708781
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2009/04/29/Virus-suspected-in-San-Jose-koi-deaths/UPI-88251241037108/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koi_herpes_virus


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Fish SAIJIKI


WASHOKU : Carp Dishes from Yonezawa, Yamagata 　


. ANIMALS in all SEASONS
SAIJIKI

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Scooping little Goldfish
kingyo sukui 金魚すくい

- quote -
Goldfish scooping
(金魚すくい, 金魚掬い Kingyo-sukui) is a traditional Japanese game in which a player scoops goldfish with a special scooper. It is also called, "Scooping Goldfish", "Dipping for Goldfish" or "Snatching Goldfish". "Kingyo" means goldfish and "sukui" means scooping. Sometimes bouncy balls are used instead of goldfish. Japanese summer festivals or ennichi commonly have a stall for this activity. Both children and adults enjoy the game.
The varieties of goldfish often used in goldfish scooping are "Koaka", "Demekin", and "Anekin".
Rules: .....
Requirements .....
Poi (ポイ poi)
The poi consists of a round plastic frame with a hand grip, and paper on the frame. The poi paper can break easily when put into water, so players should not move the poi too quickly. There are different classes of poi paper. No.7 (7号?) is weaker, and No.5 (5号?) is stronger. In some stalls, staff have unbreakable poi which consist of a net to scoop goldfish instead of paper.
- MORE in the wikipedia -




Utamaro Kitagawa "Kingyo"
喜多川歌麿　『金魚』



famous actor posing as a goldfish vendor
俳優見立夏商人 -- 金魚売り
歌川国貞 Utagawa Kunisada
At the handle of the bucket there are three little glass containers with the fish.


.......................................................................


(Summer 2011)
This summer, because of saving electricity and the general mood, there are less summer festivals with fireworks and most festivals close down at 6 in the evening, before it gets dark.
. Japan after the BIG earthquake .

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. Koi 鯉 carp and fish as folk toys




Yanai no kingyo choochin 柳井の金魚堤灯
goldfish lanterns from Yanagii

- quote -
Goldfish Lanterns in Yanai
..... Yanai is a small city with a population of just over 34,000.
..... Dating back to the Edo period and once home to Yanai’s prosperous merchant population, the Shirakabe no Machi is a charming district of cobbled streets and small shops selling local handicrafts.
..... Yes, goldfish. The whole city, but particularly the Shirakabe no Machi, is filled with them. Not real goldfish, but delicate paper lanterns that hang outside many of the houses, shops and restaurants. The story goes that, 150 years ago, some of Yanai’s merchants decided to make paper goldfish to entertain their children. They carefully stretched red-dyed tissue paper over bamboo frames, and then pasted on the large round eyes and flowing fins that make the lanterns so distinctive today.
..... On 13th August each year, the city comes to life when more than 2000 goldfish lanterns light up the streets in what is sometimes described as the ‘goldfish nebuta’,
- source : en.japantravel.com/yamaguchi - Amber Mezbourian -




柳井金魚ちょうちん祭り Yanai Goldfish Festival
- source : - city-yanai.jp/site/kanko


. Yamaguchi Folk Art - 山口県　 .

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CLICK for more of his parodies with goldfish. 金魚づくし
This is a parody on the fireworks, animals calling
Tamaya, Tamaya, 玉や玉や, a famous fireworks maker in Edo.


Utagawa Kuniyoshi 歌川国芳 / 金魚づくし kingyo zukushi

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. koi 鯉と伝説 Legends about carps - Karpfen .

[ . BACK to DARUMA　MUSEUM　TOP . ]
[ . BACK to WORLDKIGO . TOP . ]

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Ameisenstrasse

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Ameisenstrasse ...
ich träume von der
Seidenstrasse



ants road ...
I dream about the
Silk Road






ants road, a column of ants




Every evening, I sit outside munching crackers with cheese, feeding the ants with the crumbs of the crackers.



dinner time -
ants run to the left
ants run to the right



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. . . Read my Haiku Archives 2008


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full moon

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満月や　それは綺麗が　蛍なし。。。



full moon night -
how very beautiful but
no fireflies



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Read my Haiku Archives 2007


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up there

summer heat - maybe it is cooler up there ?

