Renku Sessions

The Renku Sessions: 12 Tones – Musical Chairs, Week 6

renku_300

Welcome to THF’s Renku Sessions. I’m Lorin Ford, acting as sabaki/ guide for this renku.

*****

The 5th verse: being there

Musical Chairs – a Junicho Renku

 

musical chairs
a handful
of hot chestnuts

– Keith Evetts

the one left standing
chats up the scarecrow

– Clysta

a road sign
points in the direction
of the Monument

– John Daleiden

are we
there yet?

– Curt Linderman

winter moon
dripping from
the shelter tent

– Fatma Zohra Habis

 

***

There were quite a few excellent verses offered for our ‘winter moon’ spot. I found it difficult to select just one. I’d whittled my list down to

 

two bear cubs
sliding down the ice
in moonlight

– Harrison (who could resist these bear cubs? Whoopee!)

 

cold moon
huddling with
the sparrows

– Orense

 

the winter moon
rivals the stars
of the Christmas pageant

– Laurie Greer

 

winter’s moon
soothes the miasma
of the mind

– Carol Jones

 

***

 

I almost missed the implications of:

 

winter moon
dripping from
the shelter tent

– Fatma Zohra Habis

 

I’m familiar with shelter tents and associate them with surfing holidays, bush camping and tourist spots, especially in the summer. Yet, from the news channels, I’m aware that there are more and more ‘tent cities’ in Europe. Fatma’s verse brings it all home: on cold winter nights, there are people, families, who are otherwise homeless, living in shelter tents.

Fatma’s verse, now our 5th verse, links well to Curt Linderman’s “are we/ there yet?” but leads to a very different spin on it.

 

***

 

Our 6th verse will be a non-seasonal, miscellaneous, two-line verse that links in some way to verse 5.

 

The submission deadlines will be Sundays, midnight Eastern US time.

—

 

 

 

 

 

The Haiku Foundation reminds you that participation in our offerings assumes respectful and appropriate behavior from all parties. Please see our Code of Conduct policy: https://thehaikufoundation.org/about-thf/policies/#code-of-conduct

John Stevenson

Comments (154)

  2. a thin layer
    of tea tree lip balm

    a spritz of tea tree oil
    coats the cracked crystal ball

    crumpled with expired coupons
    a jackpot winner

    sun splattered shadow
    of a empty jar and spoon

    1. Wonderful poems, Wendy. Your “…cracked crystal ball” and “crumpled with expired coupons…” made me smile!

  3. I have enjoyed reading this renga ad it develops.

    Here are two verses for consideration:

    gold glittering
    through the champagne

    why not when we can?
    another round of foie gras

    Happy holiday to everyone!

    1. Happy Holiday Season to you and all! Great verses, Joshua. I really like your second verse, especially, “…foie gras”!

  4. winter moon
    dripping from
    the shelter tent

    – Fatma Zohra Habis

    first puppuccino
    after the rescue

    Diana Ming Jeong

    Diana Ming Jeong

    1. Oh my gosh, Diana this is one of the sweetest verses…I looked it up! I had no idea there was such a thing as puppucino!:)

      1. Madeleine… thank you for recognizing the sweetness I was envisioning with the sweetness of the puppucino! I made an edit to an earlier entry. I am using my phone so didn’t realize I already copied and pasted my name. I hope that maybe it’s a contender this week. 🐶 🍦

  5. winter moon
    dripping from
    the shelter tent
    – Fatma Zohra Habis

    spherical balls
    of plasma tell their own story

    they use
    coconut water in an IV

    temporatily they use
    coconut water in an IV

  6. star fish
    travel on a wave

    the ocean flows
    through a starfish

    five stickable starfish
    sail through the sea.

