HAIKU DIALOGUE – Energy of Motion – Movement in Stillness – commentary

Energy of Motion with Guest Editor Vidya Shankar

Photography is poetry in a different dimension. Just as a poet captures emotional vibration in time and space within the framework of words, so does a photographer through the frame of their lens, thereby freezing it for eternity. There is a certain meditative aspect to this capturing. It exudes the energy of stillness, but also of motion. Photographs, like poems, or any other art forms, move through time and space, through the years because of this stillness. Thereby lies the paradox that we can explore through our poems.

Below is Vidya’s commentary for Movement in Stillness:

spending eternity
in mid-gallop
carousel horses

Tracy Davidson
Warwickshire, UK

Carousel horses are a perfect example of the paradoxical movement in stillness. Everything about them indicates motion. These horses are structured as if they are galloping, with their front hooves in the air, their heads arched, and their tails flying. And when the carousel moves, it gives the illusion as if these horses are galloping. And herein lies the paradox. In spite of all the movement or indications of movement, these horses go nowhere. Tracy’s ‘carousel horses’ strike me as a metaphor for situations that keep us occupied and busy but stuck in a rut.

only now
do I hear it—
an absence of birdsong

Tony Williams
Scotland, UK

Sound is vibration, movement. Interestingly, what is heard here is the absence of a particular sound. The poet hears it in silence, when all is still, when there is no noise. Noise is chaos, disorderly vibration that leads to stress. This poem drips with pathos, the ‘only now’ is a statement of deep lament, because caught in the noise of living, we don’t even realise what we miss of the beautiful world around us.

only his ears
pointing up through the thicket
the red fox

Bruce Feingold
Berkeley CA USA

That moment of stillness and suspense before the big move, the pounce. Will it, won’t it? The fox is a picture of alertness and focus, relying upon only its auditory senses, waiting for the right time to make its kill. Though a predator, it safeguards itself in its stillness. This scene frozen in time stills our breath too. And therein lies its beauty.

land of Orpheus –
the golden ratio
before the Flood

Minko Tanev
Bulgaria

A poem that overwhelmed me with its depth and diverse scope for interpretation. ‘The Flood’ could mean any calamity: natural, personal, or brought on by human greed. Before disaster struck, there was harmony, balance, beauty. Music ruled. There was life and there was loss, but there was also deep love, peace, stillness. But once the shift happens, doubt and insecurity creeps in. There is music still but it is no longer the same.

leading the gene unto light gen beta

Daya Bhat
India

Even as most adults were trying to learn to adapt to digital life, we also had a generation that grew up with gadgets. Today, who we are is verified by our digital presence. The momentum at which this transition happened is shattering. Even as we are coming to terms with the changes, we are inundated by AI, bombarding us with anxiety for the generation of tomorrow. Instead of panicking, if we were to move into stillness and contemplate, we would realise that the solution lies in radical reforms in learning systems. The need of the hour is no longer to seek information but to seek the wisdom (light) that would facilitate the co-existence of human intelligence with non-human intelligence.

Gateway of India —
again the crow
on the scaffolding

Rupa Anand
New Delhi, India

The ‘Gateway of India’, an iconic landmark of Mumbai, is a perfect example of contrast between movement and stillness. Built facing the Arabian Sea, this monument has been a silent witness to history happening. The Gateway, today, is a popular tourist spot with surging crowds passing under its arch or standing within its view clicking photographs for memory. Vendors selling wares add to the auditory and olfactory effect of the place. Built on the waterfront, the Gateway stands unflinching as ferries arrive and depart. It looks on unaffected as all this drama thins with nightfall and all is quiet. Rupa juxtaposes the Gateway’s “unaffectedness” with the stillness of a crow. Undaunted by the movement around it, a crow remains standing, staring into space. The word ‘again’ in the poem does not mean the crow keeps coming back to the scaffolding. Instead, it’s the poet who keeps coming back to the scene to find it unchanged.

Join us next week for our next prompt…

Bios:

Guest Editor Vidya Shankar, Associate Editor for haikuKATHA journal, and author of two poetry books, is a writing coach, freelance copy editor, and an English Language teacher from Chennai, India. A widely published poet, her work has appeared in prestigious collections such as the Yearbook of Indian Poetry in English and the Poetry Marathon anthologies, and her haiku longlisted for the Touchstone 2024 awards. Featured in a unique coffee table book on 50 inspiring women of Chennai, Vidya loves singing, dancing, and making art. She finds meaning to her life through yoga.

Facebook: Vidya Shankar
Instagram: @vidya.shankar.author

Assistant Editor Lafcadio, a former teacher, now works from home writing, editing and proofreading study guides for nursing textbooks. She lives in Tennessee. She has written poetry for a long time but a couple of years ago fell in love with Japanese micropoetry and hasn’t looked back. Lafcadio has been published in a number of journals and anthologies. She writes under the nom de plume of Lafcadio because nom de plume is so fun to say. You can read her poems on Twitter (X) @lafcadiopoetry or BlueSky @lafcadiobsky.

Assistant Editor Vandana Parashar is an associate editor of haikuKATHA and one of the editors of Poetry Pea and #FemkuMag. Her debut e-chapbook, I Am, was published by Title IX Press (now Moth Orchid Press) in 2019 and her second chapbook Alone, I Am Not, was published by Velvet Dusk Publishing in April 2022.

Lori Zajkowski is the Post Manager for Haiku Dialogue. She lives in New York City and enjoys reading and writing haiku.

Managing Editor Katherine Munro lives in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, and publishes under the name kjmunro. She served as Membership Secretary for Haiku Canada for ten years, and her debut poetry collection is contractions (Red Moon Press, 2019). Find her at: kjmunro1560.wordpress.com.

Portrait by Laurel Parry

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Banner Photo & Prompt Photo credit:  Shankar Ramakrishnan

Haiku Dialogue offers a triweekly prompt for practicing your haiku. Posts appear each Wednesday with a prompt or a selection of poems from a previous week.