The challenge for Carpe Diem Weekend Meditation #50 Rabindranath Tagore’s “where shadow chases light” is to distill a poem by Rabindranath Tagore into a haiku, which is then to be the base to create a troiku.  My first instinct was to use nearly exact phrases from “Where Shadow Chases Light” to create the haiku and troiku.  I also wanted to try an alternate version with more flexible word choice while still maintaining the essence of the original, so I’ve done both.  My first attempt is my favorite, but I’ll start here with the alternate version.  Both include images that show the  troiku structure.  Here is the Tagore poem to be distilled:

Where Shadow Chases Light

This is my delight,
thus to wait and watch at the wayside
where shadow chases light
and the rain comes in the wake of the summer.

Messengers, with tidings from unknown skies,
greet me and speed along the road.
My heart is glad within,
and the breath of the passing breeze is sweet.

From dawn till dusk I sit here before my door,
and I know that of a sudden
the happy moment will arrive when I shall see.

In the meanwhile I smile and I sing all alone.
In the meanwhile the air is filling with the perfume of promise.

               © Rabindranath Tagore

My alternate haiku, followed by its troiku:

passing breeze is sweet
messengers bringing tidings
watching and waiting

passing breeze is sweet
dry summer about to end
I wait for the rain

messengers bringing tidings
with the perfume of promise
happiness arrives

watching and waiting
smiling and singing alone
gladness in my heart

My original haiku, followed by its troiku:

this is my delight
I sit here before my door
my heart glad within

this is my delight
happy moment will arrive
thus to watch and wait

I sit here before my door
rain comes in wake of summer
shadow chases light

my heart glad within
breath of passing breeze is sweet
perfume of promise

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:
Museum of Fine Arts Boston (Mariko: Famous Tea Shop, by Utagawa Hiroshige)
Wikimedia Commons (troika)