HAIKUsutradhar : 6th 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 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 Post only your unpublished, original poems.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

Lev Hart is our mentor and also our prompter for the month. Get ready to visit/re-visit and explore some basics of haiku in your writing. Let's seal our fundamentals now for the rest of this year!

Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to answer three questions: What? Where? and When? Some of the best haiku ever written have been based on the answers, such as this verse by one of the four recognized haiku masters, Buson:

sleet on the old pond

one straw sandal

sunk to the bottom

What? One sandal. Where? The bottom of a pond. When? Winter (implied by the season-word, "sleet").

You can answer the questions in any order. Focus on nature images, or set human artefacts in the context of nature, e.g.: a gate in the field, a Buddha in the garden. Alternatively, a nature image can be set in a human context, e.g.: a fly in the kitchen, sparrows in the street. If you practice writing with this simple three-question template, you might find that your haiku come to you more easily, and that your writing improves quickly.