The Renku Sessions: Barely Time – Week 3

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1. Verse 3

   de-wilding restores
   the corporation lawns
   for senior cits

   out of bed
   the memorial garden
   can’t be far

2. forgotten pictures
   going back
   and further back
   .
   over on
   the dark side
   a complete surprise
   .
   on the other side
   of the silver coin
   a face I can’t recall
   .

   .
   over on
   the dark side
   a new beginning
   .

3. searching
   for slippers
   i found god

   wendy c. bialek

4. an unwrapped gift
   on the welcome mat
   yips and whines
   – Betty Shropshire

5. the monkey bars
   built for children
   to swing on

   we steep sprigs
   of rosemary
   in Blue Sapphire gin

6. pleasant sound
   of the limestone path
   under my bicycle tires

   pleasant sound
   of the limestone path
   under my footsteps

7. suppressed wince
   as the shot of whiskey
   goes down

8. the elbow grease
   needed to clean
   well water stains

   (Then again, minerals and most everything else, came from stars)

9. Earthrise still fresh
   in our memories
   – Lorin Ford

   —

   the judge agrees
   a reduced sentence
   for haiku poets

   kids bust out of school
   to read all the books
   the fogeys banned

   what goes around
   comes around
   in stir-fry politics

   the price of gas
   rewilds the orbital
   expressway

10. patching the hole in the boots
    where the road
    came in
    *

11. Earthrise still fresh
    in our memories

    Lorin Ford

    in the end
    it boils down to sex
    intellectuals meet

    across the border
    the same orange
    of war fires

    imaginary party
    pink cups and saucers
    in the debris

    Arvinder Kaur

12. Earthrise still fresh
    in our memories
    — Lorin Ford

    ***
    some coyote
    howls penetrate
    the mesosphere
    ***
    only donkey
    smiles can melt a frigid
    human heart
    ***
    a falling
    star vanishing
    in the fireworks
    ***
    canned
    confessions coming
    from the convent

13. the blanket dew slips
    into clouds holding memories
    of the silence

14. Earthrise still fresh
    in our memories
    – Lorin Ford
    *
    sipping again
    from a cup
    of ayahuasca
    – Betty Shropshire

15. Congratulations, Lorin. What a beautiful verse it is.

    BARELY TIME
    .
    short night
    barely time
    to count the stars
    .
    Keith Evetts
    .
    Earthrise still fresh
    in our memories
    .
    Lorin Ford
    .
    .
    lapis lazuli beads
    spill all over
    the bedroom floor
    .
    forgetting
    what it was
    I needed to do
    .
    forgetting
    where it was
    I left my glasses
    .
    it just dawned on her
    that she forgot
    to turn off the stove
    .
    a small gray mouse
    scarpered out
    the back porch door
    .
    when the light went on
    the tiny mouse
    scarpered out the door
    .
    the tiny mouse
    dropped its cheese
    and scarpered
    .
    the startled mouse
    scarpered without
    its bit of cheese

16. .
    .
    Earthrise still fresh
    in our memories

    – Lorin Ford
    .
    an empty bag
    of cheese puffs
    and then the bitch’s tongue
    .
    .

17. Congratulations Lorin

    BARELY TIME

    short night
    barely time
    to count the stars

    Keith Evetts

    Earthrise still fresh
    in our memories

    Lorin Ford

    bare feet
    splashing down
    a mountain stream

    we forget
    to pay
    the ferryman

    the scent
    as we slice
    her lemon drizzle

18. the swirl of cream
    in my morning
    coffee

    07/02/2022 by wendy © bialek

19. scan photos of the dead
    carefully placed
    in an album
    …
    my mother rowed
    her hospital bed
    across the sea
    …
    lifting old books
    and breathing in
    their musty smell

20. Congrats, Lorin, and thank you for the beautiful image memory.
    *
    old record albums
    feature young men
    before eyebrow waxing
    *
    the collection
    of souvenir spoons
    gather dust
    *
    at the class reunion
    big hair is noticably
    absent
    *
    the odometer says
    we’ve already driven
    five hundred dollars

