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Hello Again,

Me and Hamish has discussed a little and we have decided that we will work with different themes for this series that we run the first Monday each week. This week we will give you two quotes, and you use one to get inspired for a haibun. As you all know the haibun was the creation of Matsuo Bashō, but it’s roots go further back into Chinese prose. Today haibun has evolved into a very dynamic way of artistic expression combining prose, poetic prose or prose poetry with haiku or other short poetry. Here we would like you to continue to work with fairly short pieces, keeping the total number of words to below 250 words, and using only one haiku at the end of piece.

If haibun is new to you, take a look at our first haibun Monday.

Self portrait ca 1911.

Self portrait ca 1911.

So for inspiration we have chosen the work of Kahlil Gibran. He was a Lebanese-American artist, poet and writer. He was born in the city of Bsharri in 1883, who at that time was part of the Ottoman Empire but is now part of Lebanon. He emigrated already in 1895 with his mother and siblings, but he returned home for his education. He lived and worked in United States, and died already in 1931. He never became a US citizen and is buried in his hometown.

His early work was written in Arabic, but he gained fame with his books in English, and The Prophet which is one the earliest examples of inspirational fiction. He is the world’s third best selling poet behind Shakespeare and Laozi. His books are virtual goldmines of good quotes, but here we give you two to select from:

Friendship is always a sweet responsibility, never an opportunity.

Yesterday is but today’s memory, and tomorrow is today’s dream.

If you want to use any of Khalil’s paintings please feel free to use some. I think his paintings might give you additional inspiration.

Of course I’m also very interested in your personal relationship with his writing. I have understood that his books are part of many bookshelves.. do you have a thumbed copy yourself somewhere.. please tell us.

  • Enter a link directly to your poem and your name by clicking Mr Linky below
  • Leave a small comment below, and participate in our discussions.
  • There you will find links to other poets, and more will join during the next 48 hours
  • Read and comment on other poet’s work, we all go here to have our poems read
  • Promote your site and poetry you like on social media of your choice
  • Have fun