TANKA TAKE HOME — 18th March 2026 Featuring poet: Kanjini Devi

hosts: Firdaus Parvez, Kala Ramesh, Priti Aisola & Suraja Menon Roychowdhury

Introducing a new perspective to our Wednesday Feature!

18^th March 2026

poet of the month: Kanjini Devi

the paddock now free 

from blackberry brambles 

rescue goats 

the permanent tracks 

they leave in my heart                                        

(haikuKATHA  Issue 28, February 2024) 

(SPOTLIGHT Triveni Haikai India Oct2025)  

farmers moving  

stock on the road  

I slow down  

to greet each beast  

at  e y e l e v e l                                                

(Kokako Issue 41 September 2024) 

 a blackbird 

limps across the lawn 

gathering twigs 

oh, but some days  

all I want is write poetry                                    

(haikuKATHA Issue 38, December 2024; Tejasvat Award) 

We thank Kanjini Devi very warmly for sharing her wonderful poems with us.

More about the poet:

Kanjini Devi is a yoga teacher based in The Far North of Aotearoa New Zealand. Her published poetry can be seen in Cattails, Prune Juice, troutswirl (The Haiku Foundation blog), Triveni Haikai India, Kōkako, NZPS's a fine line, Echidna Tracks, Eucalypt, Drifting Sands Haibun, Contemporary Haibun Online, Failed Haiku, The Helping Hand Haiku Anthology 2020, Frogpond, Red Moon Anthology, The NZPS Anthology 2020, and A Sensory Journey Haiku Down Under Anthology 2024. She has received Honourable mentions in THF Monthly Kukai, and the Triveni Haikai India's Tejasvat Award.  She is the current mentor at HAIKUsutradhar and haiku editor at Under the Bashō.

Some Reflections on Kanjini’s Poems:

In the first two tanka, the reader is struck by the undeniable presence of this feeling: the narrator’s empathy with other creatures and her sincere need to connect with them. The lasting impression they leave on her mind and memory comes through very clearly.

The third tanka is poignant and endearing. The blackbird, though hurt, is busy ‘gathering twigs’, perhaps for a nest. On the other hand, the narrator wistfully wishes to opt out of daily chores on ‘some days’ and just write poetry – have the leisure to be creative.

Your Challenge this Week!

Write about a moment or moments when you keenly observed another creature or experienced a connection with it … empathized with it. Or, write about a longing for moments of leisure ... moments which allowed you to step out of the daily grind; moments that gave you the chance to pause, look around, and immerse yourself in a creative activity.

Have fun!

And remember – tanka, because of those two extra lines, lends itself most beautifully when revealing a story. And tanka prose is storytelling.

 Give these ideas some thought and share your tanka and tanka-prose with us here. Keep your senses open, observe things that happen around you and write. You can post tanka and tanka-prose outside of these themes as well.

PLEASE NOTE

1. Post only one poem at a time, only one per day.

2. Only 2 tanka and two tanka-prose per poet per prompt.

Tanka art, of course, if you want to.

3. Share your best-polished pieces.

4. Please do not post something in a hurry or something you have just written. Let it simmer for a while.

5. Post your final edited version on top of your original verse.

6. Don't forget to give feedback on others' poems.

We are delighted to open the comment thread for you to share your unpublished tanka and tanka-prose (within 250 words) to be considered for inclusion in the haikuKATHA monthly magazine.