  8. winter moon

    dripping from

    the shelter tent
    – Fatma Zohra Habis

    ten gold stars
    for ten correct problems

  9. winter moon
    dripping from
    the shelter tent

    – Fatma Zohra Habis

    a white star
    on the little cow’s forehead

  10. Fatima’s beautiful verse and the conversation between Lorin and Keith and Dan led me to rediscover one of Dan’s beautiful haiku:

    night cruise —
    moonbeams dripping
    from the oars
    —Dan Campbell

  13. winter moon
    dripping from
    the shelter tent

    – Fatma Zohra Habis

    first puppuccino
    after many years

    Diana Ming Jeong

      1. Hi Lorin! 😊 I think it’s USA based then if you have not heard of it. My dogs passed many years ago so I have never had the opportunity to get them one. I’ve seen friends post photos and this inspired my haiku to link back Fatma Zohra Habis’s. I hope it may be a contender this week. 🐶🍦

  14. knowing neither
    the hour nor the day

    wherever you go
    there you are

    the sand man
    delays his arrival

  15. winter moon
    dripping from
    the shelter tent – Fatma Zohra Habis

    we root only
    for the home team

    1. “we root only
      for the home team”

      Somewhat startling , then hilarious. Yet another matter of “divided by a common language”.

  16. winter moon
    dripping from
    the shelter tent
    *
    Fatma Zohra Habis
    *
    snapping the thread
    after mending the tear

    *
    a double knot in the thread
    that mended the tear
    *

  18. winter moon
    dripping from
    the shelter tent – Fatma Zohra Habis

    stlagmites rise
    from the cave floor

    auroa bore-alis
    floods he northern sky

    a stand of jak pines
    rises to the clouds

    1. ah, I see you’re having one of those days, John. We all have them. “Fun with Spelling!”
      Your ‘jack pines’ revision is good. The name for the Northern lights is ‘aurora borealis’.
      Your ‘stlagmites’ needs a spell check.

  19. winter moon
    dripping from
    the shelter tent

    – Fatma Zohra Habis

    snaky fog rises
    from black mud

    swords of fire
    stab the dark

    monotone crackles
    from loudspeakers

    ice floats in
    washbasins

    a line of shadows
    beside an idling bus

    1. Ceó, re “billytin” : it’s billy, billy tin or billy can. (if it’s gathering light it must be a new one, not all black on the outside from the campfire. )

      1. Thanks Lorin,
        I thought perhaps in the rain and the moonlight the tin would ‘gather light’. Perhaps a hint at hope for the dripping tent :)

        winter moon
        dripping from
        the shelter tent

        – Fatma Zohra Habis
        the billy tin
        gathering light

  21. winter moon
    dripping from
    the shelter tent

    the wind blows
    the washing away

    marching in circles
    an old wind up toy

    frost shattered peaks
    in the distance

    a star shoots over
    the desert

    festive shoppers step around
    the homeless man

    reaching the summit
    they catch their breath

    the roof of the world
    clouds far below

    warming smiles
    at the community kitchen

    offering crumbs
    to a stray kitten

    the same old story
    repeats over and over

    no room at the inn
    they bed down on the beach

    a kindly stranger
    offers a hot drink

    1. Melissa, some of these indicate a season, so can’t be considered in this spot. Check out the guidelines:
      “Our 6th verse will be a non-seasonal, miscellaneous, two-line verse that links in some way to verse 5. “

  24. winter moon
    dripping from
    the shelter tent – Fatma Zohra Habis

    desert rainfall
    after long draught

    the library a safe
    zone for children

    bulletproof vests
    protect us from gunfire

  26. hamburgers for the homeless
    instead of money

    sweating from every pore
    early menopause or nerves

    homeless on the corner
    serenaded by a guitar

    refugees lined up
    a richness of swallowtails

    refugees in line
    a foreclosure of bank swallowtails

  27. winter moon

    dripping from

    the shelter tent
    – Fatma Zohra Habis

    a feather caught
    on barbwire

      1. Yes, Orense – and not only is ‘barbed wire’ more common, it makes better sense. It’s wire with barbs all along the length of it. To me, ‘barbwire’ sounds like what a little kid, yet to learn to read and write, might say.

