HAIKU DIALOGUE – Music Around the World – To enlightenment and beyond or music and the spiritual path
Music Around the World with Guest Editor Deborah Karl-Brandt
Hi guys, it’s me again. Over the next few weeks, we’ll be immersing ourselves in music together. There is a variety of instruments, rhythms and melodies to explore around the globe. Ancient Chinese music is based on a five-tone system and the guqin had an almost religious significance. Waka and later the tanka are basically songs. The mother’s steady heartbeat calms the baby in the womb and can be compared to the rhythm of a drum. Music is the language that everyone can connect with, even without understanding the meaning of the words being sung. It speaks directly to our hearts. I would like to invite everyone to explore the world of music with me in these prompts.
prompt: To enlightenment and beyond or music and the spiritual path
Music: Shakuhachi flute – Rodrigo Rodriguez – contemporary Japanese music
Church hymns, the dances of the dervishes, the sound of the horns of Tibetan lamas, the ringing of the bell at dusk. Heavenly sounds are known all around the globe. As part of meditation practice, as an offering or as part of prayer, music brings the human soul closer to the spiritual. Looking closely into Japanese history we find that practicing the Zen flute, as the shakuhachi flute is also known, was another stepping stone on the spiritual path for many komusō monks and Zen practitioners. As a cherished companion the shakuhachi would lead them on their way to enlightenment. So let’s get inspired from this piece of music. I am once again looking forward to your poems.
The deadline is midnight Eastern Standard Time, Saturday, November 15, 2025.
Please use the Haiku Dialogue submission form below to enter one or two original unpublished haiku inspired by the week’s theme, and then press Submit to send your entry. (The Submit button will not be available until the Name, Email, and Place of Residence fields are filled in.) In the Poem box, with your poem(s), please include any special formatting requirements & your name & residence as you would like it to appear in the column. Please note that by submitting, you agree that your work may appear in the column – neither acknowledgment nor acceptance emails will be sent. All communication about the poems that are posted in the column will be added as blog comments.
Join us next week for Deborah’s selection of poems on the topic To enlightenment and beyond or music and the spiritual path…
Bios:
Guest Editor Deborah Karl-Brandt lives in Sinzig, Germany, with her husband, two rabbits and numerous books. After her PhD studies in Scandinavian languages and literatures, she works as a freelance author and poet. Her poems have appeared in magazines like Prune Juice, Kingfisher, First Frost, Frogpond, Failed Haiku and Tsuridoro. If she is not outside for a long stroll or to do some birdwatching, she explores Chinese and Japanese novels.
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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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.
