This is what I found when I did a little reading on cultural thoughts on bamboo,
“…..As bamboo has some features such as uprightness, tenacity and hollow heart, people endow bamboo with integrity, elegance and plainness, though it is not physically strong… According to laws, an ancient poet, Bai Juyi (772–846), thought that to be a gentleman, a man does not need to be physically strong, but he must be mentally strong, upright, and perseverant. Just as a bamboo is hollow-hearted, he should open his heart to accept anything of benefit…”
Credit: Wiki
PR
3/01/15
Published in response to Carpe Diem Haiku Prompt: Bamboo
Published in response to the haiga prompt : Happiness
and
Haiku Horizons Prompt : Gift
“…The Chinese Confucian thinker Mencius, who 2300 years ago sought to give advice to the ruthless political leaders of the warring states period, was convinced that the mind played a mediating role between the “lesser self” (the physiological self) and the “greater self” (the moral self) and that getting the priorities right between these two would lead to sage-hood. He argued that if we did not feel satisfaction or pleasure in nourishing one’s “vital force” with “righteous deeds”, that force would shrivel up (Mencius,6A:15 2A:2). More specifically, he mentions the experience of intoxicating joy if one celebrates the practice of the great virtues, especially through music…”
PR
3/01/15
The above quote taken from post on host page. For further reading follow link below
Yep, I did one of those crazy pullovers to the side of the highway yesterday to take this picture. Only to find that the card for my camera was in my lap top when I got home. But, my trusty android saved the day!
Above is a link to a mini documentary on role of voice in jazz featuring the greats! Sara Vaughn, Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Tony Bennett, Art Tatum. AWESOME!
Carpe Diem Sparkling Stars #19
James A. Emanuel (1921-2013) “jazz-haiku”
IN HIS OWN WORDS:
(the founder of “jazz-haiku”) James A. Emanuel
James A. Emanuel was born June 15, 1921, in Alliance, Nebraska. He earned a B.A. from Howard University, an M.A. from Northwestern University, and a Ph.D. from Columbia University. Among his books of poetry are Jazz from the Haiku King (1999), De la rage au coeur, (Thaon, 1992, translated by Jean Migrenne and Amiot Lenganey), Whole Grain: Collected Poems, 1958-1989 (1990), The Quagmire Effect (1988), Deadly James and Other Poems (1987), The Broken Bowl: New and Uncollected Poems (1983), Black Man Abroad: The Toulouse Poems (1978), and At Bay (1969). He is also the author of Langston Hughes (1967) and the editor, with Theodore L. Gross, of Dark Symphony: Negro Literature in America (1968). Emanuel’s essays and other writings have been included in many anthologies and periodicals. Among his honors are a John Hay Whitney Award, a Saxton Memorial Fellowship, and a Special Distinction Award from the Black American Literature Forum. James Emanuel has been a professor of English at the University of Grenoble and the University of Toulouse, among other universities. He lived in Paris at the time of his passing (September 28, 2013). (Biography from the Academy of American Poets website.)