writeALONG! 10 September

A TUESDAY FEATURE

hosts: Muskaan Ahuja, K.Ramesh

guest editor: C.X. Turner

Only the unpublished poems (that are never published on any social media platform/journals/anthologies) posted here for each prompt will be considered for Triveni Haikai India's monthly journal -- haikuKATHA, each month.

Poets are requested to post poems (haiku/senryu) that adhere to the prompts/exercises given.

Only 1 poem to be posted in 24 hours. Total 2 poems per poet are allowed each week (numbered 1,2). So, revise your poems till 'words obey your call'.

If a poet wants feedback, then the poet must mention 'feedback welcome' below each poem that is being posted.

Responses are usually a mixture of grain and chaff. The poet has to be discerning about what to take for the final version of the poem or the unedited version will be picked up for the journal.

The final version should be on top of the original version for selection.

Poetry is a serious business. Give you best attempt to feature in haikuKATHA !!

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The circadas sing

in the twilight

of my mountain village –

tonight, no one

will visit save the wind.

--- Ono No Komachi

The poetry of Ono no Komanchi(living around 834 AD) helped to usher in a poetic age of personal expressiveness, technical excellence, and philosophical and emotional depth. Her poems, such as this one, offer a clear window into concerns of the heart and mind. There is a directness and honesty in this tanka that embraces the reality of the poet’s experience. The universal themes of love and loss are being explored.

Use this tanka as inspiration to create your own haiku or senryu around love and loss, without overtly stating this, drawing on the natural world around you to express your experience.