HAIKUsutradhar : 27th January 2023

HAIKUsutradhar . weekly prompts

A FRIDAY FEATURE

Lev Hart becomes the MENTOR for HAIKUsutradhar from 21 November 2022. Thank you.

hosts: Akila G. & Shreya Narang

month of January: Lev Hart

Textual prompt

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haikuKATHA - the monthly journal from Triveni Haikai India!

founder/managing editor: Kala Ramesh

associate editors:

Ashish Narain

Firdaus Parvez Hemapriya Chellappan

Priti Aisola Reid Hepworth Sanjuktaa Asopa

Shalini Pattabiraman

Suraja Menon Roychowdhury Vandana Parashar

Haiku, senryu and haiga/shahai (photo haiku) posted here on this thread will be picked up for Triveni Haikai India's monthly journal - haikuKATHA At the moment we are not looking at found poetry.

................................................................................................................................. Associate Editors, Madhuri Pillai and Akila G. are stepping down for personal reasons. We wish them the very best. Associate Editors, K. Ramesh and Shobhana Kumar stepped down earlier in the year for personal reasons. A huge thank you to all four beautiful poets. Associate Editors, Reid Hepworth (from Oct 2022), Sanjuktaa Asopa (from 15 October 2022) and Hemapriya Chellappan (from Dec 2022) will be joining us. A huge welcome to all these three lovely poets. _()_ ................................................................................................................................. For some more exciting news! CHECK THESE FORUMS ... Tanka, kyoka and tanka-prose to be posted on TANKA TAKE HOME and Haibun to be posted on THE HAIBUN GALLERY It will help you tremendously if you learn to comment on 'triveni spotlight' 'open sky :: SAMVAAD' and 'thinkALONG' Such good poems are posted. ................................................................................................................................... The poems you post will also be considered for the haikuKATHA Monthly Journal each month. Due to a sudden increase in activity, here are some quick guidelines, for HAIKUsutradhar:

1. From September 2022 onwards only 3 haiku (numbered 1, 2 & 3) per week/per prompt are to be posted on HAIKUsutradhar. 2. Please do not post two poems in one day /24 hours ... just one and in total only 3 poems per week from Friday to Friday.

2. For each poem you share, please comment on ONE other poem which isn't yours!

3. Post only your unpublished, original poems.

4. If poets have NOT ASKED for FEEDBACK, please don't give. ....................................................................................................................................

Post your best haiku and let's have each issue with your best work.

Poems previously published on your webpage or social media will be accepted.

Poems previously published in peer-reviewed or edited journals or anthologies and contest winners that were published elsewhere will not be accepted.

4. IMPORTANT: if any member provides feedback on the poem in the comment section, the poet must decide on the final version and post it on top of the original version.

Or else the original unedited version on your thread will be picked up by us.

On your comment thread, you need to post your revised final version (if you have one!)

Edited version: Your final version of the poem goes first, so it will be easy for our team to consider that for the haikuKATHA journal.

Original version: Your first version of the poem remains - under your final version. The way it is shown here.

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The Prompt

The last week of every month is usually kept as an OPEN HALL where we invite you to freewheel your verse with no defined or suggested prompt. But this month we are sharing a prompt, the last one from our mentor Lev Hart. Use it to sharpen your pencil!

Throughout the centuries, the haiku tradition has had high periods and low periods. The low periods share a common flaw: artificiality. At the beginning of the 20th century, Shiki, the author of our creaking-kettle haiku, brought haiku back to the real world. He proposed that haiku should be based on one's genuine experience. We don't have to 'make up' haiku, because inspiration is no further than the fly buzzing in the kitchen. We just need to recognize the haiku that are all around us. Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to write haiku that are based on your genuine experiences. The honour system will apply. As much as possible, focus on nature images, or set human artefacts in the context of nature, e.g.: a sandal in the pond, a kettle in the wind, a water jar in the winter night. Alternatively, a nature image can be set in a human context, e.g.: a fly in the kitchen, sparrows in the street. Realizing that even the greatest haiku can be based on nothing more than the genuine experience of everyday things, an ordinary life can become fuga no michi, The Way of Poetry.