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Read my explanation about this part of a pagoda
soorin　相隣　



Read my Haiku Archives 2007


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WKD - lizard tokage chameleon

[ . BACK to WORLDKIGO　　TOP . ]
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cutting trees -
a lizard watches
from the highest branch






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lizard 蜥蜴 (とかげ) tokage

quote
Lizards are a large and widespread group of squamate reptiles, with nearly 5,000 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica as well as most oceanic island chains. The group, traditionally recognized as the suborder Lacertilia, is defined as all extant members of the Lepidosauria (reptiles with overlapping scales) which are neither sphenodonts (i.e., Tuatara) nor snakes. While the snakes are recognized as falling phylogenetically within the anguimorph lizards from which they evolved, the sphenodonts are the sister group to the squamates, the larger monophyletic group which includes both the lizards and the snakes.
Most lizard species are harmless to humans. Only the very largest lizard species pose threat of death; the Komodo dragon, for example, has been known to stalk, attack, and kill humans.

Gekkota
Active hunters, the Gekkota includes three families comprising the distinctive cosmopolitan geckos and the legless flap-footed lizards of Australia and New Zealand. Like snakes, the geckos and the flap-footed lizards lack eyelids. Unlike snakes, they use their tongues to clean their often highly developed eyes. While gecko feet have unique surfaces which allow them to cling to glass and run on ceilings, the flapfoot has lost its limbs. The three families of this suborder are:
Family Eublepharidae – Eublepharid Geckos
Family Gekkonidae – Geckos
Family Pygopodidae – Flap-footed Lizards
©　More in the WIKIPEDIA !
lizzard
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KIGO for various seasons

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kigo for spring

tokage ana o izu 蜥蜴穴を出づ (とかげあなをいづ )
lizzard coming out of his hole
togake ana o deru 蜥蜴穴を出る（とかげあなをでる）
tokage izu 蜥蜴出づ（とかげいづ） lizard coming out
kigo for mid-spring



AUSTRALIA
dragon lizard
kigo for spring

Goanna / Monitor Lizard
topic for haiku in Australia


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all summer

tokage 蜥蜴 (とかげ) lizard
aotokage 青蜥蜴（あおとかげ）
ruritokage 瑠璃蜥蜴（るりとかげ）
shimatokage 縞蜥蜴（しまとかげ）


kurotokage 黒蜥蜴 black tokage
. . . CLICK here for TOKAGE Photos !



yamori 守宮 (やもり) Japanese gecko
... 屋守（やもり, ヤモリ）
. . . CLICK here for Photos !



imori 井守 (いもり) newt, eft, kind of salamander
akahara 赤腹（あかはら）
ibo imori イボイモリ (Tylototriton andersoni)
. . . CLICK here for Photos !





source :　library666.seesaa.net

sanshoouo, sanshoo uo
山椒魚 さんしょううお salamander
..... hanzaki はんざき / 鯢 "cut in half"
(referring to the tail that might come off in danger, but the animal is not killed by this)
Hanzaki Daimyojin 鯢大明神 from Okayama
岡山県真庭市の湯原温泉の旅館街に祀られています。鯢はオオサンショウウオの別名です。
- 鯨鯢供養の地域的展開－捕鯨地域を中心に / by 松崎憲三


..... hashigami uo 椒魚（はしがみうお）"mountain pepper fish"
aburame 油魚（あぶらめ）"oil fish"
hatake dojoo はたけどじょう "loach of the field"
Hakone sanshoo uo 箱根山椒魚（はこねさんしょううお）
"salamander from Hakone"
Fuji sanshoo uo 富士山椒魚（ふじさんしょううお）
"salamander from Mount Fuji"


The hanzaki
is an aggressive salamander that grabs its prey with its powerful jaws.

- quote -
the Hanzaki is harmless... but others seem to disagree, as it does possess a good bite and has bitten humans prying too near its underwater home. Granted, the salamander in the River Monsters video is pretty pissed off at being unceremoniously ripped from its hiding hole.

. . . Anyhow ... here's some facts:
also known as the giant pepper fish (Ōsanshōuo
(オオサンショウウオ/大山椒魚)
lives to about 80 years of age - a captive one live for 52 years;
5-feet (1.524 meters) long;
50 pounds (22.7 kilograms);
long muscular body;
has hands and fingers;
has rows of hidden teeth inside its mouth;
eats fish, but will swallow it whole, where the fish is alive inside it until its gastric juices kill it;
nocturnal;
lives in cool, clear streams;
when threatened it releases a milky substance that smells like pepper;
poor eyesight;
has sensory cells along body that help it hunt and sense prey;
lays eggs under water - two eggs sacs each containing about 70 eggs at a time;
2nd-largest salamander in world after Chinese Giant Salamander at 1.8 meters (6-feet);
survivor from the Upper Jurassic age of 140 million years ago.