        1. I agree with you Lorin that barbed wire works best for the purposes of the renku, probably more accessible and less startling for the reader. But a lot of the time language doesn’t make sense or at least it might make sense in a different way, as it relates to the principle of least effort. The regional variations barb wire and barbwire are probably a result of the tendency of languages to shorten words over time especially getting rid of unstressed syllables,
          As haijin we aren’t going to complain about the brevity law, are we ;)

          winter moon

          dripping from

          the shelter tent
          – Fatma Zohra Habis

          a feather caught
          on barbed wire

  28. generations of grief
    archived in her eyes

    two old shadows
    holding each other up

    cheetah dreams
    trapped in a sloth’s body

    1. Love ‘cheetah dreams / trapped in a sloth’s body’ — ingenious and ‘scent-linked.’ And if the next verse should chance to be the love verse, plenty of scope for transition.

      If there was a mystic poet in Disney’s Star Wars spinoffs, Daan would be a very good name amigo.

      1. Amigo, it sure is good to hear from you! I try each week to come up with a contribution for re:Virals but my muse has deserted ship!!!

        1. Dan: listen, cowboy, you’re good and you have your own, stand-out style. And also a heart, I know it. Now get back on the horse that threw you.
          Hell, it’s hard for everyone in the various climates of the USA (& Australia, etc.) to write a non-seasonal verse to Fatma’s so very pertinent (& perfect for the position) verse.

          I admit that I’m not keen on your ‘cheetah/ sloth’ verse in context of Fatma’s verse.
          Unlike Keith, I don’t see the link . It’s more about your mood and your ( poor) self-assessment. (My practical cat, old and wise, agrees. )

          1. …shelter tent / aspirations curtailed by circumstance / cheetah dreams in a sloth’s body…. nioizuke.

        1. I also foresee we shall not have snow in Thames Ditton this Wednesday…
          Merry Christmas Lorin, you’re doing a bonzer job.

          1. Thanks, Keith. I’m just following my nose. nioizuke ?
            Merry Christmas to you, too. To All, really.

  29. winter moon

    dripping from

    the shelter tent
    – Fatma Zohra Habis

    destination over
    the tickle bridge

    a rising mist
    reveals cataracts

    1. FYI, cataracts means waterfall in addition to the eye disease, which causes vision to change as though looking through a waterfall.

      1. Yes, Pamela. I’m familiar with both meanings of ‘cataracts’. What’s not evident to me is which meaning you intend in your verse.

  30. winter moon
    dripping from
    the shelter tent

    – Fatma Zohra Habis

    a dreamer’s sky
    shattered by rain

    toil worn hands
    the absence of light

    every way forward
    a domino falls

    Joanna Ashwell

  31. winter moon

    dripping from

    the shelter tent
    – Fatma Zohra Habis

    clouds also wander
    without a destination

    dictionaries in paradise
    have no word for worry

  32. winter moon
    dripping from
    the shelter tent
    *
    – Fatma Zohra Habis
    *
    a stray breeze
    lifts the parachute silk
    *

  33. winter moon
    dripping from
    the shelter tent – Fatma Zohra Habis

    he unzips
    her dress

    the cooking fire
    banked for the night

  36. winter moon
    dripping from
    the shelter tent

    waves roll in
    and out in and out

    remembering
    their old home

    their faces reflected
    in a puddle

    sharing a thermos
    struggling to stay warm

    pink dappled peaks
    another dawn

    such tranquility
    here in the mountains

    rolled up bedding
    a long day ahead

    wolves howl
    in the forest

    sparks fly upwards
    the crackle of firewood

    telling ghost stories
    around the camp fire

    shrieks and laughter
    skinny dipping

  37. winter moon
    dripping from
    the shelter tent
    *
    – Fatma Zohra Habis
    *
    sand
    in the sleeping bag
    *
    another rough night
    with sand in the sleeping bag
    *
    scratching out a living
    in the desert
    *
    the struggle to scratch out
    a living in the desert
    *
    lives stretched thin
    as the universe
    *

