onebreathpoetry

Blogs

  • Triveni Spotlight

    Honored to be featured in Triveni Haikai India’s Spotlight feature today on 17th June 2025. Grateful to you dear @Kashiana Singh, Guest Editor for selecting this ku which is very close to my heart. Your writeup is brilliant whichnI have shared here.

    Many thanks to dear Anju Kishore and Mohua Maulik for hosting this feature and to the Founder of Triveni Haikai India—Kala Ramesh for this space to learn and grow.

    Mono no Aware: The Tenderness of Ending

    In Japanese tradition, jisei—death poems composed by individuals on the brink of death—offer final reflections on life, impermanence, and the unknown beyond. Often brief, stark, and yet tender, these poems do not resist death but instead accept it as part of the natural rhythm of existence. Through nature imagery and minimalism, jisei endure as a person’s final parable, their distilled teaching to those left behind.

    Haiku, too, teaches us to see each moment as both a birth and a death. In its nakedness, haiku captures the bardo moments described in the Tibetan Book of the Dead—transitions between realms, between states of being. Every moment we live contains the seed of both beginning and ending.

    The Japanese aesthetic of mujo (impermanence) and mono no aware (“the beauty of transient things”) is naturally embedded in haiku, urging us to see not tragedy, but tenderness in the inevitable cycle of change.

    In Indian philosophy, this cycle of life, death, and rebirth—samsara—is also seen as a sacred, continuous flow. Death is not a rupture but a return, part of the great wheel of existence. Acceptance of transitions, whether through mourning rituals, river immersions, or the lighting of a pyre, reflects a deep understanding that endings are inseparable from beginnings.

    Thus, haiku echoes a universal wisdom across ancient cultures: to live is to move through endless openings and closings, with tenderness for what must pass.

    Haiku strips away all but the essence. A poet can express an entire cosmos of grief, gratitude, and wisdom in just a few words. In contemplating death through haiku, we are also contemplating life—its urgency, tenderness, and fleeting beauty.

    Through the acceptance of death, we are offered not despair but profound connection: to one another, to the seasons, and the moment-by-moment act of living.

    This month, i bring to you a selection of haiku that speak directly to the themes of death, loss, rebirth, and the bittersweet beauty of transience

    – Kashiana Singh

  • Book Review by Lakshmi Iyer

    Deeply touched at receiving dear Lakshmi’s review about my book. Sharing:

    Neena Singh’s ‘A Peacock’s Cry’ is the voice of haiku wrapped in seasons of eagerness, progress, loneliness and abundance. Each of them contribute their own taste and energy. Each of them have their own attributes… consistent, diligent and sufficient. I loved the way Neena di quietly summed up the whole book with equal importance to aesthetics and kigo. 

    The Foreword by Alan Summers is very technical and bridges the gap so well. He has a very unique way of explaining and projecting in the most simple way. He connects the techniques and guides through the poems.

    Dr. Pravat Kumar Padhy’s article on kigo is worth reading. His master’s stroke is the essence of the book penned with intelligent and measured words portraying the significance of kigo.

    Teji Sethi’s contribution to the cover page is a delight! It attracts the reader more and more into the mystery of haiku with its beautiful flow of wavy 3D lines…
    Though it’s depicting a peacock’s feather, for me it’s much more than that; 
    a calm soothing touch that is the need of the hour with most of us, the serendipity of an invocation prayer, the awakening at Brahma Muhurat that fills a person with ecstasy and bliss.

    Priti Aisola’s Gond art relates with the seasonal aspects as though conveying that “we are all connected—humans, animals, birds!”Whether it may be the deer, owl, peacock, egret, butterfly; each of them have their own little story to tell.

    No words to describe your poems and your contribution to the Haikai world around us. I always love reading your poems and they have brightened up the sky all the more with the stars!!
    – Lakshmi Iyer

  • Feedback from Dr Pravat

    Dr. Pravat Kumar Padhy, geologist, a celebrated haiku poet and my mentor wrote the essay on Kigo (season words) for my book. On receiving the book, he sent me this heartening message—

    Thank you, Neena, for presenting your precious gift – A Peacock’s Cry. I am delighted to read the ‘Foreword’ by Alan. Indeed, it is elegant. The Vedic sage, Yaska, said ” A word does not convey meaning of its own, it gains meaning through its connections.” 

    Your haiku accomplish the beauty of poetic essence through connection with nature. You discover haiku which are the ‘little drops poetic essence’ (George Sansom’s quote) in your compositions. The poems in the collection are endowed with eloquence, splendour and honesty. The spark of the moment enlightens the reader’s delight. This poetic energy adds special linguistic luminescence to literature. We do not write haiku. We compose it, as it has poetic resonance. 

    Neena’s creation is a testament of modern literature with traditional values. It is a book with natural beauty!

