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THE HAIBUN GALLERY: 31st August 2023 Lorraine A Padden: Featured Haibuneer

hosts: Reid Hepworth & Shalini Pattabiraman


poet of the month: Lorraine A Padden


31st August 2023

A Thursday Feature


This brings us to the end of a fantastic month with Lorraine A Padden. Thank you so much Lorraine for sharing your work with us and for your insight into your writing practice.


first-born flowers*

In the place where we scattered her ashes last summer, there’s now a tiny crown of purple shoots adorning the snow.

early March

just enough green

to believe

*The title is taken from a Shakespeare sonnet


Source:

tinywords 23.1 3/24/23


THG:

Lorraine, this is such a moving haibun. It touched me deeply. Speaking for myself, I have found writing haibun (in particular) to be a cathartic practice when it comes to dealing with the hard stuff that life tends to throw. Is haibun your go-to for writing or are you drawn to any other forms (haiku/tanka/free-verse, etc). And finally, many of your haibun’s titles have links to Shakespeare…can you speak to that?


Lorraine:

Thank you so much, Reid. I absolutely consider writing in general and all of these wonderful haiku-inspired short forms in particular to be sources of catharsis, healing, as well as great happiness. I do enjoy writing free verse, but these days I’m more fully drawn to the particular choice-making involved with haiku practice. I find haiku to be foundational–and starting from that base, I also love exploring its many potential flowerings! Sometimes haiku moments invite a bit more room to stretch out–additional lines, some prose, a haiga image, a sequence, other voices in rengay or split sequences, or a group renku. They’re all part of my practice.

Thank you for the question on the Shakespeare links in some of my haibun. It’s a wonderful collaboration that Alan Peat, Diana Webb, and I embarked on a few months ago in which each of us borrows a word/phrase from a Shakespeare sonnet. These evocative snippets may contribute additional meaning(s) to the haibun that emerge. Sometimes our individual pieces refer back to themes in the original sonnet but it’s not a requirement. We’re making our way through all 154 of these rich offerings which is a great way for me to anchor my haibun writing in a weekly practice and engage in supportive read/critique with two very fine poets!


Prompt: 28 words. This impactful haibun is tiny, yet it delivers on so many levels. The challenge for this week is to write a haibun under 50 words. Have fun!


***

PLEASE NOTE:

1. Only two haibun per poet per prompt, and only one haibun in 24 hours. Please put your name and country of residence under your poem, it makes the editors' work easier. Thanks.

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.

198 Comments


Sumitra  Kumar
Sumitra Kumar
Sep 05, 2023

Lorraine’s haibun leaves the reader with happy thoughts and fond memories. Thank you Reid and Shalini for this weeks challenge. Wish I got in here a little earlier.

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Reid Hepworth
Reid Hepworth
Sep 06, 2023
Replying to

I’m glad you liked it, Sumitra!

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Kala Ramesh
Kala Ramesh
Sep 05, 2023

The Drone

Just linger over the caress, a whisper longer, says the word, but my eyes have already moved on to the next line. Gratifying a ravenous appetite, I gorge on the interleaving words and images.

Why are you rushing – haven’t I paused? asks the word.

I stop.

Take a deep breath.

rain into night the liquid chorus of frogs


#1

Does this work?

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mona bedi
mona bedi
Sep 06, 2023
Replying to

Love the ku!

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Bonnie J Scherer
Bonnie J Scherer
Sep 04, 2023

04/09/2023


𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗙𝗹𝗶𝗲𝘀


Opening the door after a two-week absence, a ghastly scene unfolds.


Hundreds swarm us from room-to-room. Some on the carpet struggle on their backsides, legs flailing. Others in the light fixtures burn to death or die from dehydration.


a swarm

out of nowhere —

flash mob


Bonnie J Scherer

USA

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Bonnie J Scherer
Bonnie J Scherer
Sep 06, 2023
Replying to

Much appreciated Reid!

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Robert Kingston
Sep 04, 2023

Self edit to change experimental layout, along with a few enhancements.

Moving on


We choose the town route in, citing that the ring road is boring.


Wareham

unveiling a past

within the past


I’d seen it in the movies, this kingdom of Saxon saints and kings.

Today though, it is more surreal, more manicured, more sanitised.


a dog—

on the pavement…

cocks it’s leg


We visit the church, before moving out of town into a pretty village where larger battles took place.


Corfe castle

a trio of spots in the jackdaws eye

move from point to point


Of course, after eight hundred years the castle is a ruin. Still, various parts of keeps and ramparts remain to provide a foot…


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Robert Kingston
Sep 07, 2023
Replying to

Apology unnecessary, Reid. Thank you for the feedback. I’ll ponder it for a local submission. The RAAC issue issue is a current affairs issue that is a hot potato at the moment, here.

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Marilyn Humbert
Marilyn Humbert
Sep 04, 2023

#1 040923


Edit 1 with thanks to Robert and Eavonka for help with typo and punctuation.

Breaking out


I escape to the outback when black moods overwhelm. Here, beside Jardine Lagoon, I begin to heal.


wings spread

in circling dance

four brolgas


feedback welcome


Original

Breaking out


I escape to the outback when black moods overwhelm. Here beside Jardine Lagoon I begin to heal.


wings spread

in circling dance

four brolgas


feedback welcome

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Reid Hepworth
Reid Hepworth
Sep 06, 2023
Replying to

Wonderful! Now I want to see a brolgas in person!

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