  38. a long queue
    for the urinals

    she knocks a peg
    off the washing line

    the soup kitchen
    runs out of soup

  39. Thank you so much to everyone for the wonderful comments and a big thank you to Lorin Ford for this selection.

    the old photo album
    lost silence

    Fatma Zohra Habis

  40. winter moon
    dripping from
    the shelter tent—-– Fatma Zohra Habis
    *
    cardboard tiles
    replace welcome mats
    *
    the seamless scams
    to collect rent
    *
    a walk in the rain
    washes their clothes
    *
    yesterday’s clothes
    drip-dry on their skin
    *
    not enough space
    to unpack their sorrows

    2. thanks, Pamela

      and to further conserve space,
      (here’s another one i forgot to
      add to the list above):
      *
      retired life shoveled
      into one shopping cart

      1. Wendy, I agree with Pamela and the one above, “retired life shoveled…”. Both beautiful!

  41. spare crumbs tossed
    to bedraggled sparrows

    the barman eyes
    another sob story

    the English weather
    full of surprises

    a bracing dip
    while her clothes dry

  42. winter moon
    dripping from
    the shelter tent

    – Fatma Zohra Habis (congratulations Fatma! Lovely)

    a few sequins sewed
    on a sackcloth skirt

    a bundle of rags
    stirs in the doorway

    mountains at dawn
    bring tears to the eyes

    an unplanned encounter
    with a mountain goat

    her son’s hair
    brushes the ridgepole

    hot tea from a billycan
    full of billabong

    borderline humour
    makes everyone smile

    1. a few sequins sewed
      on a sackcloth skirt
      – Harrison

      I like the concept of this verse, Harrison. Very nice.

  43. winter moon

    dripping from

    the shelter tent
    – Fatma Zohra Habis

    the thrill of dodgeball
    at dawn

    morning rinse
    in the puddles

  44. winter moon
    dripping from
    the shelter tent

    – Fatma Zohra Habis

    motivational quotes
    straight from steaming mugs

  45. winter moon

    dripping from

    the shelter tent
    – Fatma Zohra Habis

    three white crosses
    lined up by the highway

    words don’t come
    easy anymore

    lightbulbs resemble the moon
    when you’re drunk

    some days all I see
    are question marks

  46. winter moon
    dripping from
    the shelter camp

    Fatma Zohra Habis

    a warm cup of tea
    for the newcomer

    Hla Yin Mon

  47. Congratulations Fatma and thank you Lorin for listing other verses that you considered.

    listening to the echos
    of heartbeats

    cicadas hum and twilight
    drips from the trees

    an empty nest
    swept away by the wind

    words in a diary
    washed away by tears

    listening to the surf
    calling me home

  48. Lovely to read all of these replies and acknowledgements of Fatma’s verse.
    It’s 7am in Melbourne and it’s going to be another not one: 34 degrees Celsius. Not as bad as the recent 42, but I’ll welcome tomorrows cool change and showers.

    Happy composing of 6th verses to All.

        1. Oh my goodness Pamela. Brrrrr….that is freezing weather! Hope you are staying warm and well. :)

  51. winter moon
    dripping from
    the shelter tent

    fatma zohra habis

    fatma you have composed a stirring,
    unique poetic image, thank you
    for dreaming it up.

    lorin your sabaki skills shine
    with this choice, a very enriching
    addition to musical chairs.

    ps lorin–much appreciate that you
    began a runner-up list, it makes the
    renku more exciting every week.

    1. OK, Rob, I don’t want to take up too much space but from now on I’ll mention a few “runner-up” verses, verses that I think are also good for the spot.

  52. winter moon
    dripping from
    the shelter tent
    – Fatma Zohra Habis

    shiniest of the universe
    the Christmas star

        1. Madeleine, would you be kind enough to put several verses in the one post, rather than have a sequence of one- verse posts under your name, repetitively, such as the three posts you have above?

