THE HAIBUN GALLERY: 2nd October 2025. Joanna Ashwell - Guest Poet

host: Rupa Anand

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

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

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Guest Poet: Joanna Ashwell

A Thursday Feature 2nd 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 1

We begin with SIGHT.  In Sandip’s haibun below I fell in love with this and have read it many times.  My favourite colour is pink.  Notice the way she expertly weaves the colour: to shape the place, the emotion, the hush, the taste.  This contains a myriad of the senses and brings it alive.

And Still I Rise*

Pink is the delicate hue of the first light gently brushing the sea, of petals resting on the water before the current takes them.  It lingers at the edge of dreams, neither night nor day, a color caught between holding on and letting go.  It is the hush of cherry blossoms before the wind scatters them, the soft blush of childhood ribbons, the faded ink of love notes pressed between pages.  It deepens in salt-streaked lips after laughter at the shore, in the last ember of a setting sun, and in the wake of something that never fully leaves.

And now, pink lives beneath my skin – stitched into scars, pinned to my chest, traced in the mirror where I start anew.

unbuttoned sky

a gannet sweeps the river

in its wing

*title borrowed from Maya Angelou’s poem “And Still I Rise”

Sandip Chauhan

The Wales Haiku Journal Spring 2025

In what way can you bring SIGHT into your haibun?  It could be a description of a place, a colour, a shape… What brings a strong visual sense 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…