Hosts: Firdaus Parvez and Kala Ramesh
22nd September 2022
We have Kat Lehman with us, once again!
Squirrel A Way
I search for hidden deer and a place to sit next to audible water. Try to find my mind again. Maybe a new bird. I sort the major from the minor, the shakers from the shaken. Dodge the falling acorns. But what really rules my moment is this disintegrating leaf. The autumn maple feeds its future vernal self with a little left over to share with the other trees. It surrenders everything for a hope in the unknown. Without it, the rest falls apart.
worm cycle
the crowdsourcing
of pink petals
Kat Lehmann
Modern Haiku 53:1 (2022)
I read this beautiful haibun several times. Like classical music - the more I listened the more it yielded. From you, we want a haibun that's loaded with *haikai prose* - which is tight prose - following the principle of less is more and cap it with an effective haiku - not just any old haiku ... :))
As always, a good haibun will find its way into the next issue of our fabulous journal. Firdaus and I are eagerly looking forward to reading your haibun.
PLEASE NOTE:
1. Only two haibun per poet per prompt.
2. Share your best-polished pieces.
3. Please do not post something in a hurry or something you have just written. Let it simmer for a while.
4. When poets give suggestions and if you agree to them - post your final edited version on top of your original version.
5. Don't forget to give feedback on others' poems.
We are delighted to open the comment thread for you to share your unpublished haibun (within 300 words) to be considered for inclusion in the haikuKATHA monthly journal.
Revised: Thank you Kala for your astute suggestions!!!
Tuned In, Tuned Out
For my birthday, my parents buy me a Realistic portable radio from Radio Shack. It’s not very good. Mostly I just hear static, tinny rock or the crackle of our neighbour’s ham radio.
My dad, being a sound technician and a lover of loud music, decides to build me an external speaker. This is one of those times where I have to remind myself to be careful what I wish for. Dad has a tendency towards creativity. Like the time he built a wooden couch for our cabin and painted it bright orange. And then built a sailboat in our basement and painted it orange too.
It takes…
Revised 1 (with input from Kala)
The Yellow Strut
I recognise the pair because one of them has a slight problem in the neck, is thinner, a bit straggly and scratches often.
Extremely silent at 5 am, I watch them, seated from my verandah, just six feet across and send the pair, especially the unwell one, beams of healing energy.
moonset—
the traffic starting
to jangle my nerves
feedback - yes
———————————————————- Original
The Yellow Strut
I recognise the pair because one of them has a slight problem in the neck, is thinner, a bit straggly and scratches often.
Extremely silent at 5 am, I watch them, seated from my verandah, just six feet across and send the pair, especially…
Wonderstruck I go to the balcony to drink the night — through the darkness I see leaves still breathing still moving a gentle breeze caresses my cheeks with the faraway river falling head over heels on its course even as stars keep beat miracles gather life’s momentum I lean on the railings and softly hum a raaga to the pulsing lightness of dawn billowing clouds the horizon again and again reinvents itself
feedback welcome.
Revised: thanks to Ron (26-9-2022)
Editing them as Kala suggested. Changing the title too. ( I thought of Mahalaya as it is the beginning of Navaratri, it suggests Amavasya day and the buzzing of activities are on a hike)27-9-2022
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Mahalaya Twilight settles on the banks of the Ganges. Crows fly through the dim light down west. I always wonder where they went for not all of them own their homes. The dense mango tree touches the balcony of our hotel room. My eyes takes time to adjust to this darkness. Slowly, I see a movement . Two crows are sitting apart. One of the crows looks at me. I whisper. 'hey you! I found you'. She moves a little.…
Renewal
“Me time” is what I call it. A small window in a twenty four hour day when I have no connect with the outer world. The phone is on airplane mode and the mind is totally into the moment. It's then I hear my heart beating and the clock ticking. A tepid breeze from the window brushes my face. The sound of the street hawker fills my ears. The loud silence of the house envelops me till I feel its time to go back to the cacaphony of daily life.
lonely night
I make friends
with a shadow puppet
Feedback appreciated:)