Saturday, September 9, 2023

haikuNetra ISSUE 1.1










Editor's Note




It was in the year 2015, eight years ago, that I had written my first haiku. Since then, my journey to Haikai has seen many seasons. The journey towards understanding and absorbing the nuances of this craft is eternal. The seed for "haikuNetra" was sown during one of these seasons. The initial idea was to encourage and involve fresh voices in Haikai Literature. In mid-2022, I joined Triveni Haikai India and got the chance to interact and imbibe with different haikuists, mentors, and masters of haiku which further helped me to proceed with my idea. Thanks to Kala Ramesh, Lakshmi Iyer, and the entire Haikai fraternity for their continuous guidance, love, and support. The first Issue wouldn't be able to see the light if not for the support of all the contributors. Thank you all, for your submissions. August 2023 has seen some exceptional entries so far. haikuNetra Issue 1.1 also marks my editorial debut. Thanks to Lev Hart for agreeing to join as the Co-editor. His guidance, mentorship, and acute understanding of the craft will surely benefit haikuNetra in the long run. 


– Daipayan Nair, Editor




haikuManthan - The Commentary 




fingers scraping
the inside of a cantaloupe
gang rape

           Muskaan Ahuja 


Muskaan has set the bar very high for herself and cleared it, accomplishing a verse that meets the exacting standards of haiku editors and senryu editors alike. L1 and L2 make a wonderful phrase for a haiku, engaging all the reader’s senses. In a poetic tradition that is primarily visual, confining the reader to the role of an observer, Muskaan’s verse invites the reader to feel her fingers scraping the cantaloupe’s inside shell, the juice on her hands. The observer becomes a participant. Tactile imagery is more personal than the visual, affecting the reader more deeply. The reader’s involvement is pretty much the ultimate goal of haiku, so Muskaan’s phrase is a haikuist’s dream. It even includes a seasonal reference, cantaloupes being associated with summer in many parts of the world. The imagery evokes the primal delight we used to experience as children, getting the food all over ourselves, scraping up every delicious bit.

The reader’s childlike pleasure turns to horror with the pivot to L3, “gang rape,” the most powerful pivot I’ve ever read. The reader experiences the horror all the more deeply because of her deep involvement up until that moment. Now the reader is involved as the victim. The reader’s shock mirrors, however faintly, what the poet must have experienced as the attack began. 

The verse is a master class in haiku, complete with phrase, fragment, nature image, seasonality, and a pivot. The juxtaposition is based on contrast, the feelings evoked by the fragment being antithetical to those evoked by the phrase. From a different angle, there is a second juxtaposition, based on similarity. The cantaloupe is a tacit simile for the brutalization of the poet. Two juxtapositions make the haiku extremely cohesive.

After L2, the verse also pivots from haiku to senryu. A person is not likely to find any references to gang rape in classical haiku. Senryu, however, traditionally functioned as social criticism. They did not focus at all on the happy, wholesome scenarios that are now central to the verse form. Senryu were trenchant, like Muskaan’s verse. I would like to see senryu resume its role as barbed criticism. Perhaps Muskaan will lead the way.

Some readers will inevitably regard Muskaan’s verse exclusively as a senryu, because of its human focus. Haiku, however, often include human figures, setting them in the wider context of nature. Muskaan’s verse, through its seasonal reference, sets the moment of brutality in the context of time’s eternal cycles. Through haiku, the poet sublimates a horrifying experience into an aesthetic one. The Way of Haiku teaches us to see our lives, both its innocent delight and innocence destroyed, poetically. Muskaan’s "senry-ku" — if you will — suggests that she has advanced far along the Way.


– Lev HartCo-Editor




haikuRatna - Editor's Pick



summer breeze

grandpa exchanges his stick

for a paper kite 


                  Lakshmi Iyer 




stray 's banquet

the hardened crust

of a dinner roll 


                 Barrie Levine




alone  on  the  train  this  stranger  marching  towards  me


                                                Lev Hart 




old lava 

the origin stories 

of my faults 


              Cynthia Anderson 




sacred space 

in an earthen pot ... a tune 

from a shakuhachi 


                Kala Ramesh  




                   a few gravitational arcs in her signature


                                            Roberta Beach Jacobson




ripples...

the call and response 

of fish crows


            Brad Bennett






haikuPrakash - Enlightenment



wormhole

imagining the other side

of death 


               John Hawkhead




babbling brook…

her problems

bigger than mine


             Jan Stretch 




crack in the stone —

an ancient monster 

revealed 


             Allison Douglas-Tourner 




planting seeds 

the flowers she will 

never see


             Stephanie Zepherelli 




forgetting

what I have forgotten

rainstorm 


             Perry L. Powell




purple finch 

how could it be 

anything else


              John Pappas 




bread and patty 

the secrets 

between us 


              Raja Chakraborty




a secret revealed ...

