THE HAIBUN GALLERY: 12th September 2024. Harriot West, featured poet

hosts: Kala Ramesh & Firdaus Parvez

mentor: Lorraine Haig

A Thursday Feature. 12th September

This month we'll be showcasing haibun written by Harriot West

Here is our second offering from Harriot West’s vast repertoire.

The Way Things Were

There she is on eBay—the doll mother never let me have—poor Barbie, dismissed in the house where I grew up as cheap, not for the plastic she was made of but for her perky in-your-face breasts.

          sepia shadows

          a young girl tugs

          at her tee shirt

Previously published in Haibun Today 6:3

Here is another haibun from Harriot West. In the commentary on her second book, Shades of Absence, Ray Ramussen in this article below, writes of her remarkable ability to write powerful, short haibun. Brevity is an art that haijin are perhaps adept at mastering, but haibuneers like Harriot West have made the art of succinct writing stand out.

https://contemporaryhaibunonline.com/chohtmlarchive/pages142/Article_Rasmussen_West_Shades.html 

Here are some more links to her work:

http://haibuntoday.com/ht91/a_Woodward_West.html 

Until One Day I Said Enough: Harriot West on Haibun, an interview by Jeffrey Woodward in Haibun Today (Volume 9, Number 1, March 2015)

http://haibuntoday.com/ht84/a_Rasmussen_West.html 

Harriot West and Minimalist Haibun by Ray Rasmussen in Haibun Today (Volume 8, Number 4, December 2014)

Challenge:

For this week, we invite you to espouse the case of brevity. Eschew elaborate mentions. Try to see what you can do with limited words. How much can you say in how little?

PLEASE NOTE:

1. Only two haibun per poet per prompt.

2. Share your best-polished pieces.

3. Please do not post something in a hurry or something you have just written.

    Let it simmer for a while.

4. Post your final edited version on top of your original verse.

5. Don't forget to give feedback on others' poems.

We are delighted to open the comment thread for you to share your unpublished haibun (within 300 words) to be considered for inclusion in haikuKATHA monthly journal.

Important: Since we're swamped with submissions, and our editors are only human, mistakes can happen. Please, please, remember to put your name, followed by your country, below each poem, even after revisions. It helps our editors; they won't have to type it in, saving them from potential typos. Thanks a ton!

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PLEASE NOTE:

1. Only two haibun per poet per prompt. Please put your name and country of residence under your poem, it makes the editors' work easier. Thanks.

2. Share your best-polished pieces.

3. Please do not post something in a hurry or something you have just written.

Let it simmer for a while.

4. When poets give suggestions and if you agree to them - post your final edited version on top of your original version.

5. Don't forget to give feedback on others' poems.

We are delighted to open the comment thread for you to share your unpublished haibun (within 300 words) to be considered for inclusion in the haikuKATHA monthly journal.