21. rice cakes again
    the dietician program
    still malfunctioning

22. dan smith

    new world building
    is hard work but the robots
    toil tirelessly

    this side of the galaxy
    seems more desolate
    but it’s just the homesickness

    morale is low
    the lab rats are dying
    cause unknown

    radiation from the supernova
    still twinkling on all
    the ships detectors

    escaped information
    just out of our reach
    forever and ever

23. how mom’s swirling
    chopstick makes
    cake marble

    07/02/2022 by wendy © bialek

24. Earthrise still fresh
    in our memories

    Lorin Ford

    *****

    it seems
    eraser dust clings
    to everything

    *****

    pink pearl
    eraser crumbs
    litter the floor

    *****

    a matchbox
    full of
    eraser crumbs

25. Earthrise still fresh
    in our memories

    Lorin Ford
    —

    the smell
    of a loaf
    straight out of the oven

    the novice pastor
    clears the pool table
    with a flourish

    a pet budgie
    takes advantage
    of the unlocked door

    Mother says
    take no notice
    of Freud

    forced to set up
    a gardeners
    underground movement

    1. or:

       forced to set up
       an underground movement
       for gardeners

26. Earthrise still fresh
    in our memories
    — Lorin Ford

    a collection
    of stuffed animals
    under the bed

    the same song
    over and over
    from a myna bird

    the ink dries
    on an open page
    of a diary

    a tray
    of worry stones
    all agate and jade

27. .
    .
    Earthrise still fresh
    in our memories

    – Lorin Ford

    just one voice
    carried
    by the river
    .
    .
    Earthrise still fresh
    in our memories

    – Lorin Ford

    a branch snaps
    this feeling
    of solitude
    .
    .
    Earthrise still fresh
    in our memories

    – Lorin Ford

    licking
    the sharp point
    of a number 2
    .
    .

28. Earthrise still fresh
    in our memories
    – Lorin Ford
    ****

    blind panhandler
    running to catch
    the bus
    ****
    zookeeper
    making the mating
    call of a swan
    *****
    playing against
    myself on the chessboard
    at the park
    ****
    a herd
    of cows
    blocking traffic

29. short night
    
barely time
    
to count the stars

    Earthrise still fresh
    
in our memories

    vinegar added
    to warm water removes
    lingering smells

30. short night

    barely time

    to count the stars

    Earthrise still fresh

    in our memories

    glorious fruits
    available to buy
    all year round

31. short night
    barely time
    to count the stars

    Keith Evetts

    Earthrise still fresh
    in our memories

    Lorin Ford

    ***

    breaking off the crust
    from a still warm
    sourdough loaf

    a dung beetle
    rolls its ball
    away from the heap

    1. strike the first one

    2. strike the first one, too close

    3. I never thought
       threading the needle
       would be such a chore

32. short night
    barely time
    to count the stars

    Keith Evetts

    Earthrise still fresh
    in our memories

    Lorin Ford

    ***

    good one, it supports the hokku as wakiku should, but i don’t think i would dare select this one with its speculative undertones and the moon implied within its context (though i wouldn’t consider it a moon verse in a traditional sense). fun, though, as it does open up interesting dilemmas and i’ll be curious where it takes us.

33. John, and All. My computer has crashed irretrievably for me, so I’m writing here from my local library. Please forgive me if I’m missing from THF and this renku for as long as it takes. I wish it wasn’t so.

    1. So sorry to hear this, Lorin!
       😔 Betty

    2. Aw no—what a pain, Lorin. Hope it’s fixable.

       Congrats on your verse. I immediately thought or the EarthRise Rolling collaborative haiku project here on THF for international poetry day, so…

       how quickly
       another year goes round
       in haiku circles

    3. soooo frustrating! but very glad to hear you are up and running again!

    4. one of my worst nightmares so sorry for you

34. Earthrise still fresh
    in our memories
    – Lorin Ford
    *****

    nowadays
    my dog watches
    me chase my tail

35. Earthrise still fresh
    in our memories
    -Lorin Ford

    Come join the search
    for Takamori’s
    head

    1. Come join the search
       for Takamori’s
       head

       – Patrick Sweeney

       Thanks Patrick – fascinating history.

36. Earthrise still fresh
    in our memories
    – Lorin Ford
    *
    faked thumbprints
    bespoke the need
    for a new alibi
    – Betty Shropshire

37. glued to the porthole
    on this tub
    of a ferry
    *

38. Earthrise still fresh
    in our memories

    Lorin Ford
    *
    moving into a dot
    on the map
    to get off the grid
    *

    1. Revision:

       moving off the grid
       to a dot
       on the map

39. Earthrise still fresh
    in our memories

    Lorin Ford
    *
    treasures
    disappearing
    to the squirrel’s drey

40. desire with search
    of a new coin
    from the mound

    ***

    tied to a house
    in the process of crumbling
    unawares

    ***
    call for cup of tea
    in the middle
    of dance
    ***

    cutting brinjal
    deep cut
    into her hand
    **

    bucket’s fall
    into the well
    your thirsty draw

    **

    her choked throat
    at the grand finale
    of music concert
    **
    whereabouts
    of new mobile
    her mystery

