The prompt for Carpe Diem Weekend Meditation #43 Troiku Challenge: My Lucky Tea starts with two haiku by Kobayashi Issa (translated by David G. Lanoue) to be used to create a “fusion” haiku, which is then to be the base to create a troiku.
tonight’s moon–
how many mountains resemble
the ones back home?
going outside
plum blossoms dive in…
my lucky tea
© Kobayashi Issa
~~~~~~~
on road far from home
finding comfort in shared heavens
drinking tonight’s moon
on road far from home
weary after long absence
longing for kinship
finding comfort in shared heavens
looking to stars for guidance
enlightenment calls
drinking tonight’s moon
reflections on the river
same moonlight back home
A troiku is three haiku, with each of the three lines from a suggested haiku as the first line of each haiku in the troiku. It’s not always possible to have a 5-7-5 format in the second haiku, due to the limitations of the suggested haiku. The name of the form is derived from “troika,” a sled or carriage drawn by three horses harnessed side-by-side, an iconic symbol of Imperial Russia.
Image sources:
Wikimedia Commons (Suzhou Star Chart)
Wikimedia Commons (troika)
Particularly nice
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Very nicely done, Ken! I like the different layouts to illustrate the process of creating the troiku.
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Thanks, Kim. 🙂
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I enjoy seeing the process–you do a great job of explaining and laying it out. I really like this–the moon and reflecting on home.
love “drinking tonight’s moon.”
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Thank you, Merril. That line was the first to come to me, and I knew it would be the last line in my fusion, so I wrote the last haiku first to be sure I could work in that direction.
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I love it when a certain line just comes to me like that. 🙂
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Ken, your Haiku is beautiful and hence the Troika (u) is great too.
Thanks
miriam
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Thank you!
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This is an interesting exercise in getting into the heart of poetry and expanding it. Sort of like diagramming sentences in the seventh grade!
You have done very well in breaking it down.
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Thanks, Dwight.
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this is a wonderful fusion haiku and troiku! and even without the diagrams, I love the flow – although the diagrams are cool too …. LOL –
but back to the poetry – I love the idea of being one under the stars, despite the distances, as noted, drinking from the moonlight is just a sublime image to hold in one’s mind/eye – and heart
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🙂 Thank you!
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There is definitely comfort in those shared heavens. (K)
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Indeed!
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Thank you Ken for this wonderful response on our weekend-meditation. I love your fusion-haiku and the Troiku you created with it reads like a story … awesome.
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Merci!
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Yes… those same stars that connect us.
Not too far from home, but far enough to seek and remember those comforts.
Just posted for haikai here:
creekside, bay or ocean…
Hope to see you there…
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Connecting the dots that lead back home.
🙂
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Amazing
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Thanks!
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