THE HAIBUN GALLERY: 24th April 2025. Sandip Chauhan - Guest Editor
- Kala Ramesh
- Apr 24, 2025
- 2 min read
hosts: Shalini Pattabiraman, Vidya Shankar, Firdaus Parvez and Kala Ramesh
mentor: Lorraine Haig
A Thursday Feature
24th April 2025
IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT BELOW
THE HAIBUN GALLERY APRIL 2025 Sandip Chauhan
Prompt 4
Burning the Bodhisattva - Hortensia Anderson (1959–2012)
Having chosen a piece of wood for reasons I cannot discern, he begins to carve. Then, he rubs sandpaper against the grain, polishing the sculpture to a silken finish.
At the beach, I collect stones by the sea and create a circle. I gather driftwood and as Venus sparks her chain reaction of stars, he unveils a bodhisattva on her side.
We sit as the warmth of the burning woman envelops us against a chill wind. At one point, her tranquil lips almost seem to smile.
How did he know she had been hidden in the wood, waiting to be freed in flames?
golden sparks
light the indigo sky—
darkness shining
—Excerpted from The Plenitude of Emptiness, collected haibun by Hortensia Anderson
Sources:
The Plenitude of Emptiness (Facebook)
The Haiku Foundation - Collected Works
Prompt: What Lies Beneath
In Burning the Bodhisattva, Hortensia Anderson explores the idea of revelation—how something hidden within wood is brought to light, only to be consumed in fire. The haibun suggests that some truths exist long before we recognize them, waiting for the right hands, the right moment, or even destruction to emerge. Whether it is an artisan carving a bodhisattva, time shaping the landscape, or loss uncovering meaning, transformation often reveals what was always there.
Write a haibun about something hidden—within a place, a person, an object, or yourself—waiting to emerge. Perhaps it’s a forgotten name in an old book, the shape of an ancestor in your reflection, or a truth that can only be understood through breaking.
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IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT from Kala: 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Writers are invited to submit one unpublished haibun per submission window.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: https://forms.gle/xUEiiDR9wd2dgqtR9 only during the submission period.
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The Haibun Gallery continues as is.
We will be having editors and prompts, and your sharing…
Post #1
29.4.25
The Narcissist
My stomach is acting up again. The nausea, bloating and acidity has me in a mess. I settle into my favourite corner by the window with lemon honey tea, to soothe my gut. His name flashes on the mobile screen. My stomach churns again.
craving for the world beyond westering sun
Mona Bedi
India
Feedback appreciated:)
#1
Wivenhoe
We are given instructions to collect our exhibits from the Sentinel gallery within a four hour slot, with further instruction to preferably arrive early so as to free the space for cleaning prior to hand back. Not wanting to arrive during the bustle, I decide to get there for late morning and upon appearing at the door to an almost empty room, I am told that I am last but two.
piece by piece re boxing myself
The expressions of trauma exhibition has been on tour for seven months before arriving at this quaint riverside town, with its history that stretches back to the domesday book. The exhibits on show have changed a bit between venues, but on…
#2
Shells
Won’t you join in more? Speak up. Put yourself out there. On and on it goes, the wheel of what ifs. I blend into the wall of a place. Sit silently in a crowd. Block out the opposing voices. It is a fraction at a time. The way a sunbeam climbs a wall, yet leaves no trace. A wave shuffles the sand but then retreats back into the wider ocean. There is something left, so small it might be missed.
oyster bay
the sheer rarity
of a sighting
Joanna Ashwell
UK
Feedback welcome
#2
26 April
The secret ingredient
My curry doesn't taste quite the same. I followed her recipe accurately to a pinch of salt. And then I knew it. I saw her cook and I knew it. She was working intuitively, her movements confident and her goal to cook up what her family loves. I cooked with anxiety. There was the fear of ridicule and also not matching up to her culinary mastery. Sigh! Next time I will try cooking without her looming large in my thoughts. Just cook, just love...
the bee- eater
guesting on the same branch
of my Mango tree
Leena Anandhi, India
Feedback welcome
#2
The sounds beyond silence
The Pope has died. A man of such ultimate goodness heading my childhood church might have shown me a light leading beyond my turmoil. Might have shown me what love with a capital L truly means. The list of Thou Shalt Not's went far beyond any god's magic ten. It's easier to love someone else than my brokenness. Which is what I have done.
we linger at the beach
the path folds into the horizon
I sit alone today, alone with a silent cat who is not preoccupied by existential issues. I have turned off the pomp and circumstance recorded by the world's TV cameras focused on The Vatican this particular Saturday in late April.…