Folsom Street Fair

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NORTH AMERICAN SAIJIKI

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Folsom Street Fair Festival

***** Location: San Fransisco
***** Season: Summer
***** Category: Humanity

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Explanation


"The grand daddy of all leather events" takes place each summer.
source : /folsomstreetfair.org





The Folsom Street Fair (FSF) is an annual BDSM and leather subculture street fair held on the last Sunday in September and caps San Francisco's "Leather Pride Week". The Folsom Street Fair, sometimes simply referred to as "Folsom", takes place on Folsom Street between 7th and 12th Streets, in San Francisco's South of Market district.

The event started in 1984 and is California's third largest spectator event[citation needed] and the world's largest leather event and showcase for BDSM products and culture.[1] It has grown as a non-profit charity, and local and national non-profits benefit with all donations at the gates going to charity groups as well as numerous fundraising schemes within the festival including games, beverage booths and even spanking for donations to capitalize on the adult-themed exhibitionism.
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Towels Under Tailbones?
California State Law: Nude is Not Necessarily Lewd
2011
source : verdict.justia.com


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HAIKU

Folsom Festival...
towels under tailbones
frosting on the cake

opie, Texas
Kigo Hotline


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Related words

WKD : Index


***** NORTH AMERICAN SAIJIKI PROJECTS

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Cowboys Blanket

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NORTH AMERICAN SAIJIKI

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Cowboys Blanket

***** Location: Texas
***** Season: All winter
***** Category: Humanity

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Explanation


Wrap yourself in a fleece Dallas Cowboys blanket and get comfortable while watching your home team with the softest, brightest, and plushest printed Dallas Cowboys blanket on the planet. This Dallas Cowboys blanket is a luxurious throw. Take your Dallas Cowboys blanket with you on a picnic, to the park, or to the game and support your favorite NFL team.
Dallas_Cowboys_Blanket_


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HAIKU

sitting on my hands
under our Cowboys blanket
she snuggles closer


. Opie
Kigo Hotline


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Related words

. Blanket (moofu 毛布) .


***** NORTH AMERICAN SAIJIKI PROJECTS

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stars of Yemen

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YEMEN SAIJIKI

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The forty days of water

***** Location: Yemen
***** Season: Late Summer
***** Category: Heaven

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Explanation

The agriculturalmarker stars in Yemeni folklore
by DANIEL MARTIN VARISCO
Hofstra University,Hempstead,New York

"……
The lunar stations represent the order of stars along the moon's path, with the moon lying in one of the twenty-eight stations each day of its orbit around the earth. After about 27l/, days the moon begins its course again through the same set of stars. Since the plane of the moon's orbit differs only about five degrees from that of the sun, these lunar stations are in fact derived from the zodiacal constellations (Sternbild [german] = Burg or Burj [Arabic])….

…..An interesting example of the problems involved in adapting local star lore toa formal astronomical grid is found in the sequence of marker stars fromal-rawabic al-815 to siibic call6n.g The word callan, derived from the pre-Islamic Himyaritic month name for September, survives in al-Ahjur of the central highlands as a term for the late summer or early autumn rains.

In the marker system calliin covers the risings in late fall of three stars of the Ursa Major (baniit nacsh) constellation. In Arabic taxonomy, these are the three "daughters" that accompany the funeral bier, or square of stars referred tohere as rawabic. The rising oft he seven main stars of Ursa Major in the late summer and early fall is of great importance in Yemeni agriculture, so much so that the names of the stars may be given to crops. Although the stars of call6n rise in the same general season, it is not the case that the individual stars rise at the intervals demanded in the marker system…..

The period of rain is known as the forty days of kharq, a term used in Yemen for the late summer rains rather than for the autumn of the four-season model. Al-Hattiir adds that this time is called the forty days of water, due to the expected rainfall. The season begins witha period called the first (awwal),a reference in this case to the dawn rising of the first of the seven stars of Ursa Major, which is known as baniit nacsh in Arab astronomy. There are in fact seven periods,from the first star through the seventh …."

source : thelastlionofthealhambra.com (PDF file)


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HAIKU

walking
the forty days of water
through my future salad



Heike Gewi, Yemen



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Star Canopus or in arabic Suhayl or refering to the chinese Star of Old Age,
Star of the Old Man
season: summer, summer rains = monsoon rains

Alpha Carinae
source : www.oneminuteastronomer.com


rain ripples
the silence of the birds
Star of Old Age

Heike Gewi

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Rising of Sirius; Star Sirius; Sirius; brightest star
season : midsummer, intense summer heat

source : the last lion of the alhambra.com


A smile
aimed at the new dawn ...
Rising of Sirius


I chose
to grapple with words
... the brightest star

Heike Gewi


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. Star, Stars (hoshi 星) .


