HAIKUsutradhar : 8th May 2026

A FRIDAY FEATURE

Host: Gauri Dixit Mentor: Kanjini Devi

Prompter for May : Padma Priya

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 Only post unpublished verses --- nothing that has appeared in peer-reviewed or edited journals, anthologies, your webpage, social media, etc.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

6. 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.

7. Do not submit found poetry or split sequences.

8. Do not post photos, except for haiga.

9. 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.

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

11. 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

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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:

8th May

Padma Priya

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Week 2

empty nester 

watching the chickadees 

play in the snow 

Marilyn Ashbaugh

(haikuKATHA Issue 52 - February 2026)

A wonderful, layered poem by Marilyn Ashbaugh.

Many of us might have experienced the 'empty nest' syndrome at some point in our lives. A day comes when children have to move out, either for education or for their jobs. We have to let go of them. The emptiness suffocates us. We miss their banter and laughter, and the silence becomes too loud to bear. The very first line of the haiku establishes all these emotions with the words 'empty nester', and we pause and feel the nuance that comes with these words.

Just as the reader sinks into the melancholy that comes with the first line, the poet moves on. The 'chickadees', by their mere presence in the second line, bring in cheer and relief quite unexpectedly. But what are the chickadees doing? The third line reveals this. Chickadees playing in the snow is a lovely and lively image, and it uplifts the hearts of the readers too. The link and shift from the first line is very effective in this haiku. The concluding third line imparts a sense of acceptance and joy. The narrator is not sad at this particular point of time. His/her heart is soothed. Even in winter, moments of joy can be found, and the narrator found his/her moment.

This haiku gently moves away from the heaviness it began with to a lightheartedness as it concludes. The positivity with which it ends fills the reader's heart with a sense of joy and satisfaction.

Prompt: Write about a moment when you felt uplifted by nature.

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

Write on! Gauri