triveni spotlight: 5th December 2025

triveni spotlight A FEATURE EVERY ALTERNATE DAY hosts: Anju Kishore and Mohua Maulik GUEST EDITOR: Vidya Shankar

5th December 2025

triveni spotlight December 2025

waist deep in hot spring two worlds

—Biswajit Mishra

Time Haiku, issue 60

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Ode to the Monoku

Coming from a free verse background, my venture into haiku was with the sole purpose of understanding, learning, and practicing the economy of words to enhance my writing. While the refinement happened, I also found myself drawn to haiku and eventually tried writing more of it. I enjoyed the challenge of having to express my thoughts in about 8 to 12 words spread over three lines, until I stumbled upon monoku. And then, it was no longer about the economy of words. Monoku was more of a dare with its focus on minimalism. The more monoku I read, the more I felt it was a genre unto itself within the larger scope of haikai poetry.  

In Spotlight this month, I offer a tribute to monoku, the one-line / single-line poem. My selection of poems range from work of poets who are adept with the form to those who do not consider themselves so but are experimenting with it.  

Vidya Shankar

Thank you Vidya. We look forward to signing off this year by learning more about this fascinating form.

Team Triveni Spotlight 

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