thinkALONG 5 May 2026

A TUESDAY FEATURE

hosts: Padma Rajeswari, K. Ramesh

guest editor: Padma Priya

Only the unpublished poems (that are never published on any social media platform/journals/anthologies) posted here for each prompt will be considered for Triveni Haikai India's monthly journal -- haikuKATHA, each month.

Poets are requested to post poems (haiku/senryu) that adhere to the prompts/exercises given.

Only 1 poem to be posted in 24 hours. Total 2 poems per poet are allowed each week (numbered 1,2). So, revise your poems till 'words obey your call'.

Responses are usually a mixture of grain and chaff. The poet has to be discerning about what to take for the final version of the poem or the unedited version will be picked up for the journal.

The final version should be on top of the original version for selection.

Poetry is a serious business. Give you best attempt to feature in haikuKATHA !!

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i learn 

to be a bystander ... 

autumn rain 

-Kala Ramesh

Ageing is a difficult process for most people. The throes of ageing are not easy to handle.

Kala Ramesh weaves a beautiful story about this aspect in the above haiku. The narrator willingly accepts the ageing process.

"i learn," says the narrator in the first line. It is a firm statement. Notice the 'i' that the poem begins with. The care with which a small letter is used instead of the capital at the very beginning sets a direction to the haiku. Here 'i' is not just the ego; it is something beyond that, and we understand this nuance immediately. While it is arresting it makes us pause too at the same time.

What is it that the narrator is learning? The brilliant second line with the ellipses is quite unexpected. It answers the question in the reader's mind. The narrator is learning to be a bystander. It is not easy for one to be a 'bystander' towards one's life. That kind of wisdom comes only when a lot of inner/emotional work is done.

As one ponders on this, more information flows in the third line. It brings 'autumn rain' into the picture. The subject is made clear to the reader by the symbolic representation of autumn. One can presume that the narrator is an aged person, and that he is wise. He knows that one has to flow with life and accept it gracefully to be at peace with himself and the world around him.

A beautiful, gentle poem that brings vivid autumn rain into the atmosphere. The interior of a person and the exterior atmosphere merge seamlessly. 

I love Kala's simple diction, and the seriousness of the poem, which she handled in the gentlest way possible.

Prompt: Wrote a poem about ageing in all its various shades.

Haiku outside the prompt is welcome too.