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Blog Tour – After the Fires of Day: Haiku Inspired by Kahlil Gibran & Alphonse de Lamartine by Cendrine Marrouat

Posted on September 7, 2021 by Miriam Hurdle 60 comments

I’m delighted to have Cendrine Marrouat on my blog today to celebrate her new release of After the Fires of Day: Haiku inspired by Kahlil Gibran & Alphonse de Lamartine.

Dear friends, please help me welcome, poet, photographer and multi-genre author Cendrine. She will share with you about the poetry form Haiku.

The Haiku: A Celebration of the Human Journey by Cendrine Marrouat

When I announced the upcoming release of After the Fires of Day: Haiku Inspired by Kahlil Gibran & Alphonse de Lamartine, people reacted very positively. They were also quite intrigued and kept inquiring as to why I had chosen the haiku as opposed to other forms of poetry to pay homage to those two amazing authors.

The haiku is my favorite form of poetry. It has been part of my life for almost two decades. I have written hundreds of them. However, it is not the reason why I opted for the haiku for this new collection. And this is what I would like to share with you today.

In the English-speaking world, when people think of the haiku, they may remember what they were taught in school: a short poem of three lines that follows the 7-5-7 syllable pattern. The seasonal reference (‘kigo’) and “cutting word” (‘kireji’) may be mentioned, but the obsessive focus remains on the 17 syllables. If your haiku does not contain those 17 lines, it does not qualify as such. This is wrong.

The haiku was invented in Japan. Japanese poets count in phonetic sounds or units called ‘on’, ‘onji’ or ‘morae’, which are different from English syllables. An “English syllable may contain one, two or three morae” to quote Wikipedia. In his excellent book titled The Haiku Handbook, William J. Higginson states that the 17 onji of traditional haiku are about 12 syllables in English. Other books talk about the number of words and recommend sticking to 8-12 words.

There is something liberating in knowing that you do not have to stick to a rigid syllable pattern when you write haiku. Your creativity is suddenly unleashed.

The haiku is an intimate form of poetry that goes beyond its syllable count. To write a memorable haiku, you need to understand the importance of conciseness and simple language, and how to leverage the kigo to evoke a specific mood. Every word counts!

A haiku does not just freeze a scene in time. It also implicitly reveals the author’s innermost feelings at that precise moment. As such, it tells a story about the human journey.

Ultimately, that’s what Kahlil Gibran and Alphonse de Lamartine successfully did with their writing. They were driven by a desire to awaken the human spirit. And that is what the haiku allows me to do.

Thank you for reading!

NB: Wondering who Kahlil Gibran and Alphonse de Lamartine are? Read my posts here and here.

Book Information

After the Fires of Day: Haiku Inspired by Kahlil Gibran and Alphonse de Lamartine by [Cendrine Marrouat]

Blurb

Originating from Japan, the Haiku has been a source of inspiration and comfort for people of all ages and from all walks of life for many years. This versatile poetry form is cherished around the world. Inspired by the timeless words of authors Kahlil Gibran and Alphonse de Lamartine, After the Fires of Day is a hymn to life, the emotion of the moment, and our connection to nature. Every haiku in Cendrine Marrouat’s collection is sure to stay with you for a very long time…

Formats: ebook and paperback

Release date: September 7, 2021

Availability: Everywhere books are sold, including Amazon, Kobo, Apple, Chapters-Indigo, Barnes & Noble, and FNAC. Readers are encouraged to support independent

Bookstores: https://creativeramblings.com/books/.

Website: https://creativeramblings.com/after-fires-day/

Trailer:

Author Bio

Cendrine Marrouat is a French-born Canadian photographer, poet, and the multi-genre author of more than 30 books. In 2019, she founded the PoArtMo Collective and co-founded Auroras & Blossoms with David Ellis. A year later, they launched PoArtMo (Positive Art Month and Positive Art Moves) and created the Kindku and Pareiku, two forms of poetry.

Cendrine is also the creator of the Sixku, the Flashku, and the Reminigram. Cendrine writes both in French and English and has worked in many different fields in her 17-year career, including translation, language instruction, journalism, art reviews, and social media.

