carpe diem spring retreat 2018 light of – Whippet Wisdom

Haibun: The Love of Trees

Cairngorms National Park

forest trail in the glen in Spring with pine and brown heather

It is warm in the glen today where firs provide some welcome shade. We get to know them one by one. The mother trees who feed the young, gradually passing on their wisdom. The grandmothers, who still have so much more to give. They nurture the trunks of sons blown over in gales, offering homes to birds and red squirrels.

They welcome us with open arms and make us feel at home here. The loving scent of pine spills easily onto our trail. Even in their next life, the trees will keep on giving.

still breathing
a bridge that carries us
across melting snow

black whippet walking across a wooden bridge over the melting snows

I am hosting Haibun Monday at dVerse tonight, a virtual pub for poets. The topic is compassion inspired by the writings of Kobayashi Issa (1763-1828). You are invited to compose a haibun that shows or alludes to compassion, without using the actual word. The pub opens at 8pm GMT and I will update the link below once the bar is open.

This is also my 30th and final contribution to Carpe Diem’s Spring Retreat 2018, a retreat where we were invited to share haiku, haibun and tanka about ‘The Light of the World’ every day for thirty days. A very big thank you to all of you who have followed me on this journey across both of my blogs. For a total list of contributions from myself and other poets please click on the link below.

We wish you all a very happy Monday and a wonderful new week!

With love from Eivor, Pearl and Xenia xxx

Carpe Diem Spring Retreat 2018: The Light of the World

Daily Post Weekly Photo Challenge: Place in the World

dVerse Poets Haibun Monday: Compassion

dVerse Poets Pub Logo

Haiku: Colours of the Sea

blue sky reflected in the sea on an outgoing tide

these colours
the new and ever newer
gifts from the sea

black whippet smiling on the beach and looking over his shoulder at the sea

We wish you all a wonderful weekend!

With love from Eivor, Pearl and Xenia xxx

Photographs by Xenia Tran, edited in lr.

Carpe Diem Spring Retreat 2018: The Light of the World

Carpe Diem’s Quest for a (new) Masterpiece – Introduction

Daily Post Weekly Photo Challenge: Place in the World

dVerse Poets: Open Link Night #220

This poem features in Between Heather and Grass. If you haven’t read the book yet, feel free to take a peek inside:

look inside feature for Between Heather and Grass — Look inside …

We are deeply honoured and delighted that the above haiku has subsequently been featured as part of the World Haiku Series 2019 organised by the Akita International Haiku Network, together with a Japanese translation by Hidenori Hiruta.

Haiku: Rising Early

Cairngorms National Park

blue whippet with her front paws on a stone wall between trees on forest trail

rising early
this morning’s glory
across the loch

Loch an Eilein in the morning sun

With love from Eivor, Pearl and Xenia xxx

Photographs by Xenia Tran, edited in lr.

Camera: Panasonic Lumix FZ200, Settings: f/4, 1/1600 s, ISO 100 and f/4, 1/640 s, ISO 100.

Carpe Diem Spring Retreat 2018: The Light of the World

Dutch Goes the Photo Tuesday Photo Challenge: Rise

Haibun: Sacred Forest

Cairngorms National Park

black whippet in black harness looking to his right on a forest trail

We take our time walking through the hills. Heather sleeps in muddy browns and mauves. Ground-nesting birds have made their home. The scent of pine mingles with Spring, a promise of tumbling green.

sacred forest
it looks a thousand years old
in flowing water

We wish you all a very happy Monday and a wonderful new week!

With love from Eivor, Pearl and Xenia xxx

Photographs by Xenia Tran, edited in lr.

Camera: Panasonic Lumix FZ200, Settings: f/3.5, 1/100 s, ISO 100 and f/6.3, 1/125 s, ISO 320.

Carpe Diem Spring Retreat 2018: The Light of the World

Daily Post Weekly Photo Challenge: Place in the World

Daily Prompt: Forest

dVerse Quadrille #56: Muddle up that Muse

This poem features in Between Heather and Grass. If you haven’t read the book yet, feel free to take a peek inside:

Haibun: We Touch the Wind

blue whippet chasing a pink ball on the beach

It is fun to chase balls while the seashore weaves a new morning. Fresh painted beach huts stand on the dunes and watch our deep horizon. Do they ponder, we wonder, all the light in this world?

an empty beach
while birds are nesting
we touch the wind

black whippet chasing a green ball on the beach

With love from us all, Eivor, Pearl and Xenia xxx

Photographs by Xenia Tran, edited in lr.

Camera: Panasonic Lumix FZ200, Settings: f/4.5, 1/1250 s, ISO 100 and f/4.5, 1/1600 s, ISO 100.

Carpe Diem Spring Retreat 2018: The Light of the World

Daily Post Weekly Photo Challenge: Unlikely

Daily Prompt: Observe

Haibun: When Boats are Sleeping

hull of a boat upside down on a trailer in fenced boat park by the bay

We walk together, three times a day. In Winter our first walk is at first light, the sun rising slowly between houses and chimneys, above the lowest of dunes. Now, on this first day of May, every walk is in daylight. Mornings are peaceful. Boats are still sleeping on grass wet with dew. This is where poems find me.

footsteps
behind paw prints in deep sand
gorse blooms

blue whippet running on the beach with a yellow ball

footsteps and paw prints in deep sand on beach

With love from Eivor, Pearl and Xenia xxx

Photographs by Xenia Tran, edited in lr.

Camera: Panasonic Lumix FZ200, Settings: f/4, 1/1600 s, ISO 100 and f/2.8, 1/2000 s, ISO 100.

Carpe Diem Spring Retreat 2018: The Light of the World

Daily Post Weekly Photo Challenge: Lines

dVerse Haibun Monday: Take a Walk

dVerse Poets Pub Logo

Haiku: Highland Breeze

black whippet running on beach near driftwood

fresh breeze
even in the highlands
cherry blossoms

close up of cherry blossoms

We wish you all a very happy Monday and a wonderful new week!

With love from Eivor, Pearl and Xenia xxx

Photographs by Xenia Tran, edited in lr.

Camera: Panasonic Lumix FZ200, Settings: f/2.8, 1/2000 s, ISO 100 and f/8, 1/250 s, ISO 100.

Carpe Diem Spring Retreat 2018: The Light of the World

Frank J Tassone’s Weekly Haikai Challenge #31: Cherry Blossoms

Daily Post Weekly Photo Challenge: Unlikely

Daily Prompt: Astonish

Haiku: Sea Waves

blue whippet running with a pink ball across tidal sands

evening sun
golden eyes and silver fur
sail across the sand

sea wave ripples in tidal sands with a curled autumn leaf

With love from Eivor, Pearl and Xenia xxx

Photographs by Xenia Tran, edited in lr.

Camera: Panasonic Lumix FZ200, Settings: f/2.8, 1/1250 s, ISO 100 and f/2.8, 1/1000 s, ISO 100.

Carpe Diem Spring Retreat 2018: The Light of the World

Daily Post Weekly Photo Challenge: Lines

Daily Prompt: Tide

Haibun: Glistening Sea

two whippets walking across shingle by the beach at low tide

We tiptoe across shingle to sands down below, the pools and a haze of blue mountains. The wondering and what-ifs are over now. The river flows out to a glistening sea, gathering stones full of meaning.

rest easy
home again among angels
in peace

shingle, beach, tidal sands and a blue sky with a few clouds above the water