HAIKUsutradhar : 20th March 2026

A FRIDAY FEATURE

Host: Gauri Dixit Mentor: Kanjini Devi

Prompter for March : Saumya Bansal

OUR MISSION

1. To provide a new poetry workshop each Friday, along with a prompt.

2. To select haiku, senryu, and haiga each month for the journal, haikuKATHA. Each issue will select poems that were posted in this forum from the 1st of the previous month to the 30th or 31st of the previous month.

FEEDBACK GUIDELINES ( Included as a guideline, please do not be constrained by these while proving feedback )

Let the feedback be specific and constructive. Don’t be vague. Here are some helpful lines you could use to give feedback.

What is working for me :

1. The seasonal reference is good.

2. The image is very clear.

3. I love the internal rhythm.

4. When read aloud, the poem flows well.

5. The 'cut' which is so important in haiku is effectively done here.

6. I like the format ...it's short,long, short. Nice

7. I love the indent you have given

Points that aren't working for me:

1. The image is abstract

2. The lines are long.

3. Some words are redundant and can be safely removed.

4. The lightness of haiku isn't here.

5. Abstract words take away the haiku's charm

6. There is no 'cut' (kire) in this haiku.

7. There are two kigo (seasonal words) in this ku.

8. This is reading more like free verse.

9. This ku is reading as three separate lines. There is no connect.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

1. Post a maximum of two verses per week, from Friday to Friday, numbered 1 & 2. Post only one haiku in a day, in 24 hours.

2. Only post unpublished verses --- nothing that has appeared in peer-reviewed or edited journals, anthologies, your webpage, social media, etc.

3. Only post original verses.

4. For each poem you post, comment on one other person’s poem.

5. Give feedback only to those poets who have requested it.

6. Do not post a variety of drafts, along with a request for readers to choose which they like most. Only one poem is to appear in each original post.

7. Post each revision, if you have any, above the original. The top version will be your submission to haikuKATHA. Do not delete the original post.

8. Do not submit found poetry or split sequences.

9. Do not post photos, except for haiga.

10. haikuKATHA will only consider haiga that showcase original artwork or photos. Post details re: the source of the visual image. If you team up with an artist or photographer, make sure that it’s their original work and that they are not restricted by other publications to share it. We won't be responsible for any copyright issues.

11. Put your name, followed by your country, below each poem, even after revisions.

12. Notification about all selected poems for each issue will be posted on CELEBRATION -on 10th of each month.

Poems that do not follow the guidelines may be deleted.

Founder/Managing Editor of haikuKATHA Monthly Journal: Kala Ramesh

Associate Editors: Ashish Narain Firdaus Parvez Priti Aisola Sanjuktaa Asopa Shalini Pattabiraman Suraja Menon Roychowdhury Vandana Parashar Vidya Shankar

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IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT                                                                  

6th February 2026:

The majority of poets at Triveni Haikai India do want feedback. Instead of making them all write "Feedback welcome," why not ask the minority to write "No feedback, thank you"?

That way, the minority's wish would be much more noticeable, and the majority would be saved the slight inconvenience of having to write "Feedback welcome" on every single post.  

Please follow this suggestion.

This excellent suggestion came from Lev Hart, and I thank him from the bottom of my heart.

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PROMPT:

20th March

Saumya Bansal

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Week 3 - Idle Moments

Another delightful word from The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows is Idlewild, which is defined as “feeling grateful to be stranded in a place where you can't do much of anything-sitting for hours at an airport gate, the sleeper car of a train, or the backseat of a van on a long road trip - which temporarily alleviates the burden of being able to do anything at any time and frees up your brain to do whatever it wants to do, even if it's just to flicker your eyes across the passing landscape.”

This week, let’s write about those moments of simply being: moments where we are free to do anything, or even nothing.

Example:

sleeper train
the muted glow
of unknown cities

— Andy McLellan

Have you ever felt a sense of joy or gratitude in waiting around? How did you spend your Idlewild moments?

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Looking forward to reading your haiku. Poems outside the prompt can also be posted.

Write on! Gauri