  54. winter moon
    dripping from
    the shelter tent
    – Fatma Zohra Habis

    Star of the sea
    the fisherman’s prayer

  55. Thank you again Fatma and Lorin.

    winter moon

    dripping from

    the shelter tent
    – Fatma Zohra Habis

    reassuring dribble
    of a banana bag

    ~ ~ ~

    grateful for soft beats
    of a banana bag

        1. …and another lot, six verses! Each posted separately. The name ‘madeleine kavanagh’ repeated 6 times in this lot!
          I would prefer six verses in the one post, with your name mentioned once at the top of your post.

  56. A perfectly written moon verse for this renku, this time, this earth. Congratulations, Fatma. Thank You Lorin for sharing your eagle eye.

  57. winter moon
    dripping from
    the shelter tent
    *
    – Fatma Zohra Habis
    *
    building a new world
    pixel by pixel
    *
    blinking the pixels
    back into place
    *

  58. moon
    dripping from
    the shelter tent

    – Fatma Zohra Habis

    snores of deportees
    reach a freezing sentry

    a searchlight pans
    the silvery fence

    another truck shifts
    gears on an icy road

    a child awakes with
    a nightmarish cry

  59. winter moon
    dripping from
    the shelter tent
    *
    – Fatma Zohra Habis
    *
    the jigsaw puzzle not
    what’s pictured on the box
    *

  60. beautifully tender Fatima….touching pick Lorin!

    winter moon
    dripping from
    the shelter tent—-– Fatma Zohra Habis

    a pup laps up stars
    out of the puddle

    1. sorry, Fatma…i was friends at college with a classmate named, Fatima.
      my fingers automatically typed, her name.

  61. Congratulations, Fatma! Another great selection, Lorin!

    moon
    dripping from
    the shelter tent

    – Fatma Zohra Habis

    puddles pool round
    worshippers’ shoes

    folding chairs in rows
    on a muddy floor

    songs mix with breath
    at a midnight vigil

    prayers for peace
    and forgiveness

  62. An awesome verse, you have chosen, Lorin. Congratulations, Fatma a well deserved inclusion to our renku.

    Thankyou for the mention, much appreciated.

  63. winter moon

    dripping from

    the shelter tent
    – Fatma Zohra Habis

    the cross-eyed child
    in a dotted tee

  64. winter moon

    dripping from

    the shelter tent
    – Fatma Zohra Habis

    the ping
    on hard hats

    the ripple effect
    reflected

  65. A beautiful and fitting tsuki no za, congratulations Fatma! Thank you Lorin for including one of mine in the short list.

    winter moon
    dripping from
    the shelter tent

    – Fatma Zohra Habis

    a coin for
    the homeless man’s dog

    a coin for the homeless
    man’s dog

  66. Congratulations Fatma, for such a meaningful verse. Thank you Lorin for another great selection.

  67. winter moon
    dripping from
    the shelter tent
    *
    – Fatma Zohra Habis
    *
    the glimpse of a multiverse
    in a cloud of pixels
    *

  69. 5
    winter moon
    dripping from
    the shelter tent
    6
    a persistent slosh
    on rounded cobblestone

    a concerned citizen
    brings a jug of hot water

    “You’re welcome. Come in !
    The more we are, the warmer.”

  70. winter moon
    dripping from
    the shelter tent
    *
    – Fatma Zohra Habis
    *
    the sudden softening
    of hard feelings
    *
    the town takes up
    a collection
    *

  71. Love this one! Congratulations and thanks to Fatma; and thanks to Lorin for short listing one of mine!
    *
    winter moon
    dripping from
    the shelter tent
    *
    – Fatma Zohra Habis
    *
    a look out
    from behind bars
    *
    looking out
    from behind soft bars
    *
    kale bumps its head
    on the cloche
    *

  72. winter moon
    dripping from
    the shelter tent

    – Fatma Zohra Habis

    the stuttering gasps
    of her ventilator

  73. winter moon
    dripping from
    the shelter tent

    – Fatma Zohra Habis

    a cucumber filling
    seasoned with sand

  74. winter moon

    dripping from

    the shelter tent
    – Fatma Zohra Habis (hi Fatma! Your verse opens my imagination! Thanks, Lorin.)

    embracing
    at long last

Comments are closed.

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