triveni spotlight A FEATURE EVERY ALTERNATE DAY! hosts: Teji Sethi and Kala Ramesh GUEST EDITOR: Nandita Jain Mahajan, July 2023
one by one
everyone has left
autumn wind
Kobayashi Issa
dinnertime
one sandal
under the swing
Frank Hooven
The Heron's Nest: September 2022
Thank you for giving me an opportunity to present my selection. Though the task of selecting haiku for Triveni Spotlight was very difficult, I found it very rewarding. I spent several hours going through poems available in the public domain and those from books in my personal collection. I read and re-read, shortlisted again and again paring down the list till I could do no more. It was a sheer joy to read such fantastic works - my heart is full ... so happy.
I tried to keep the poems different from what other guest editors had selected earlier. However, there is bound to be some repetition. I found myself leaning towards old Japanese masters like Basho, Issa, Shiki, and Ryokan but equally drawn to women poets like Chiyo-ni and Rengetsu. The simplicity, charm, and timeless quality is what pull me to their haiku. What a picture they paint! And, the space between what is said and what is unsaid. So many different interpretations which helped me connect to these poems.
Amongst the contemporary poets, I found myself opting for those that tugged at my heart. The poems span longing, sadness, hopelessness, hope, love, and gentleness. These are those that I could read over and over again, especially at dusk, when my mind is quiet and at peace. And then, something interesting happened. I realised that I could pair the masters with the contemporary - similar thoughts and subjects but different treatment. I hope you enjoy this selection. Nandita Jain Mahajan
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What a unique and refreshing way of handling this month's triveni spotlight selections!
Watch out for this space, every alternate day, dear readers, you are in for a real treat!
Thank you, Nandita.
We are waiting to see the month unfold.
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Beautiful! I love this idea of pairing the old and the contemporary! -- Sebastien Revon
I love Issa, so simply human! His haiku touches me deep. The modern haiku has the same melancholy, caught in one image. Thank you, looking for more.
I'd like to say that, for me, two concepts are essential in order to appreciate what haiku is about:
space and silence, or "a space for silence", something we all need nowadays, maybe more than ever.
Issa's poem offers that after "autumn wind", the space creates itself and is offered to us to dive in.
Hooven's poem creates that space for silence as well, just by offering us a simple image anchored in time. We are allowed to fill the gap before and after that image or not filling anything at all. There's freedom for the reader in this poem. As for myself, I contemplate that sandal and focus on it until it brings me to a state of stillness…
Bringing the old and the new under one Spotlight. A brilliant theme. Can't wait to read this month's features.
Thank you, Nandita.
Lovely pairing, Nandita!
Both the poems speak to me.
Thank you Nandita for being this month's guest editor and awaiting to read your line of poems.
The above poems are both different and yet they share that 'one' in common.
So deep and profound!