THE HAIBUN GALLERY: 16th October 2025. Joanna Ashwell - Guest Poet

host: Rupa Anand

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 Poet: Joanna Ashwell

A Thursday Feature 16th October

INTRODUCTION

Reading is the cornerstone of being a good writer.  It is where we learn, get inspired and continue to adapt our own voice.   I have many notebooks where I gather ideas.  Sometimes a haibun begins with the title or a thought of what I want to say.  Other times I find a haiku that seems to fit into the tapestry of a haibun.  On a really good day, the haibun just flows fully formed. 

I prefer to read slowly,  holding a book in my hands.  It may not be fashionable but there is something about the way the words settle on the paper and the weight of the pages as I turn them.  I also often write pen to paper, type the drafts then edit from there.  Although I touch-type and can hammer a poem out on the screen, ink gives me that touch and feel that I crave as I write. 

This brings me to the five senses: sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch. A good haibun brings these alive, there may be one prominent sense or a mixture drawing the reader in. For our prompts this month I invite you to use these to inspire your writing.

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Week 3

Smells can invoke a memory of a place, a person, a favourite dish.  They are loaded with emotion.  My mother was a nurse and one of the smells she has never forgotten is burning flesh.  Your sense of smell can bring joy, sadness or fear. 

In the haibun below, Florence has used the opening of an abattoir with the reek of offal to set the scene.  There is the sound of the water, the suggestion of rubbish and the smells this contains.  Her words also paint a picture.  Her piece is a good example of multiple senses working together.  It is good to consider how we might bring more than one of these into our work.  

Exposure

abattoir

the smell of offal

crying gulls

Low tide at the meeting of waters, fresh and salty.  I look over the wall where the Clanrye River enters Carlingford Lough.  There are tractor tyres, traffic cones, shopping trolleys, rubbish bins.  Mallards in mud with chicks, feeding, swimming, perched on the thrown away, sleeping with heads under wing.

My face in my hands – contorts to a question.  A corrosion of conscience… the pull of mud.

hopeful

a grey heron

waiting

Florence Heyhoe

Famished for the Light, published by Alba Publishing, 2025

For this week, the invitation is to ground your haibun with a strong sense of smell.  What impact does cooking, the scent, the blossom, the garbage, petrichor… bring to your piece?

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Thanks, Joanna.

Thanks for this brilliant prompt.

I'm sure our poets will love to explore the 5 senses in haibun.

That will be interesting!

Waiting for this month to unfold!

_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 will be given in this space soon. 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…