top of page

triveni spotlight : 9 october

triveni spotlight A FEATURE EVERY ALTERNATE DAY! hosts: Teji Sethi and Kala Ramesh host editor: Teji Sethi

Theme: Raga in Nature

Journal: haikuKATHA




on repeat

the blackbird's song ...

recalling the days

when dad whistled the tune

i whistle today


— Robert Kingston





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




18 Comments


Milan Rajkumar
Milan Rajkumar
Oct 16, 2022

A sublime and poignant tanka! I could sense the poet's nostalgic memories with his father ( while still a kid) as I myself grew up without a father or a mother from a young age. Thanks Robert Kingston for sharing this tanka.

Like

Gauri
Gauri
Oct 10, 2022

Beautiful tanka

Like
Robert Kingston
Oct 13, 2022
Replying to

Thank you Gauri

Like

Marilyn Humbert
Marilyn Humbert
Oct 10, 2022

l love this one Robert Congratulations

Like
Robert Kingston
Oct 13, 2022
Replying to

Thank you Marilyn.

Like

What a wonderful tanka! Perfect bridge - "recalling the days". I like "on repeat" too. It sounds as though the blackbird is repeatedly singing. It is is trying its best to rejuvenate the past, helping the poet undertake a time travel into the past. And then the poet recalls his father whistling a tune that he is whistling today. It's a wonderfully smooth travel down memory lane. I see a little more in fact. The poet is whistling a tune and is probably wondering where he had picked it up. The blackbird sings too. Its song helps him recall his father's whistle. A truly good tanka.

Like
Robert Kingston
Oct 13, 2022
Replying to

Thank you Dipankar Dasgupta for your fine words regarding my tanka.

Like

Kala Ramesh
Kala Ramesh
Oct 09, 2022

Nicely captured, Robert.

Like
Robert Kingston
Oct 13, 2022
Replying to

Thank you Mona.

Like
bottom of page