triveni spotlight: 25th September 2025
- Anju Kishore
- Sep 25
- 2 min read
triveni spotlight A FEATURE EVERY ALTERNATE DAY hosts: Anju Kishore and Mohua Maulik GUEST EDITOR: Anju Kishore
25th September 2025
triveni spotlight September 2025
new neighbor
a dog keeps sniffing
another dog’s history
Wakako Miya Rollinger
“To me, zoka is not just Asian creation, but always present. We see it when someone exposes something which was invisible to others.”
<> <> <>
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
_()_
This haiku highlights the fact that there’s always more there than we see—animals seem to intuite that better than many of us do—zoka is ever present and sometimes we’re lukcy enough to sense the oneness we all share.
For me this ku takes 'one thread' forward. Every living thing is a 'social animal' trying to reach out to the other in explicit or subtle ways, consciously or unconsciously, thus connecting the universe and being a part of its dynamics.
Wakako hit the nail right on the head. Chinese sages were the first to write about zoka and their learnings spread to Japan. Prakriti was written about in the Bhagavad Gita in India. Zoka and Prakriti were always present and was not created by Asians; however, writings by Chinese and Indian sages made it visible for anyone who cares to look.
Love the show dont tell in this visual ku :)
All the scents, a doggy newspaper... nicely done.