triveni spotlight
A FEATURE EVERY ALTERNATE DAY!
hosts: Teji Sethi and Kala Ramesh
host editor: Teji Sethi
Theme: Raga in Nature
Journal: haikuKATHA
beating beating
against the frosted
windowpane —
what do you long for
winter butterfly?
— Linda Papanicolaou
There is no end to seeing and hearing. The structure of the universe is infinite. Endless vibrating expansion.
~ Nanak
There are myriad sounds which pre-exist in nature and can be perceived by human ear. It is completely natural, both animals and humans to have profound reactions to certain sounds. Some songbirds sing from repertoires which use the same rhythms and note combinations as modern composers. For example, the canyon wren uses a 12-tone scale. The hermit thrush, on the other hand, sings in a five tone penta-scale which is common in Asian music. The tanka I have chosen to showcase, exquisitely capture the ‘music in nature’ be it the sound of ripples, a bird song, a cicada’s mating call, the rustle of leaves or the lament of paddy fields!
Teji Sethi
Many thanks, Teji. I am honored to have my tanka featured today.
beautiful post; absolutely inspiring
my attempt:
nature’s song
an unstruck melody
blissful
enlightens the body and mind
never ending…
eternal song of union
no time is given in this poem. For me it first paints a picture of a moth seeking the light within. It is a vivid image often seen / heard. Alas, it could be a butterfly that wandered through a open window and is now attempting to get out to continue its journey. Then the colours also come into play. As for the noise it took me also on the devilish journey of Hannibal lector, the flicker of wings beats, the tongue lapping against the mouth’s juices. A great layer poem Linda with a touch of yugen.
Raga in Nature-- when the beating beating on a particular drum provides the rhythm to a heart's melody.
Where I find myself pausing is this fragment "winter butterfly". It is a butterfly that is of winter-- in its home, its being.
That balances the poem for me-- the first line and the last line are linked, and the first emerges from the last.
Reminds of those classic tanka! Love the repetition of the first line! The last question is remarkable. Something like the mind of a Zen monk. Congrats Linda Papanicolaou! ❤️👍