wildflowers

sway in the breeze 


              Daniela Misso 




a neon sign

flicks off at dawn

what I meant to say


             Barrie Levine 




autumn breeze —

we talk about

the afterlife 


              Mona Bedi




more to you 

than I thought

false summit 


             Edward Cody Huddleston




funeral 

firewood crackles 

the sandal fragrance 


             Lakshmi Iyer




butterfly

mulling over 

her zodiac sign 


             Manoj Sharma




what’s done

is done

evening primrose


             Joshua St. Claire 


 

 

deep in the heat of things ocean's collapse


                                                Roberta Beach Jacobson





got the itch 

to garden again 

chiggers


              JL Huffman




autumn lake –

these drowning thoughts 

of mine 


               Paul Callus 




a parijat   today gone tomorrow   the remains 


    Kala Ramesh




my shadow

over lavender

a spider retreats


                Marilyn Ward




this nightmare

of feeling wanted 

a loner finch


               Mike Gallagher




intermittent cooing 

of the house pigeons 

monsoon wind 


               Hifsa Ashraf




this silence 

between me and the crescent

a barn owl 


              Padmasiri Jayathilaka 




thistle 

every mistake 

made again


                Rowan Beckett 




monsoon breeze 

I change 

my mind 


                Amita Paul 




fallen leaves -

all the words 

I didn't say 


              Giuliana Ravaglia 




the sound of a hoe

weeding the temple garden —

summer afternoon


             George Goldberg 




bumpy flight

I give a tarot reading

to the monk


          Sharon Ferrante 




sunflower field

a little girl walks

towards the sun 


            Daniela Rodi




gusty wind

only the magpie song

holds steady


          Louise Hopewell 




desert tortoise

no longer sticking

my neck out


          Cynthia Anderson 




nature hike -

she zips up

her sadness

 

          Timothy Daly 




in the garden

digging

into a new book


          Wilda Morris 




walking the middle way

I pick up 

my cross


              Nick Gutierrez 




dandelion

all that remains

of my dreams


          Rosa Maria Di Salvatore 




getting 

back on track

scent of pine


           Ernesto P. Santiago 




a dragonfly

on the windowsill

time passes by


            Minal Sarosh 




herbal tea

flowers that died

to soothe me


          Pris Campbell 




shafts of light

a leaf clings

to the pear stem


            Brad Bennett 




rising mist -

a frog croaks

on the lilypad


           Katherine E Winnick 




counting koi

a grey heron swoops

into my ohm


    Michael Smeer (Mikō)




between the wind and me whose breath


                                                     Isabella Mori 





 

haikuDrishti - The Observation



    xti
te        ng

         
         Ann Smith



 

she rolls

a perfect roti

full moon


            Rupa Anand




wildfire rain

the fresh face

of a star 


             Marilyn Ashbaugh




rice song

her mud-laden feet 

in the clouds


             Arvinder Kaur




foxgloves

higher than the fence -

summer solstice 


            Maire Morrissey Cummins




homesick

an old swing

in the yard 


           Jovana Dragojlovic




bus stop bench

a young man

injects his arm 


              Tuyet Van Do




beach shells —

arranging our new pattern

of constellation 


              Beata Czeszejko




deep throat

the swan swallows

a crab apple 


            Kimberly A. Horning




autumn snowfall ... 

a handful

of frozen butterflies 


               Dorna Hainds




orphanage park —

a gentle breeze tousles

the child's hair 


                Mirela Brailean




last day of summer 

the lifeguard releases

his man bun


              Joseph P. Wechselberger




bangle seller —

the colours of a rainbow

on her wrist 


               Mona Bedi




annaprashana

the tinkling of her anklets

sweetens the kheer


              Debarati Sen 




semolina

in the enamel bowl 

dad's dinner


            Bernadette O'Reilly




a crocodile

half-submerged

unmoving


            Marilyn Humbert 




World Yoga Day -

my cat

licks her butt


           Sukla Singha




starlight

their backs

almost touch


          Greg Schwartz 




neither of us

says a word

Mount Nittany


            Joshua St. Claire 



departure lounge - 

old woman snoring

wakes herself up


           Marc Brimble 




creeping

in and out of darkness

hunter's moon


           Louise Hopewell 




coriander pot

after the night rain 

snails


           Christina Chin




reaching up

to knead my cheek

purring cat


          Eavonka Ettinger 




surface tension

the curve

of her smile 


           Mark Hitri




back to earth

in two minutes...

the piano player


           Patricia Davis 




a water strider

skates across the cloud

silver lining


            Ruth Happel 




night platform

a little girl sings lori

to her doll


             Sudebi Singha 




early frost. . .

my body older 

than it should be


            Rowan Beckett 




bloodroot blooms

the girl wearing a lavender ribbon

sits up


              Bipasha Majumder De 




summer morning

cupped in lupine leaves

water droplets


            Nancy Brady Smith 




two old pros

grandma haggles

with the fish vendor


           Barrie Levine




revising

my river poem...

spring break 

 

               Srini




one by one

birds scatter

seedhead

 

