haikaiTALKS: a saturday gathering! 8th November 2025

haikaiTALKS: The Spacious Moment: Haiku and the Art of Presence|a saturday gathering under the banyan tree

A Disclaimer

Responsibility for the originality of the haikai rests solely with the submitting poet. 

If anyone feels that it is similar to another haikai, they are encouraged to contact the relevant poet directly.

Triveni Haikai India will take any action as recommended by the submitting poet.

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Special Guest Poet: Billie Dee

host: Srinivasa Sambangi 8th November 2025

haikaiTALKS: a saturday gathering under the banyan tree

Your Guest Poet for November: Billie Dee

haikaiTALKS 

The Spacious Moment: Haiku and the Art of Presence Billie Dee

We continue this week with two more haikai selected from the anthology Naad Anunaad (Kala Ramesh, Sanjuktaa Asopa, Shloka Shankar, eds. Pune, IN: Vishwakarma Publications, 2016, ISBN# 978-93-85665-33-2). Enjoy, reflect. . . then write from your own quiet threshold.

Part 2: Small Acts, Wide Echoes

The mundane is not the opposite of the sacred—it is often its quietest doorway. In haiku, even

the smallest gestures can resound with emotional and sensory depth. The act of cooking, the hush of evening light—these become resonant because of the attention they are given, not because they are grand.

lullaby of rain

another pinch of saffron

in the pumpkin soup

— Alan Summers

stringing beans …

a scrap of twilit sky

through the window

— Anitha Varma

Summers’ poem moves through layered sound and scent—the lull of rain, the golden hue of

spice, the warmth of soup. All sensory, all immediate. And yet, the implied repetition in “another pinch” suggests something ongoing, a rhythm of care and noticing. In Varma’s haiku, the domestic act of preparing food is quietly framed by the world beyond—a glimpse of twilight through a window, a reminder that time and place are always entangled.

Both haiku model an attention that does not seek to elevate the moment, but to enter it. That

entrance—deliberate, unadorned, and receptive—is the hallmark of presence.

PROMPT: What moment of quiet rhythm stayed with you today? What small gesture

widened your awareness? Write a haikai that captures the enduring beauty and comfort of

a small ritual, the mundane redefined by your presence.

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“A Dictionary of Haiku Classified by Season Words with Traditional and Modern Methods,” by Jane Reichhold:

https://thehaikufoundation.org/omeka/files/original/7fb6654a1dfd1afef97369da920530f8.pdf

Indian subcontinent SAIJIKI:

https://www.trivenihaikai.in/indian-saijiki

The Five Hundred Essential Japanese Season Words:

http://www.2hweb.net/haikai/renku/500ESWd.html

The World Kigo Database:

https://wkdkigodatabase03.blogspot.com/

The Yuki Teikei Haiku Season Word List:

https://yths.org/season-word-list/

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Thanks, Billie. Your notes, the examples you have given and your prompt are so breathtakingly stunning. Thank you so much. I hope more poets try to see 'ma' the way you have so superbly expressed.

Dear Members,

Waiting for your responses.

Please provide your feedback on others' commentary and poems as well. _()_

We are continuing haikaiTALKS in a grand manner!

Keep writing and commenting! _kala