Under the Bashō 2023
Haiku
Editor: Marilyn Ashbaugh (current)
Previous Editor: Kala Ramesh (2013 to August 2023)
ancient drum sounds
the possessed Maibi utters
a different dialect
(summer kigo)
A Maibi or an Amaibi is a female priestess or a nun who upholds the sacred rites and rituals of Sanamahism (Meitei religion). Their lives and duties encompass a wide range of activities to the spiritual life of the Meitei ethnicity. They play a significant role in the Lai Haraoba festival to please the Umang Lais and the Lam Lais (an excerpt from Byron Aihara's Traditional Folk Music & Dance of Manipur, Northeast India)
Cheiraoba ritual —
on hillocks, ancestors wait
for us with boons
(spring kigo)
(https://blog.mygov.in/festivals-of-manipur-cheiraoba/)
trickling down
the moss-laden trees
— Melei Leishna
Melei Leishna/Pineapple orchid (bloom time/late spring)
buzzing bees!
youngsters talking about
Yaoshang fest
(spring kigo)
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yaosang
hills are burnt
for poppy plantation —
this losing war on drugs
chamber music
looking for a kigo
in a herbarium
a breakup
almost inevitably
autumn muds
autumn loneliness
I painted the room
for the teddy bear
dried branch
the same gracefulness
of its shadow
climber roses
unfold pink light
a passerby smiles
spring rain
her flowered dupatta
shields the baby
plum moon
a peacock's desire
pierces the sky
spring cleaning
I taste the scent
of your letter
yellow dahlia
a clenched bud
opens to sunlight
wild violets a gift of the unseen
a field of strength dogwood blossoms
rushing
waterfall
the
calm
of
moss-covered
rocks
autumn dusk
the sudden desire
to hug every leaf
empty mailbox
the weight of clouds
in the winter sky
falling icicles the first song of spring
scorching summer
too much sky in the place
of cut trees
soon Walpurgis Night
time to submit
the tax return
receding waves coming to terms with what is
drenched in the unspoken autumn rain
missing trains you wait for the Hogwarts Express
the echoes and re-echoes of sanctitude ganga aarti
falling leaves
you bow down
to a new god
being dragged
despite my protests
wedding dances
sudden storm …
a child cradles
bruised mangoes
fungus on seeds …
the wind sweeps
across fallow fields
sharad purnima -
my pet overturns a bowl
of rice pudding
hanging mangoes …
a child’s eyes taste
the sweetness
sinking sun
behind the amaltas …
she lights an oil lamp
a coucal
scoops out the papaya …
our guest is god
bursting cotton pods …
she can’t wait
to tell her story
fallen frangipani …
the child marks
a zigzag path
kite flying
the city migrates
to its rooftops
the squish of jamun
under my feet
purple noon
Diwali cleaning -
that itch to clear the cobwebs
on the moon
(Diwali cleaning is a big event in Gujarati households. The ladies of the house start the process soon after Navratri gets over. One by one, cupboards and attics/lofts in each room are emptied, clothes & beddings are sunned and aired, vessels are washed and dried, and put then back in place)