***** YEMEN SAIJIKI



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Haboob sandstorm

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NORTH AMERICAN SAIJIKI

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Haboob sandstorm

***** Location: Arizona, USA
***** Season: Summer
***** Category: Heaven

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Explanation

A haboob (Arabic)
is a type of intense sandstorm commonly observed in arid regions throughout the world. They have been observed in the Sahara desert (typically Sudan), as well as across the Arabian Peninsula, throughout Kuwait, and in the most arid regions of Iraq.

African haboobs result from the northward summer shift of the inter-tropical front into North Africa, bringing moisture from the Gulf of Guinea. Haboob winds in the Arabian Peninsula, Iraq, and Kuwait are frequently created by the collapse of a thunderstorm. The arid and semiarid regions of North America – in fact, any dryland region – may experience haboobs. In the USA, they are frequently observed in the deserts of Arizona, including Yuma and Phoenix,[ as well as New Mexico and Texas.

During thunderstorm formation, winds move in a direction opposite to the storm's travel, and they will move from all directions into the thunderstorm. When the storm collapses and begins to release precipitation, wind directions reverse, gusting outward from the storm and generally gusting the strongest in the direction of the storm's travel.
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July 6, 2011



July 18, 2011

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Arizona Climate

Due to its large area and variations in elevation the state has a wide variety of localized climate conditions. In the lower elevations, the climate is primarily desert, with mild winters and hot summers. Typically, from late fall to early spring, the weather is mild, averaging a minimum of 60 °F (16 °C).
November through February are the coldest months with temperatures typically ranging from 40–75 °F (4–24 °C), although occasional frosts are not uncommon.

Due to the primarily dry climate, large temperature swings often occur between day and night in less developed areas of the desert.
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HAIKU

haboob -- the grit in my grimace

"chibi" (pen-name for Dennis M. Holmes)
Kigo Hotline


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A haboob
sweeps across the valley—
night at mid-day


I have lived in Phoenix, AZ since July 2007. In that time I have experienced several local dust storms. But it was not until a little over a week ago (July 5, 2011) that I experienced a haboob, and then a second one Monday night (July 18, 2011)

Both times we could see the giant dust storm forming in a huge cloud that advanced across the desert stretches between Tuscon to the south and Phoenix north of Tuscon. We were eventually engulfed in rolling dust-- a cloud 3,000 feet high and 60 miles long.
John Daleiden, Phoenix, AZ in the Sonoran Desert


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haboob
the devil's pitchfork
stabs at heaven

"Kawazu" Cliff T. Roberts
President, Fort Worth Haiku Society


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Related words

Yellow sand 　黄砂 (こうさ) koosa
sandstorm in Japan

. Storms and gales, winter storms .
Europe


***** NORTH AMERICAN SAIJIKI PROJECTS

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Memorial Day

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USA SAIJIKI

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Memorial Day

***** Location: USA
***** Season: Spring
***** Category: Observance

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Explanation

Memorial Day is a United States federal holiday
observed on the last Monday of May.
Formerly known as Decoration Day, which was first recorded to have been observed by Freedmen (freed enslaved southern blacks) in Charleston, South Carolina in 1865, at the Washington Race Course, to remember the fallen Union soldiers of the Civil War.

The recognition of the fallen victims was then enacted under the name Memorial Day by an organization of Union veterans — the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) — to honor Union soldiers of the American Civil War. Over time, it was extended after World War I to honor all Americans who have died in all wars. Now known as Memorial Day, it is a day of remembering the men and women who died while serving in the United States Armed Forces.

Memorial Day often marks the start of the summer vacation season, and Labor Day its end.

Begun as a ritual of remembrance and reconciliation after the Civil War, by the early 20th century, Memorial Day was an occasion for more general expressions of memory, as ordinary people visited the graves of their deceased relatives, whether they had served in the military or not. It also became a long weekend increasingly devoted to shopping, family get-togethers, fireworks, trips to the beach, and national media events such as the Indianapolis 500 auto race, held since 1911 on the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend.
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HAIKU

Memorial Day Parade:
the boy points his toy gun
at everyone
5/29/11

Memorial Day:
the old soldier who sold poppies
has faded away...
5/30/11

Larry Bole

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Memorial Day
the lonely war veteran
tends to his garden

Our landlord is a Korean war veteran, the only one left in our town,he still suffers with wounds seen, and unseen.