    ***
    non believing
    in the belief
    of tiles’ paste cure

    ****
    telephone chat
    wife still awaits
    brewing tea

41. Earthrise still fresh
    in our memories

    Lorin Ford

    a freckled hand
    adds yeast to the well
    in the flour

42. Earthrise still fresh
    in our memories
    —Lorin Ford

    beneath
    the microscope
    a new variant
    **
    from the rubble
    a dog whimpers
    and men weep
    **
    in a field
    of blue and yellow flags
    new tombs
    **
    still my fingers
    and a Chopin nocturne
    bring goosebumps
    **

43. Earthrise still fresh
    in our memories
    – Lorin Ford
    *
    kittens playing
    with the loose threads
    from a ball of yarn
    – Betty Shropshire

44. Earthrise still fresh
    in our memories

    Lorin Ford

    *
    Alice just
    not her old self
    after Drink Me
    *
    not quite
    her old self
    after Drink Me
    *

45. Earthrise still fresh
    in our memories

    Lorin Ford

    *
    following the ringing
    in my ears to
    the center of the maze

46. sounds
    of the city
    waking up
    ***
    a chorus
    of Hallelujah
    from the alley
    ***
    cobblestones
    instead of asphalt
    in the red-light district
    ***
    mountain
    stream
    melody
    ***
    crooked
    Help Wanted sign
    on the liquor store window

47. recalling
    the troops
    for another mission
    *
    somehow forgetting
    the baby
    in the back seat
    *
    we scream
    at the injustice
    of everything
    *
    stale p*** / pee
    in the alley
    where it happens

    (I put the asterisks in case the system doesn’t like such words)

48. Earthrise still fresh
    in our memories
    -Lorin Ford
    *
    the fossil hunter
    digs up an ammonite
    on the rocky shore

49. Earthrise still fresh
    in our memories

    Lorin Ford

    —

    at dawn
    the geriatrics ward
    bursts into song

    a tin can
    bouncing down the road
    for kicks

    birthday postcard
    franked by
    the Alzheimer’s Society

50. Earthrise is still fresh
    in our memories

    Lorin Ford

    antiques
    price
    to the sky

51. congratulations Lorin

    crossing the date line
    with the next big
    contaminant

    was fifty years ago today
    that we last
    would hear the Beatles play

    strangers in the night
    held us at
    gun point

    let us then ask ourselves
    ask ourselves what would
    Charles Bukowski do

    ” and in the end
    the love you take is
    equal to the love you make”

    trampled
    sunflowers less than
    half a world away

    1. correction!!

       let us then
       ask ourselves what
       would Charles Bukowski do

    2. Thanks, Michael!

52. Earthrise still fresh
    in our memories

    Lorin Ford

    blood and bones
    when to be
    natural fertilizer

53. Earthrise still fresh
    in our memories

    Lorin Ford

    and it…
    grass and clay
    starting to get shackled

54. Earthrise still fresh
    in our memories

    Lorin Ford

    the beginning of
    love grows
    between us

55. Earthrise still fresh
    in our memories

    Lorin Ford

    Congratulations dear Lorin
    Beautiful ❤️❤️

    1. Thank you, Nani.

56. Congratulations Lorin! Lovely verse.
    .
    tiny fingers
    grabbing a fistful
    of my hair
    .
    and finally
    both pup and I fall
    into exhausted sleep
    .
    deep in a bean bag
    the child
    turns a page
    .
    waiting breathless
    as the soprano holds
    the last aria note
    .

    1. Thanks, Sushama.

57. reworking
    her smile
    in a mini puzzle

    6/30/2022 by wendy © bialek

58. Earthrise still fresh
    in our memories

    Lorin Ford

    our blue dot
    floating in the dark
    without a tether
    .
    a bun in the oven
    with the timer
    counting down

59. Earthrise still fresh
    in our memories
    -Lorin Ford

    under hypnosis she tells
    the whereabouts
    of Sinatra’s bow tie

60. This is so fun, seeing how we are building this together.
    Congratulations Lorin.

    Earthrise still fresh
    In our memories

    — Lorin Ford

    even here
    the cutting
    continues

    the dance hall
    nearly as big
    as the galley

    floating
    on this weightless
    colony

    holding fast
    as we look for
    our new home

    so lucky
    to have a suite
    with windows

    1. Thanks, Donald.

61. Earthrise still fresh
    in our memories
    – Lorin Ford

    ****
    the thumbs up
    of the Ukrainian girl
    on the news
    ***
    alphabet
    soup never has
    letter x
    ***
    some
    families have
    frown DNA

