writeALONG! 17 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Only the unpublished poems (that are never published on any social media platform/journals/anthologies) posted here for each prompt will be considered for Triveni Haikai India's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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pausing

halfway up the stair –

white chrysanthemums

--- Elizabeth Serle Lamb

After reading this poem, do you think it will make you look at chrysanthemums a little differently, or do you already have an image in your mind of them, or an experience where these were present? Perhaps you have never seen a chrysanthemum, so you may look this particular flower up online? Maybe you have written your own poem with this flower, or colour, and are aware of the symbolism of white chrysanthemums as representing truth, loyalty and honesty? 

I recall an editor saying to me that they could tell I was a poet as I had observed something that most people would not have seen. This thought pops into my mind when the urge to write is there, but the words are not.

This week, I encourage you to ponder the unseen, the everyday, considering the items in your home or workplace or somewhere that you visit regularly. Pause and really see what is in front of you, mindfully notice what others perhaps don’t see, and invite others to experience what you experience, thereby sharing the joy of the moment.