Lisette Root

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Memorial Day --
under the wooden cross
forget-me-nots

День Победы --
под деревянным крестом
незабудки

Origa (Olga Hooper)


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***** WKD
Saijiki for Festivals and Ceremonies


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Giant rimu tree

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AUSTRALIAN SAIJIKI

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Giant rimu tree

***** Location: New Zealand
***** Season: Topic
***** Category: Plant

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Explanation

quote
Dacrydium cupressinum, commonly known as rimu,
is a large evergreen coniferous tree endemic to the forests of New Zealand. It is a member of the southern conifer group, the podocarps. The former name "red pine" has fallen out of common use.

Rimu is a slow-growing tree, eventually attaining a height of up to 50 m, although most surviving large trees are 20 to 35 m tall. It typically appears as an emergent from mixed broadleaf temperate rainforest, although there are almost pure stands (especially on the west coast of the South Island).
.
Historically, rimu and other native trees such as kauri, matai and totara were the main sources of wood for New Zealand, including furniture and house construction. However, many of New Zealand's original stands of rimu have been destroyed, and recent government policies forbid the felling of rimu in public forests, though allowing limited logging on private land. Pinus radiata has now replaced rimu in most industries, although rimu remains popular for the production of high quality wooden furniture. There is also limited recovery of stump and root wood, from trees felled many years before, for use in making bowls and other wood turned objects.
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Giant rimu
Rimutaka Forest Park - Wellington - New Zealand
these photos follow my tramp through the Rimutaka Forest Park, a steep uplifted gropup of mountains, covered in native forest, at the head of Wellington harbour, and dividing Wellington from the Wairarapa. There is a mixture of forest from fertile lowland mixed podocarp and fern forest, to southern beech forest in dryer areas, and rimu and rata along the ridges.


source : Steve Attwood



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HAIKU

a giant rimu falls
within an hour
rain

- Owen Bullock -
New Zealand Poetry Society Te Hunga Tito Ruri o Aotearoa


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AUSTRALIAN SAIJIKI


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Awaiting Husband Reef

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TAIWAN SAIJIKI

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Awaiting Husband Reef

***** Location: Taiwan
***** Season: Topic
***** Category: Earth

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Explanation


澎湖 七美 Wang Fu Reef

Waiting-husband reef
Cimei, Penghu




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Cimei Island (七美鄉)

The name of Cimei originally came from a historical story of the Ming Dynasty, in which seven women had to commit suicide when Japanese pirates raided the island.
Cimei was named in 1949, as a replacement of its original name "Da-Yu", to commemorate the seven women and their tombs. It now also connotes seven beautiful things as the island's tourist attractions. They are the scenery, the sea water, local products, people's hearts, the geology, the architecture, and the history as indications of the seven beautiful characteristics of Cimei island.

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HAIKU

Awaiting Husband Reef...
the waves come and recede
at the shore

Note:
The poem is partly inspired by the story behind Wang Fu Reef (Awaiting Husband Reef), where is located within the south sea recreation area, Penghu, Taiwan, and where I had served my two-year compulsive military service as a border security agent and a cook.

The heartbreaking story took place in Cimei Island, about 48 sea miles west of Tainan, Taiwan.
There was a loving couple. The husband went out fishing every day, leaving early in the morning and returning late at night, and the wife would wait at the reef by the sea every evening for her husband to return. One day, when she was waiting, a storm suddenly occurred and the waves were fearsome; she waited the entire night in panic and her husband didn’t return. The second day, she still went to the seashore and waited for her husband to return, but he didn’t. The third day, the fourth day, … she waited by the seashore for a week. Her husband simply didn’t show up.

Her family and villagers all gave up hope for his safe return, and told her that her husband wouldn’t come back home and she needed to take good care of herself. She thanked them for their sincere concern for her, she still went to the seashore and waited for her husband. By the end of the month, she finally collapsed, and when people found her, it was too late to save her life. After countless years, the reef near the place she used to wait for her husband miraculously took the shape of a human form.



The amazing part is that the reef has a bulging belly, just like a pregnant woman. The later generations all believe that this is the image of the woman who waited night and day for her husband to return, and that lovers will be assured eternal love if they kiss here at sunset just like what the Westerners do on a gondola at sunset under the Bridge of Sighs in Venice.

See Awaiting Husband Reef video .

Chen-ou Liu


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***** Couple's Day (fuufu no hi, Japan)



. TAIWAN SAIJIKI . 　


