Friday, October 17, 2025

To the Lighthouse: Gembun, Untitled Minimalist Haibun

A sibling to cherita, gembun was created and conceived by NeverEnding Story contributor, ai li, on Friday 12 June 1997. 

It is made up of either a one-word first link or anything up to one sentence, to be capped by a haiku of up to four lines. It has to include an element of suggestion in either the opening sentence, the haiku or in both. For more details, see ai li's definition 


Selected Gembun:

the skipping rope in a cul-de-sac

a child
who looks like me
becoming dusk


ai li

an intense Bhagavad Gita lecture in the open air but ah, my wandering mind

after a long search
the third-day moon found
between two branches


Kala Ramesh


To conclude today's post, I would like to share with you my visual gembun

this season of my wounded heart

sunset glow
   red leaf
zig
     zagging
into my
      loneliness


The opening phrase includes an element of suggestion,  the melancholy of the season, autumn, and the layout of the haiku, with lines zigzagging like a lone red leaf drifting in sunset glow,  enhances a sense of lonely sadness that takes residence within the speaker ("my wounded heart" and "my loneliness").

No comments:

Post a Comment