    Grateful dear Pravat! 🙏💐

  • My school friends (of 50 years back!) dear Zeba Husain, Rana Safvi & Naheed Hasnain warmed my heart by ordering my book, reading it and writing these reviews on Amazon—

    A beautifully written book

    A beautiful compilation..
    The author has delved deep into human emotions and has bestowed upon her readers an unforgettable book that reveals her sensitivity and positiveness..and knowledge of this medium of poetry…
    Thoroughly enjoyed reading it…
    Will recommend it to all.
    And can say that I am already looking forward to her next book…
    – Zeba

    *

    Back to Childhood 

    This brings back memories of when Neena and I shared our tiffins in school!
    Every verse is so evocative and poignant it brings memories flooding – big & small, memorable and forgotten moments of my life. More power to your pen my friend!
    – Rana

    *

    Learning to understand the various forms of Japanese poetry

    Haiku, the traditional Japanese form of poetry is new to me.. its only after listening to Neena and reading her recently published book on Haiku, covering the seasons, that I found it very interesting.. so short and yet so complete.. brevity is the beauty of each of the verses.. more power to your pen dear Neena .. wishing you all the success for your book.💐💐
    – Naheed
    Photo- Naheed holding my book

  • A Peacock’s Cry – more testimonials

    Grateful dear friend Ranjit for your insightful and beautifully penned review on Amazon! 🤗💕 

    Sensitive and uplifting Haiku poetry

    “A bird does not sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song.” Neena’s pen carries many songs of subtle joy, quiet pain and the celebrations of seasons. Her Haiku, the art of Japanese short poetry, tickles, caresses, and brushes the readers’ hearts with a beauty often missed in the hustle and bustle of the busy world. The spring breeze, the summer grass, the half-ripe berries and the yellow blooms take on a deeper meaning in her haiku. The book is a beautiful and profound expression of emotions.

    *

    Thanks dear Arvinder, & Vandana – my extremely talented haijin friends for your sweet messages about my book

    The book is a dream come true. Exotic yet grounded poetry. Your words fascinate me. Much love ❤️ and more power to you ♥️♥️.
    – Arvinder Kaur

    ***

    Received your gorgeous book, Neenaji. Thanks a million. Such a delight to hold. The cover, the art, the quality of the book and the poems are all par excellence. . 
    Wishing you stupendous success ❤️❤️
    – Vandana Parashar

    Photo- Ranjit holding my book

  • Book Review by Rupa

    Grateful to dear Rupa for the excellent review of my book. Sharing:

    A Peacock’s Cry is a poetry collection marking the five seasons. Neena sings the reader through her poems skilfully linking each season to images and emotions closely related to it.

    The kigo ‘peacock’ suggests themes traditionally linked with the monsoons, joy, abundance, and rejuvenation:

    monsoon wedding
    on the bride’s hand
    a dancing peacock

    The koel is the perennial sweet harbinger of spring:

    morning prayer
    a koel’s song 
    in every room

    My days in Kuwait came alive with the summer beauty of an Arab landscape:

    desert sunset
    a camel caravan returns
    to silhouettes

    Perhaps the poet is coming to terms with her sense of mortality in:

    autumn . . .
    how easy it is 
    to let go

    Feelings of bygone times, memories of family and parents, tinged with nostalgia resonate in this winter poem:

    around my neck
    papa’s old muffler
    winter warmth

    I’m a die-hard fan of Priti Aisola’s illustrations. She has peppered Neena’s poetry with finely sketched Gond drawings. I wish she would come out with an alphabet book for children. Teji Sethi’s cover design syncs with the title ever so gently. 

    Do pick up this book and immerse yourself in the world of short-form haiku poetry. It makes for a good gift too. Thank you, Dear Neena, for signing mine! 

    – Rupa Anand, haiku poet 

  • A Peacock’s Cry – now on Amazon Kindle

    My latest book – A Peacock’s Cry – seasons of haiku is available on Amazon. The kindle version is now available worldwide for download. 

    I am grateful to friends and well-wishers, especially – dear Rana Safvi, Zeba Husain, Ranjit Powar & Naheed Hasnain who have brought the book and have written such heartfelt reviews on my poetry. I am deeply touched by their generosity and effort in penning such wonderful feedback. Do read their reviews on Amazon. 

    A poet friend dear Padma Priya sent me these messages which made my day! Sharing with her permission:

    Hello Neena,

    First and foremost, I liked the coverpage artwork by Teji! I love the bookmarker that was inside the book!!

    Second best thing I noticed was that, every haiku has info about where it was published earlier, which is a very good thought from your side. One need not search on net to find out the same.The pages and the font are good too! 

    *

    Finished reading your book- It was a wonderful experience going through it! I am so happy to see so many haiku included in the book! Each one is a world unto itself and I am yet to come out of the feelings they evoked in me. Thank you for all the warmth you spread through your writings! Wish you many more in future!  Huge congratulations to you! 🎉

    https://amzn.in/d/0Dr34vh

  • Drifting sands journal

    Honored to be in the beautiful Drifting Sands Haibun – a Journal of haibun and tanka prose, Issue 32, June 2025, with my #TankaProse, “earworm” among the gallery of poems by talented poets.

    Grateful to dear Sangita Kalarickal Krivošíková, Chief Editor and Anju Kishore, Editor for the guidance, acceptance & publication. 🙏💐

    Congratulation to all featured #poets.
    https://drifting-sands-haibun.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Issue-32.pdf

  • 2025 Sakura Haiku Anthology

    Glad to have the two accepted haiku published in 2025 SAKURA Haiku Challenge Anthology by Consulate-General of Japan in Toronto. Grateful to Consulate General of Japan in Toronto for the honour! This is a great initiative! 👌💐

    https://www.toronto.ca.emb-japan.go.jp/itpr_en/11_000001_00845.html

    Link to anthology:
    https://www.toronto.ca.emb-japan.go.jp/files/100855006.pdf

    haiku #micropoetry #writingcommunity #Japan #sakura #anthology

  • folk ku journal

    Delighted to share my two haiku in 民句 folk ku journal Issue 4, a journal in honour of Masaoka Shiki by King River Press, [named after King River, Tasmania.]

    Grateful to Jodie Hawthorne, Editor for the publication.

    Congratulations to all featured.poets.