only fools find joy
in the chagrin of others…
karma remembers
kat – 5 April 2017
A Haiku proverb of sorts for Ronovan Writes Haiku Challenge based on the prompt words: Chagrin & Joy.
Tag Archives: Haiku
Weltschmertz – Friday’s Word of the Day Haiku
It’s Friday in most parts of the world right now. I was going to say as I usually do, “Happy Friday” but I can’t assume to know if it is happy where you are. I’m not even sure if I am happy in this moment. Content maybe, but happy? Happiness takes effort. Which brings me to today’s dictionary.com Word of the Day, Weltschmerz. Leave it to the Germans to fashion a word that captures the day in day out ruts that we find ourselves languishing in.
Do you ever wonder if this is all there is? Weltschmerz is “the sorrow that one feels and accepts as one’s necessary portion in life.”
It is also defined as “sentimental pessimism”. As you can imagine, many a writer has penned this word.
Weltschmerz (the w sounds like a “v”) even sounds resigned to a certain apathetic resolve. It is what it is…weltschmerz. It’s a combination word that means “world” (welt) and “pain” (schmerz) first appearing in the 19th century by German Romaric Writer Jean Paul, pen name of Jean Paul Friedrich Richter (1763-1825), in his novel Selina (1827). But it also found its way into English 50 years later and into modern literature by such authors as John Steinbeck, Kurt Vonnegut, Ralph Ellison and Henry Miller.
In researching this word it was described as “obscure German sorrow”, which led me down another wormhole to discover a modern English version of this concept.
Created and written by graphic designer and editor John Koenig, the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows is a melancholic writer’s treasure trove of newly created “feeling” words. It’s an amazing collection. If you want to explore more check out his blog here or better yet check out his YouTube entries; beautiful narrations set to music and photos that illustrate these new words.
Back to weltschmerz and my task for today…to write a Haiku poem. While I can’t presume to know if your day is happy at the very least I can wish you happiness in this crazy spinning world. I hope you have a happy weekend too. 😊
moments slip away
mindlessly lost in weltschmertz
no seizing the day~kat – 31 March 2017
Doors – A Haiku
auras could mingle,
presence, just a breath away
before there were doors
-kat – 29 March 2017
For Haiku Horizons Challenge based on the prompt word, “door”.
Esoterica – Friday’s Word of the Day Haiku
Happy Friday. Today’s Dictionary.com word of the day is Esoterica. But I couldn’t resist the word of the day for yesterday…Throttlebottom (Definition: a harmless incompetent in public office.)! What an awesome word. Oh how I wish we used these types of words today. How enjoyable the nightly news would be if our journalists embraced some of the other obscure, descriptive words featured as words of the day. I wish I had time to research each one. Here’s a sampling of the last week or so…
Breaking news from kat’s imagination: “Today was a most cimmerian day for the nation. The halls of congress were a-twitter with crocodilian calls for justice in response to the latest canard from our vaunting, throttlebottom of a president. Meanwhile the lotus-eaters were oscitant to this developing malfeasance.”
Even if the news is bad, at least it would be entertaining.
But back to our official word of the day, Esoterica. It is a noun that evolved from the Greek adjective esōterikós which means “belonging to the initiate, inner, esoteric” with a “distinguished history in ancient Greek philosophical systems (Pythagorian, Aristotelian, Stoic).” The English noun form is attributed to poet Ogden Nash who used the term in a 1930’s poem published in The New Yorker, referring to the obscenity trials over James Joyce’s Ulysses. It is defined as things understood by or meant for a select few; recondite matters or items. Or curiosa (books, pamphlets, etc., dealing with unusual subjects, including books, pamphlets, etc., containing pornographic literature or art; erotica).
I like this quote from Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events, “Life is a conundrum of esoterica”. It literally means that life is a confusing and difficult problem, question or riddle, understood by or meant to be understood by a select few. I think it captures the meaning of esoterica perfectly!
Unless of course it is a skin cream. Esoterica the moisturizer promises to lighten dark (brownish) areas on the skin, such as freckles, age and liver spots and other skin conditions that result in localized high concentrations of melanin.
Or a Black/Heavy Metal music band called Esoterica from Pennsylvania…or the now disbanded UK Christian rap/West Coast hip-hop, Dance/Electric band called ESO for esOterica…or the name of a secret cult of humanoid characters, with access to alien technology, able to span dimensions, called the The Flame Keepers’ Circle in the gaming world’s story of Diagon. But I digress. 🙂
My job today is to come up with a haiku using today’s word of the day…Esoterica. Skin creams, Metal/Alertnative/Rock bands and video cult circles aside, I am mulling around the idea of applying estoterica to the current secretive nature of our government. With the added bonus of yesterday’s word, throttlebottom, you get a two-fer this week. Have a great weekend!
daft throttlebottoms
bellow esoterica
proving they are fools
kat ~ 24 March 2017
Breeze & Blow – A Haiku Challenge
breezes never blow
they whisper in soft kisses
like feathers on skin
Breeze by, nose upturned,
you haughty, self-righteous snobs!
Your attitude blows!
kat – 22 March 2017
For Ronovan Writes Haiku Challenge, prompt words Breeze & Blow.
Most Inspirational Blogger Nominee
like mercury colliding... 