Carpe Diem Special #40, Kikusha-Ni's 'in the teabowl'

Inspirational Haiku, by Kikusha-Ni

tenmoku ni koharu no kumo no ugoki kana

in the teabowl
this motion of the clouds
of 'Little Spring'

Plus, I am delighted by Kristjaan's effort

in the rain puddle
the beauty of moving clouds
beneath my feet

I am taking this prompt as an invitation to pause and reflect, not just on nature, but on myself.  I see many people find comfort in religion.  But I am an agnostic and a secular humanist, and have rejected religion as a key to either understanding or enlightenment.  So I do not see haiku as the fulfillment of any religious ideal.  Rather, to me, it is a minimalist intellectual exercise attempting to capture in words some small but meaningful aspect of life or nature.  I appreciate the discipline imposed by the limits of the form, and see that as part of the challenge.

Often, I fail in my attempts to write real haiku - or even senryu - and opt instead for some small bit of structured cleverness.  Such is my ego.  And thus my scattershot responses to the prompts, and reliance on animal props. Sometimes they oonch up the challenge, but they also provide focal points. 

I am in awe of nature, humbled by the universe, and actually do have a spiritual side - though I cannot claim to understand it. Thus my humility. I am a part of the universe, and might even be connected to all things in it.

But it remains beyond my comprehension. 

~ 1 ~

am i a haijin

or just a glib old man

playing with words

~ 2 ~

i please myself

with little word images

are they something more

~ 3 ~

virtual image

on the surface of my tea

universe reversed

~ 4 ~

reflect on nature

emulate the moose and goose

living ego-free

~ 5 ~

moving clouds

seen in dew on spider's web

do not move her

~~\|/~~

Carpe Diem Special #40