THE HAIBUN GALLERY: 28th August 2025. Padma Priya - Guest Poet
- Kala Ramesh
- Aug 28
- 2 min read
Updated: Aug 28
host: Rupa Anand
mentor: Lorraine Haig editors on haikuKATHA: Shalini Pattabiraman, Vidya Shankar, Firdaus Parvez and Kala Ramesh
Guest Poet: Padma Priya
A Thursday Feature
28th August 2025 -
THE HAIBUN GALLERY August 2025 Padma Priya
Beyond the Milky Way
A friend introduces us at the crowded party.
“Did you know there are more stars in the universe than grains of sand on all Earth's beaches?” he asks, turning to me.
I blink. “I'm afraid my stars are mostly metaphorical.”
“Ah, like in Tagore's poetry?”
“More like Roy's “The God of Small Things',” I reply.
Our conversation weaves through nebulae and narratives, quantum entanglement and magical realism.
“Dark energy pushes the universe apart,” he says.
“Like the spaces between words in a poem,” I offer.
He pauses. “Interesting perspective.”
spring blossoms
a pair of doves gliding
into one sunbeam
Sandip Chauhan
haikuKATHA, Issue 34, August 2024
Prompt
I am deeply impressed by the positive environment Sandip Chauhan created in this haibun. The title, prose and haiku are perfectly woven together. The sanguine conversations sparkle with intelligence. The last two lines of the closing haiku take the haibun to a higher level with their poetic style and buoyant image.
The stylistic usage of ‘dialogue’ to build the narration gives the haibun the air of proper fiction.
Prompt 1: Write a haibun which creates a cheerful and happy state for the reader.
Prompt 2: Use dialogue form to narrate the story you want to tell the reader.
I am sharing two links to Ray Rasmussen’s haibun written in this dialogue format. Kindly check them out for reference or inputs.
What are you upto?: https://rays-blog.ca/2022/03/30/what-are-you-up-to/
Haibun outside the prompt is welcome
I eagerly anticipate your haibun.
Haibun outside the prompt is welcome too.
Thank you.
Padma Priya
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Once again, a beautiful prompt, Padma.
I love your two-winged prompts!
_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Writers are invited to submit one unpublished haibun per submission window.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 open 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
3.9.25
The next chapter
The gurudwara is small. I had always believed that places of worship were big and grand. I look at my mother and ask, “Does God stay in such a small
place?”
“He is everywhere” she answers.
“Can I ask him for anything?”
Mother smiles at me and says, “Yes, my dear.”
island breeze
a lone palm leans
into it’s reflection
I fold my hands and sit in a corner with her. My ten-year-old mind doesn’t know what to ask for—a new dress, a big cake for my birthday, or the latest doll in the market? I look at mother bending her head in reverence and I do the same.
“What did you pray for?”…
Zebra lines
I call him the emperor of Cameras.
From him I learnt about different models - canon, nikon and lumix, and also different formats, full frame, apsc, one inch sensor, bridge, range finders and point and shoot cameras. He had with him different lenses, each meant for a specific purpose - wildlife, portrait, nature, wide angle, architecture and any other type, you name it.
We sat at length in tea shops talking about the subtle differences between native and third party lenses. He always carried a big rucksack which had many camera bodies, adapters, batteries, lenses and chargers. Some of the lenses were from the 90s but they were solid indeed.
I learnt from him how to gently remove…
A beautiful haibun by Sandip… thanks Padma.
#1 In Orbit
The water at Salmon Creek glitters as if rehearsing the memory of the ocean. I walk past the hatchery tanks, where fry dart in sudden bursts, already impatient with still water. A guide explains how their bodies remember the scent of stone, how years later they will follow it back upstream.
I ask myself why I keep turning upstream.
The river speaks in me: to remember where the journey began.
Is this the shore, or just a ripple on the journey?
A question fish and I both share.
I remind myself: this place is artificial, removed from the streams where they belong.
Then I swim harder, fiercer, to where I belong.
In every beating …
Thanks for featuring my haibun, Padma! Glad it found a place in your prompt.