triveni spotlight: 21st September 2025
- Anju Kishore
- Sep 21
- 2 min read
triveni spotlight A FEATURE EVERY ALTERNATE DAY hosts: Anju Kishore and Mohua Maulik GUEST EDITOR: Anju Kishore
21st September 2025
triveni spotlight September 2025
funeral day
between raindrops
falling darkness
Ron C. Moss
“I often feel the most satisfying moments of creative expression are when I move aside and allow the cosmos to come through as its own expression of creativity.”
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Zoka
This month, the Spotlight is on Janice Doppler’s path-breaking compilation One Thread, Zoka in Contemporary Haiku published in 2024.
So what is zoka?
In her introduction, Janice says quoting Steven D. Carter, “the one thread” that runs through the work of the masters is a “commitment to zoka, the creative” — the dynamic spirit that transforms the natural world and the inner workings of the cosmos. Kala Ramesh in her foreword to the book says zoka is the creative force of nature and calls it “Prakriti”, an ever-changing aspect of reality as per ancient Hindu belief systems. She quotes Hiroyuki Murakami about working on zoka. “… this state can only be achieved when the haiku poet looks deeply toward nature that never stops changing and, in a sense, toward the universe, to the extent that he or she becomes assimilated with the subject.”
The book is a collection of haiku written by poets from around the world who have presented their views and their own previously published poems that best embody zoka as they understand it. City-bred poets as most of us are, we seek both muse and solace in our brick-and-mortar lives, and in the little nature it provides. Attention to zoka therefore, is a practice that becomes necessary to cultivate, a skill important to be honed. From this stimulating anthology, I have attempted to choose haiku that blur the line between humanity and nature in a way that binds all of creation with one thread — zoka. Also included is a quote from the write-up of each featured poet.
Anju Kishore
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This ku is straight from the heart. This deep wish to write line this. Beautiful ku.
Ah, to write like this, as Mary has said. The more I read the poets featured in Spotlight, the more I feel that zoka is acceptance and surrender. Zoka is 'the way'.
Poets, thank you all for your comments here.
For me, Ron’s comment points to a key question for pondering zoka. What does it mean to “move aside and allow the cosmos to come through as its own expression of creavity?” Keep asking, keep seeking an answer, keep creating from whatever space is opened by your seeking. Actually finding THE answer is impossible. There are as many answers as there are poets. Someone famous, I can’t remember who, said you can’t step into the same river twice. To me, pondering zoka is like that.
Everything in your haiku is of a piece--the rain, the darkness, the rain reminiscent of tears, the darkness emotionally of someone dying and each one if of itself as well--rain is rain, darkness is darkness. Ah, to write like this. Thank you, Ron.
I'm a great fan of Ron's poems filled in haiga and this one brings out an apt feeling!!