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. . . TAIWAN SAIJIKI

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TAIWAN SAIJIKI

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Taiwan also known, especially in the past, as Formosa
(from Portuguese: Ilha Formosa, "Beautiful Island"), is an island situated in East Asia in the Western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. It comprises 99% of the territory of the Republic of China (ROC) since the 1950s; therefore, the term "Taiwan" is also a common name to refer to the Republic of China itself.

Separated from the Asian continent by the 160 km (99 mi) wide Taiwan Strait, the main island of the group is 394 km (245 mi) long and 144 kilometres (89 mi) wide.


Climate
Taiwan's climate is marine tropical.
The northern part of the island has a rainy season that lasts from January through late March during the northeast monsoon, and experiences meiyu in May.
The entire island experiences hot, humid weather from June through September. The middle and southern parts of the island do not have an extended monsoon season during the winter months.
Natural hazards such as typhoons and earthquakes are common in the region.
©　More in the WIKIPEDIA !

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Taiwan has a tropical climate,
varying from hot and humid in the south,
to cooler temperatures in the north and inland mountainous region.
Winters are short and tend to be mild, while summer is usually hot, with plenty of humidity.

Throughout the country, sudden rain showers occur frequently and visitors are advised to travel with raingear. In July and September, typhoons from the South China Sea bring heavy rains and as mentioned, monsoons occur frequently. September to October (autumn) is the driest period in Taiwan, followed by a generally damp and chilly winter, with snow on the island's mountain peaks.
Temperatures in the summer can reach up to 90ºF (35ºC) at the coast.
source : www.wordtravels.com

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. Personal Introduction to Taiwan
Chen-ou Liu . 　

Special Thanks go to Chen-ou for his valuable contributions.


NeverEnding Story
First English-Chinese Bilingual Haiku and Tanka BLOG
Chen-ou Liu
source : neverendingstory



Taiwan, 2013 - Chen-ou Liu

Happy Year of the Snake
a girl says with her hands
Taipei Sky Walker

Note:
Taipei Sky Walker is the first tourist e-book in three languages (Chinese, Japanese, and English), containing aerial photos of Taipei attractions
source : Taipei Sky Walker - google



fifth night of Chinese New Year
God of Wealth and I see
eye to eye in my dream

On the 5th day of Chinese New Year Festival,
it’s believed that the gods of prosperity come down from the heavens. Therefore, it’s the best day of the year to open new businesses.



Water Snake Lantern zigzags
through Ketagalan Boulevard ...
end of Chinese New Year

Note:
Today, February 24, is the Lantern Festival, marking the end of the 15-day Chinese New Year festivities.
Ketagalan Boulevard is in Zhongzheng District,Taipei, Taiwan, between the Presidential Building and the East Gate. Its length is 400 m,and there are ten lanes in two directions and no traffic islands.


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Season Words from Taiwan


Confucius Festisvals : Sekiten 釈奠 (せきてん) / Sekisai 釈菜（せきさい）
spring and autumn


Double Ninth Day, Chrysanthemum Festival
the ninth day of the ninth month
autumn


Lantern Festival Yuanxiao Festival 元宵節
spring


Moon Festival, Mid-autumn Festival
moon cakes, moon rice cakes
autumn


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Haiku Topics from Taiwan


Awaiting Husband Reef, Wang Fu Reef


Sun Moon Lake


Yangming Mountain, Yang-ming shan




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2/28 Peace Park
this familiar accent
Indonesian maids

Confucius minus the head
Indoneisan maid forgot the sage
as she helps take my picture

seeds of
independece
2/28 Peace Park

The 2/28 Peace Park, used to be the Taipei Park(also named New Park) , set up in 1899, is situated at the end of Guanqian Road in front of Taipei Main Station.
source : john tiong chunghoo



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. Taiwan 1979 : Photo Album Gabi Greve


. . . Asian Haiku Travelogue : Gabi Greve


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***** . TAIWAN SAIJIKI . 　


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Chen-ou Liu Taiwan

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TAIWAN SAIJIKI

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Personal Introduction to Taiwan
Chen-ou Liu

During my first year's stay in Canada, more than seven thousand miles (7,521 miles to be exact) from my family, I often dreamt of Taiwan where I was born and raised. Sometimes these random scenes evoked a sense of homesickness and displacement, and other times I would wonder what they were about. Most of them came to be forgotten, but I don't regret not remembering because there is no point in clinging to bygone days. However, my trouble is that I cannot forget completely. Taiwan is a place where I lived for almost forty years. This is a place I once hated and thought about running away from, then left it, and now I sometimes dream of going back.


