writeALONG! 22 October

A TUESDAY FEATURE

hosts: Muskaan Ahuja, K.Ramesh

guest editor: Alan S. Bridges

Only the unpublished poems (that are never published on any social media platform/journals/anthologies) posted here for each prompt will be considered for Triveni Haikai India's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

the leaves are going

where I’m going

     — John Stevenson 

I am including my favourite haiku poet to showcase what is to me, what haiku is all about— seeing the simplicity within complexity, a distillation into insights that are ingrained in our beings. 

If one reads lines 1 and 2 alone, the leaves are disappearing, leaving trees leafless. When John concludes with line 3, ‘where I’m going,’ it conjures up all sorts of other possibilities,  and maybe is a commentary that it is the autumn of life and leaves and lives are being scattered haphazardly.

Or perhaps it’s just the opposite and this metaphorical wind is directing everything and everyone in a purposeful direction. Autumn is a time to tuck things away and prepare for winter, so an element of order within chaos.

I was fortunate to begin my haiku career after meeting John on a cross-country train trip, in a sort of ‘I’m going where the winds take me’ journey.

Try and write haiku that uses the autumn wind to take us in whatever direction you so choose.