According to a story from Japan, about 400 years ago in Asahigawa Asahi River at a placed called Ryuto-ga-fuchi (Dragon's Head Abyss) locals say there was a giant Giant Salamander that was 11 meters (36 feet) in length with a body diameter of about 5.5 meters (18 feet).
... So... do the legends of the Japanese Kappa water spirit owes it origins to the Hanzaki Japanese giant salamander?
We'll never know, of course, unless someone invents a WayBack Machine... but it seems as good a place to start as any.
source : Andrew Joseph



. Kappa names - hanzaki はんざき . 　
- The Kappapedia Blog -


. hazekoi はぜ鯉 sanshouo 山椒魚 Salamander .
6 legends about the salamander to explore


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kigo for mid-summer

yamori o tsuku 守宮を搗く (やもりをつく)
pounding a gecko
imori o tsuku 井守を搗く（いもりをつく）pounding a newt
imori no in 井守の印（いもりのしるし） seal of a newt

In ancient China it was believed that when you smear the body of a woman with the blood of a yamori, the red color could not be washed off, only if she sleeps with a man would it disappear. To give a proof of the chastity of the concubines in the Imperial Palace, it was the custom on May 5 to pound these animals and smear the blood on the girls' bodies. (Hence the spelling of Japanese characters, meaning "protector of the palace".)
This custom was practised in Japan for some time, it seems.


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kigo for mid-autumn

tokage ana ni iru 蜥蜴穴に入る（とかげあなにいる）
lizard begins to hibernate
"lizard goes into his hole"


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Not a kigo

. Komodo Dragon (Indonesia ) 　


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found on the way

imori no kuroyaki いもりのくろやき(井守の黒焼（き）)
love potion
A mail and female newt are smoldered black and then made into a powder, which is put secretly into the glass of ricewine or other drink of your darling-to-be.

WASHOKU :
Love potion (horegusuri 惚薬) Liebestrunk


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Australia

. Skink lizzard, Blue-tongued skink .
the skink family (Scincidae)

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Florida, USA

Ameiva, commonly called jungle-runners, is a genus of whiptail lizards that belongs to the family of Teiidae. Member species are found in South America, Central America, Mexico, and throughout various islands of the Caribbean. Additionally, the Giant Ameiva has been introduced to Florida in the United States.
©　More in the WIKIPEDIA !

They are around all year and thus a topic for haiku.


june morning -
a giant ameiva
runs from a bird

- Shawn Lee Whitney - JOJ -


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Kenya

Chameleon
topic for haiku

bright morning -
a colored chameleon
on a flower vase

Elung'ata Barrack, Kenya


. . . CLICK here for Photos !
(kamereon in Japanses カメレオン, a kind of tokage)


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a chameleon
slowly crossing the road . . .
Longido Hills

Patrick Wafula

Arusha Diary 2010


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a salamander peeps
through a cracked wall-
sudden light

Andrew Otinga


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chameleon --
my cousin screams
while running away


coffee plant --
a chameleon turns
to green colour

Douglas Nugi


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YEMEN

Veiled chameleon (Chamaeleo calyptratus)



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HAIKU


old tree--
into its stillness
a grass lizard

roh mih, Manila, Philippines


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how small!
the lizard
I am afraid of

- Shared by Hengameh Ahmadi -
Joys of Japan, August 2012


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old pine --
a lizard leaves its tail
in my fingers

- Shared by Ed Bremson -
Joys of Japan, August 2012



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[ . BACK to WORLDKIGO　　TOP . ]
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White Flower

Candle Night キャンドルナイト candle night - is the spider looking for enlightenment ? . . . . . candle night - the beetles are having some fun in the dark

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Candle Night, KIGO


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candle night -
is the spider looking for
enlightenment ?


Dear Gabi,
I like this very much, and have a question.
We get drilled into us so much not to use personification and I know you're very experienced in haiku. When do you decide to make an exception (you personally)?