Contact Information

Email: cendrine@creativeramblings.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cendrinephotography/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/cendrineartist

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/cendrinemarrouat

Ceramic Painting

Posted on December 25, 2020 by Miriam Hurdle 31 comments

Opaque 1

Opaque 2

Opaque 3

My daughter and I took ceramic painting class when she was ten years old. We both enjoyed this activity.

When choosing a green ware that is a ceramic piece just came out of the first firing from a mode with the clay color. It is still fragile and breakable. We need to clean the rough edges with bladed tools and water. The next step is to paint it with the paint for green ware. After painting, the green ware goes through the second firing. After the second firing, the piece becomes solid. The glaze will be applied and the piece goes through the third firing to have a shiny colored look.

Another way to do it is to purchase the bisque which is cleaned and solid through the second firing. All we have to do is to use a different paint specifically for bisque. We paint the colors, and do the glazing. Then the piece goes through one more firing in the kiln before its completion. The dry brush technique requires different kind of paint, doesn’t need glaze or the third firing.

My daughter and I carry on this hobby separately. I like to paint angels and fairies. When I paint the wings or certain areas in white, I have to be sure to use opaque white that is nontransparent, and covers any unexpected spots of other colors.

Opaque 4

Daily Prompt: Opaque

Discover Prompts, Day 16: Slow

Posted on April 16, 2020 by Miriam Hurdle 35 comments

Ben Huberman at Discover, WordPress posts daily prompts throughout April. The prompt for today is Slow.

He invited us to write about an activity, chore, or habit we enjoy lingering on, or music, art, literature we turn to when we don’t need to rush.

~~~

I worked for the same school district for twenty-five years before retirement. The freeway commuters increased year by year. Every driver was impatient, but there was no other option to many people to get to work. For me, I had an option of taking surface streets. It took fifty to sixty minutes each way. If the freeway were free, it would take about forty minutes. During the rush hours, it could take an hour and fifteen minutes, but it was still unpredictable. Eventually, I only took surface streets to work.

There was an internal clock that woke me at six o’clock before the alarm went off. There was no time to linger in bed. The morning routine was repeated methodically. Every five minutes of delay to get out of the door would cause extra ten minutes late to work. There was no time to have breakfast at home so I would eat after I got to the classroom or office when I worked in the school district office.

After retirement, the internal clock still woke me at six o’clock. It took a good year for me not to worry about getting on the road. It has been almost ten years now. I enjoy my slower pace of life with no apparent deadline and no rush in getting things done. If I cannot get it done today, there is always tomorrow. Sometimes, it is all right if I do not complete the job.

The best way for me to learn to slow is doing watercolor painting, drawing, and ceramic painting. Here are some samples.

butterfly watercolor

Holding Hands

drawing 3

potraite1

IMG_3456c

IMG_3460b

IMG_3458a

Discover Prompts, Day 16: Slow

Birthday Present

Posted on November 26, 2017 by Miriam Hurdle 78 comments

I have written a post about My daughter Mercy. I love her dearly.

November 22 is my birthday. Some years, my birthday falls on Thanksgiving Day. This year, it was the day before Thanksgiving. My daughter Mercy, her husband Will, and baby Autumn came on Sunday, November 19 and stayed until the day after Thanksgiving.

On my birthday, we went to the mall to do window shopping. We then had some photos taken in front of the only Christmas tree. Santa was there for kids’ visit and photos. We were going to have photos taken with different decorations, but it seemed like the decorations were down to minimal. Perhaps I hadn’t been to the mall during Christmas for many years and didn’t realize the shrinkage.

We had dinner at a restaurant. Mercy gave me a booklet for my birthday present. It entitled “I Love You, Mom. And Here’s Why!” Each page has a prompt for her to share her thoughts with me. When we got home, I couldn’t wait but read through the twenty-one pages. My eyes were filled with tears from the first line of Mercy’s writing, and the smile mixed with tears for the remaining pages.

Here are two examples of the pages.