           Jerome Berglund 




a t-shirt covers the student's head blown o ff


                                                                     Lev Hart 




peaches and plums —

preserving the sweetness

of childhood


            Bonnie J Scherer 




masala chai

grandma pauses to wipe

her moist eyes


           Minal Sarosh 




blue moon

her husband folds

the laundry


           Genevieve S. Aguinaldo 




summer morning

without notice, this teen

turns her bicycle


            Amoolya Kamalnath 




August rain

the neighbour's wash

full of drips


         Marilyn Ward 




window shopping

I keep staring at

my own image


            Padmasiri Jayathilaka 




her first reward

from the tooth fairy -

piggy bank stash


            Gillena Cox




pamplemousse

rolling off her tongue

citric tang


           JL Huffman 




beached

the bloated sunfish

lures a crowd


          Carly Siegel Thorp 




family photo

after a day of sorting

family history


           Susan Bonk Plumridge 




summer dawn

grandma shakes

the pickle jar


           Hifsa Ashraf 




boys' day out

the common wish

of a mansion


          Aparna Pathak 




cricket moon

a basket of laundry

on the terrace


          Daniela Misso 




early winter

grandma knits

my new sweater


              Anwitha Sudeep 




hand on heart

I believe his promises

cardiac surgeon


             Patricia Hawkhead




each object with a different absence


                                        Vijay Prasad 





 

haikuJyoti - The Third Eye



a rain-bent hibiscus

after the diagnosis


             Amoolya Kamalnath




albatross

the scar on the back

of her head


         Sue Courtney 




the roar

in my sneeze–

tiger lily


     Michael Smeer (Mikō)




salmon moon...

trickling waterfall echoes

fill the gully


           Rob McKinnon 




over-steeped tea

last night's fight

clogs my tastebuds


          Baisali Chatterjee Dutt




watercolour sky

searching my palette

for other than blue


         Patricia Hawkhead




flock of crows

on the railway

a white shoe


          Mircea Moldovan 




summer rain

tomato vines stretch 

into July


           Roberta Beach Jacobson




back alley

two shopping buggies strike

a deal


                               Lev Hart 




worry stone scouring the shoreline for solace


                                                         Peter Jastermsky




the sting 

of a failed marriage

lemon peel


           Barbara Anna Gaiardoni




cemetery visit 

a layer of leaves covers

my name


           Joseph P. Wechselberger 




age-spotted hands

the ache in her guitar

strings


           Randy Brooks 




shifting home

I wrap mother's silences

in her pashmina


              Arvinder Kaur 




the erection and castration of a word


                                              Vijay Prasad




the black fringe

of her gypsy scarf

swallowtail


         Colette Kern 




dark-eyed junco

she says she needs a ride

to meet a friend


           Joshua St. Claire 




willow seeds float

on the breeze...

summer confetti


           Sue Wood




a few coins

tinkling in his rusty can

autumn rain 


          Robert Witmer 




she smiles at me

from across the classroom

quantum entanglement


                    Ger Jonker 




sturgeon moon—

a tramp rummages

for his livelihood 


           Neena Singh




blue sky 

a beetle wriggling

on its back


         Tony Williams




all around

his gravestone

spring violets


         John Pappas 




moonlit face

I wish I were 

a white moth


         Ranice Tara




layers of dust

on the dressing table

chemotherapy


        Sanjay Kumar Sanan 




the soft feel

of wrinkled skin -

birthday sex


         Isabella  Mori 




sienna earth

the distant drip-drip

of a tap


          Kavita Ratna 




monsoon breeze

a wisp of freshness

in my jasmine tea


          Hla Yin Mon 




alpine sunrise

the red of the dirt

at your nape


         B.L. Bruce 




granite pinnacles the span of a mountain goat


                                                   Chad Lee Robinson




swallowing my pride -

an inland breeze

escorts me home


          Paul Callus 




railway station

each window frames

an untold story


         Kala Ramesh 




intersections

on the road ahead

ending summer


        Jelena Kenic 




widower's house

a crystal vase fills

with cigarette ash


           Sanjuktaa Asopa 




rainstorm

the many ways

a tree sings


         Pris Campbell 




two alligators

face to face

storm clouds


        Naomi G. Tangonan 




green grass

the hidden song

of a cricket


        Marilyn Ward 




midsummer heat —

the smell of spices

from mom's dupatta


              Hifsa Ashraf 




15th August morning -

a street child picks up

the torn flag

 

              Sukla Singha




wet moon ...

the ebb and flow

of nostalgia


           Lorelyn Arevalo 




wisps of cobweb

along the bridge

spring training


            Jerome Berglund 




train journey

with a stranger

wild lilies


           Bidyut prabha Gantayat 




somewhere the sound of unwinding a nightjar


                                                               C.X. Turner 



            ******

 

© All copyrights belong to the contributors.



 

 

 


 

 



 

 




 

 

 




 

 





 


 




 




 




 

 

 

   


 

 





 









 


 


 















haikuNetra ISSUE 1.4

  Editor's Note We received a bulk load of submissions for the fourth Issue. Each haikuist has submitted his or her best for this Issue....