THE HAIBUN GALLERY: 30th 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 30th 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 5

Taste: chocolate, freshly baked bread, melted cheese, hot curry, porridge with honey, fresh strawberries, potatoes with butter…  Is your mouth watering?  Are you imagining your favourite food?  A dog can’t hide his delight at the potential meal being put in front of him.  Drool, a wagging tail, enquiring eyes.  Our olfactory senses react strongly to what we ultimately consume.  The fluid or the solid taste of a beverage, fruit, treat or dish. 

As I read Adelaide’s haibun below, the list of foods sends me into the joy of imagining the taste of the lunch and apples. 

The Allure of Apples

Blue sky. A slight briskness in the air. It’s a special day. Not on anyone’s calendar but our own. Apple picking day. Our annual two-hour trek north from Westchester to Duchess County. I pack a lunch. Smoked salmon, green beans and tomato salad, French bread, wedges of stilton and Gruyere cheese, chilled Chablis, brownies, and a thermos of coffee.  The fruit? Apples, naturally, and we’ll pick those. 

We twist our way north on the Taconic Parkway, seeing more color in the leaves the further we drive.  Getting off the parkway, we travel on side roads, rough roads, dirt roads. There is a distinctive fragrance in the air. We’ve arrived. We get a basket and head for the area with Macoun apples which are ready to be picked. We share one. Firm. Juicy. Sweet. How many to pick? Enough for a couple of pies, a tart or two, muffins, a cake, applesauce, snacking, some for a neighbor. Somehow, we always pick just enough.Apples weighed and paid, we have lunch on a hill. Then home and a nap.

the turn of dayssome to repeat with joytime and time again. until the repetition is only a memory

Adelaide B. Shaw

Pub in Drifting Sands #12 nov 2021

In the haibun above, the visual aspects of the scene are also appealing.  How can you create your own piece using taste as an integral sense to make the reader feel, see, and smell, then leading to the taste of the piece.  Wrapping up our prompts, this has shown how integral using the senses are to vivid and engaging writing.  Have fun!

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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…