THE HAIBUN GALLERY: 11th December 2025. Lakshmi Iyer - Guest Editor

editors on haikuKATHA: Shalini Pattabiraman, Vidya Shankar, Firdaus Parvez and Kala Ramesh

Lorraine Haig has stepped down from being a mentor for this forum. Triveni Haikai India and The Haibun Gallery are grateful for her exceptional feedback and responses over the last few years.

Guest Editor: Lakshmi Iyer

Featured Poet: Teji Sethi

A Thursday Feature 11th December

Blame it on Amygdala 

The smell of phenol floats in the morning fog. At the entrance, I slip my feet into oversized Bata chappals. There is an eerie silence inside. Most of them are dizzy under the spell of last night’s tranquillisers. I take rounds, filling their requisition forms. High Protein Diet - reads this one. I prescribe two eggs. As I sign the form, a warm, sweaty hand grabs my wrist. I feel the faint quiver of his hands. He looks into my eyes like a satiated toddler and yells, ‘thank you Teji Bachchan! You are my saviour’ 

the frostbites

of being alone

winter chill 

I smile and walk towards the next bed. He is sitting on the bed upright, facing me. I know he loves to wear a stethoscope around his neck, enacting a doctor. At times he even goes on rounds checking each inmate, scribbling a prescription in the air. He snatches my writing board, looks at me and says, ‘you must never become a doctor, no you must not, never!!! Medical colleges make you insane and you will land up beside me! Do you want this?’ I nod in affirmation and sit near him. The head nurse gives me a stern look. I get up hesitantly. We aren’t allowed to mingle with patients of this ward; a thing I could never learn. I whisper to him, ‘eggs will make you sane, I am putting you on a HP diet’ He winks at me and bursts into laughter! 

sepia tones

a child poses with

his tongue sticking out 

By the end of the shift, these rounds generally wear you out. Today, surprisingly, I feel refreshed. I know I have made them feel special. All it took was a couple of eggs. I slip back into my regular shoes. The board reads – Psychiatry Ward.

visitors lounge

empty chairs await

a call

Teji Sethi, Bengaluru

Yearbook of Indian Poetry in English, 2022

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Week 2 :

         Teji Sethi is a born poet, a bilingualist. She wraps her experiences in the emotions built around a truth, nothing but the whole truth. She is a versatile free verse poet and a haijin too. I like the way she plays around minutest scenes and crafts it very gently with her poise of calm quietude. One can easily discern the poet's attitude as one reads through the haibun. 

         You must have guessed the second prompt of this week; blend an emotion of your choice with layers of scenes as though it is a one-act play.

*****

Thank you so much, Lakshmi, for accepting to be the Guest Editor of The Haibun Gallery. Waiting for the weeks to unfold. Good choice of haibun this week. I love your prompt too.

You've always had that keen sense of being, and I'm waiting to see how you're going to take this month forward.

_kala

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IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT NOTICE

              NOTICE

Dear Haibuneers

Starting from March 2025, we at haikuKATHA are moving on to a new submissions format for haibun submissions. (Only for haibun, please note!)

Writers are invited to submit one unpublished haibun per submission window.

Kindly note the submissions calendar.

1-20 March, to be considered for publication in May

1-20 June, to be considered for publication in August

1-20 September, to be considered for publication in November

1-20 December, to be considered for publication in February

All accepted submissions will receive an email to confirm their acceptance by the 5th day of the publication month.

Your unpublished (only one) haibun should be sent to: 

The Google link:

https://forms.gle/WkM9frPjtEzNTrVEA This form will only be available during the submission period. 

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The Haibun Gallery continues as is.

We will be having editors and prompts, and your sharing…