The moral backbone of literature is about that whole question of memory. To my mind it seems clear that those who have no memory have the much greater chance to lead happy lives.

But the fact is that writing is the only way in which I am able to cope with the memories which overwhelm me so frequently and so unexpectedly. If they remained locked away, they would become heavier and heavier as time went on, so that in the end I would succumb under their mounting weight.

-- W. G. Sebald, author of The Emigrants

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The haiku/senryu below are dedicated to
Formosa, the Beautiful Island of Taiwan


Lake Ontario water
cupped in my hand --
Formosa ’s moon

Note:
In 1544, a Portuguese ship sighted the main island of Taiwan and named it Ilha Formosa , which means " Beautiful Island " .

Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. Ontario, Canada's second largest and most populous province, was named for the lake.



Taiwan’s moon
hangs in Ajax sky ... the scent
on mother's apron

Note:
Ajax is a suburb of Toronto, the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada, where I continue to struggle with a life in transition and translation.

Taipei is the largest city in Taiwan and has been the capital of the Republic of China (Taiwan) since 1949. Most importantly, it’s the city of my birth.



over Ajax
the rainy June sky --
I long for Taiwan

written for Basho
and in response to his haiku below:

even in Kyoto--
hearing the cuckoo's cry--
I long for Kyoto.

Note:
In Ajax, the sun comes in unequal measures, but it seldom rains. If it does, it seldom lasts half a day. In Taiwan, the main rainy season, which lasts from mid-May through to mid-June, is a period of time referred to as Meiyu Jijie (梅雨季節), meaning "plum rain season" as it coincides with the plum season. The island can expect heavy rainfall during the plum rain season, during which about 25 percent of the annual rainfall in northern Taiwan falls.



Taipei memories
here in a flash, gone in a flash...
snow on snow


I sleep in Taipei
but wake up in Ajax...
another winter dawn



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Sun Moon Lake
one by one I catch stars
for her

Note:
Sun Moon Lake, situated in Nantou County, Taiwan, is the island’s largest lake as well as the most famous tourist attraction.


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Yuanxiao Festival
soaring lanterns light up
the Taipei sky

Lantern Festival, Yuanxiao Festival 元宵節


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. Chen-ou Liu
Confessions of A Germanophile 　


. WKD : Chen-ou Liu - Urban Haiku




Read more of his poems on his poetry blog (external LINK)
Poetry in the Moment
http://chenouliu.blogspot.com/


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. TAIWAN SAIJIKI . 　


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Yangming Mountain

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TAIWAN SAIJIKI

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Mount Yangming, Yang-ming shan

***** Location: Taiwan
***** Season: Topic
***** Category: Earth

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Explanation


Mt. Yangming is situated in the north of Taipei the capital of Taiwan. It’s internalionally known for its natural mountain streams, hot springs, waterfalls and forest parks. Starting from late February to early April every year, the floral season of Mt. Yangming begins with azalea and cherry flowers in full bloom. Besides, camellia, peach, and plum blossom and apricot also vie with each other.

Chen-ou Liu

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HAIKU




Mt Yangming at dawn
the scent of plum blossoms
drifts across the path


written for Basho
and in response to his haiku below:

in the plum blossom scent
the sun pops out
a mountain path

Chen-ou Liu


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梅が香にのつと日の出る山路哉
ume ga ka ni notto hi no deru yamaji kana

scent of plum blossoms
on the misty mountain path
a big rising sun


Walking along the Old Road to Izumo, I came along a stone memorial to this haiku:

Man no Tawa, the Old Pass to the Harima Province

In the middle of nowhere there is a sign and then a stone memorial in rememberance of Matsuo Basho !
The "Fragrant Plum Memorial", baikazuka, umekazuka 梅香塚.

In the year 1793, the local haiku master of Doi invited other haiku friends to celebrate the 100th death day of Matsuo Basho (1644-1694) with the erection of a stone monument　with one of his haiku:

in the fragrance of plum blossoms
the sun comes out
on this mountain road

Basho published this haiku in the year 1694 in the collection A Sack of Charcoal (Bag of Charcoal) (Sumidawara　炭俵).

The area here was known for the beautiful mountain crossing of this pass.

. The Road to Izumo .



With plum blossom scent,
this sudden sun emerges
along a mountain trail
- Reference -

(The Japanese has the cut marker KANA at the end of line 3.)


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Related words


***** Plum Blossoms (ume 梅)



. TAIWAN SAIJIKI . 　



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