writeALONG, 30 September 2025

A TUESDAY FEATURE

hosts: Padma Rajeswari, K. Ramesh

guest editor: Padma Rajeswari

Only the unpublished poems (that are never published on any social media platform/journals/anthologies) posted here for each prompt will be considered for Triveni Haikai India's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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Continuing on the theme of relationships, this week I invite you to focus on our relationship with trees. We share our beautiful planet with over 3 trillion trees, our selfless companions that give us oxygen to breathe, shade to rest, fruit to eat, wood to build, and shelter for countless other creatures. Trees are also storytellers of time — recording decades of droughts, rains, and seasons in their rings. And silent witnesses of kingdoms, heroes and villains.

Yet we allow loss of over 15 billion trees every year, often to fleeting conveniences like tissues, paper cups, and packaging.

How do you feel when you stand among trees in a forest? Do you have any favorite tree, maybe from your childhood? How do you feel when you when you see a tree felled?

sudden smell of pine

walking the trail with my nose

feet go on their own

            -David Elliott

sound of hatchet goes

from one tree to another –

fear in the forest

            - Jasminka Nadaskic Diordievic

forgotten garden

brighter than ever

with leaves

            -Foster Jewell

uprooted tree . . .

two kids watch

in silence

            - Kaniparambil Ramesh

This week, I invite you to write about trees and your personal connection with them.