Dear Friend,
I try to avoid personifications and anthropomorphism as much as I can, since I believe haiku should state the objective observance, not the subjective judgement about it. I only use it when the situation really calls for it.


Here is the story to the above haiku.

It is candlenight in Japan.
A few good friends have gathered around the old pond, with the odd frog jumping in once in a while too for good measure.
In the darkness, we enjoy the conversation, then the silence, then talk again.

Plop, another frog. Silence deepens.

A firefly zips by and I tell my friends about this haiku, written a few days ago in some haiku forum after a discussion on the subject

temporary enlightenment -
just a bunch of
fireflies

Everybody chuckles ... yea, yea, the follies of us human beings ...
And silence again in the darkness.

Staring toward the white calla lily, a small spider makes its way toward the innermost flower parts. Slowly, stopping, sensing what ?

Everyone gets focussed on the spider and then another little beetle on the white flower next to it. Candlelight makes this scene especially unworldly. Like under a giant spotlight, all we see now is the spider.

And then someone asks:

Is the spider looking for
enlightenment ?

...


So my particular haiku is not really a personification, but a report about a situation during that candlenight.



Anthropomorphism - Pro and Con

Read my Haiku Archives 2007


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Princess Haiku

princess haiku - a rose in my garden full of weeds

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Meet a great friend HERE !

© PHOTO by Princess Haiku




Read my Haiku Archives 2007


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sunflowers

let me laugh with you - sunflowers

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Check out a great place to be !
© Photo from Marion Acres
The Herbal Connection



Read my Haiku Archives 2007


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atomic fallout

atomic fallout fall out out

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Before dawn of March 1st in 1954, the U.S. hydrogen bomb "Bravo" blew up at the Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands. The power was 1,000 times more than the A-bomb on Hiroshima.
The Daigo Fukuryumaru (the Fifth Lucky Dragon), a tuna fishing boat, was operating near the Rongelap Atoll, which was thought to be outside the warning area and was about 160km away from Bikini Atoll.
A few hours later, radioactive pieces of coral reef called "Ash of Death" poured down on 23 crew members of the boat.

Daigo Fukuryumaru (Fifth Lucky Dragon)
第五福竜丸の事件


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some comments

A sensitive, beautiful poem Gabi. I clicked into the link and yes, a sad story indeed!

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you have a sensitive, gentle, beautiful heart, gabi-san.
Bless you.

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Gabi san, I was deeply moved by your poem and act.
Thank you.

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Thank you for posting this Gabi. A sad story indeed.

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very sad story Gabi, we are our own worst enemy.

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Dear GABI,
With what a powerful voice you've stated your mind.
I read the report with great sadness. . . and it only got worse by the end of the write-up.
It is beyond reason why we do this to ourselves.

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i never heard about this tragedy before
thank you, Gabi! (for your good poem!, for the link)
a friend from Germany

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A fitting poem, Gabi. Thanks, Gabi.


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Read my Haiku Archives 2007


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busy bee

busy bee ... collecting HAIKU and sunshine

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Read my Haiku Archives 2007


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sleepless night

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rainy season ...
I peer through
the raindrops






Movement of the rain clouds.
My home is just in the middle of the photo
where I made the red dot.



and a bit later, toward the end of this fit of rain



rainy season -
the drama of clouds
between mountain peaks


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Got quite a pounding on the old tin roof, and still going on ...
. weather.yahoo.co.jp/weather/


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You can tell whether one is clever
by his or her answers.
You can tell whether one is wise
by his or her questions.

Naguib Mahfouz


rainy season ...
shall I write a wet haiku
or a dry one ?


rainy season ...
shall I write a clever haiku
or a wise one ?



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and for good measure, the daily ISSA on the subject


big winter rain
or little winter rain...
sleeping is hard

ooshigure ko shigure neru mo muzukashi ya
大時雨小しぐれ寝るもむづかしや

Tr. David Lanoue


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some comments

I enjoyed the humor in these, Gabi...
they compliment each other nicely!

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Gabi, the playful and gentle spirit here gives me a lift.

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Yes, you've captured the 'lightness' of the haiku spirit so well!!!

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hi GABI - i enjoyed the wry humour in these two. i enjoy light-hearted haiku so yours brought much pleasure to me. thanks.



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Read my Haiku Archives 2007


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half moon

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five o'clock -
a white half moon
in the dark blue sky




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Read my Haiku Archives 2007


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