    1. chained junkyard
       dog following
       the shade

62. Earthrise still fresh
    in our memories
    -Lorin Ford

    I’m 67 prime
    thanks to the sieve
    of Eratosthenes

63. Earthrise still fresh
    in our memories

    Lorin Ford

    —

    a buyer
    for Fred Astaire’s
    tap-dancing shoes

64. nearly tripping
    on my favorite
    cat’s eye marble
    – Betty Shropshire

    1. or:
       nearly tripping on
       a big blue marble
       that you said was lost
       – Betty Shropshire

65. Earthrise still fresh
    in our memories

    Lorin Ford

    undersides
    of wind-spun leaves
    face the light

66. love that verse, Lorin ! nostalgic … adventurous .. ☺ Maxianne

    1. Thanks, Maxianne. 🙂

67. Hi Everyone,
    .
    It’s too late to add a requirement, since some people would undoubtedly miss it among the posted replies. So this is just an idea but will not be treated as a requirement. The first two verses are on a vast scale. It might, therefore, be good to have a third verse involving something small and, perhaps, easily overlooked.

68. Earthrise still fresh
    in our memories

    Lorin Ford
    *
    working in from
    the outer edges
    of the puzzle
    *

69. Earthrise still fresh
    in our memories

    Lorin Ford

    cherubim
    guard the gate
    of the garden

70. Congrats Lorin and thanks John for all the time you devote to this each week.
    ***

    peeing
    into the volcano
    crater
    ***
    missing the urinal
    while peeing
    in an earthquake
    ****
    hyena howls
    make you pee
    on your hiking boots

    1. PS – In a shameless act of self-promotion, please click on my name and it has a link to my new blog which has some of my poetry and artwork that I hope you enjoy.

       1. soon as i finish peeing!

    2. Thanks, Dan.

71. Earthrise still fresh
    in our memories

    Lorin Ford
    *
    looking forward to
    some music
    the next town over
    *
    pulling apart
    the cookbook’s
    marinaded pages
    *

72. hush you babe
    it won’t be a mushroom
    cloud

73. excellent choice, john…..excellent and fitting wakiku lorin!!!!
    now on to work for our daisan:

    Earthrise still fresh
    in our memories

    Lorin Ford

    *
    thinking twice
    about that K-9
    in the shelter

    06/30/2022 by wendy © bialek

    1. oooops! if ‘twice’ goes back to the hokku’s……’count’ then:
       i offer this instead:

       thinking about
       that K-9
       in the shelter

       06/30/2022 by wendy © bialek

    2. Thanks, Wendy.

74. Congratulations, Lorin!

    Earthrise still fresh
    in our memories

    Lorin Ford

    beneath the waves
    our yellow submarine
    sails on and on

    1. Thanks, Richard !

75. she relates
    to her granddaughter’s
    purple hair

76. Earthrise still fresh
    in our memories

    – Lorin Ford

    Congratulations Lorin! The Earthrise photo is most certainly one of the most influential photographs in history, and a wonderful link to Keith’s hokku.

    John – just wondering if/how this will impact the junicho schema when we get to the moon (verse 5?)

    1. This is good renku thinking. We do have to consider how what we say now will possibly impinge upon or even foreclose later choices.

       We have a lot of leeway in this particular renku format. My first thought is that we can wait until nearly the end before calling for a moon verse. A more bold approach would be to look upon Lorin’s offering as our moon verse; although a non-seasonal moon verse, and from a revolutionary perspective.

       1. Thanks, Princess! Your question is an intelligent one, and relevant.

          And thank you, John, for selecting my ‘Earthrise’ verse for the wakiku. . . quite a surprise for me, but it does link to the hokku, it is non-seasonal or ‘all seasons’ and ‘moon’ is not mentioned.

          Your thinking, in relation to this verse, that it might be called a moon verse is certainly revolutionary … far more so than I’d dare to be. 🙂
          .
          Here’s my current thoughts. Though within the photograph there is a part of a moonscape visible, that’s no different, for renku purposes, than (for instance) there being a bridge in a Monet ‘water lilies’ painting. If , in a renku, there was an ekphrastic ‘Monet’s Water Lilies’ verse (art, no season) and we googled the painting/s and saw a bridge as well as water lilies, would that mean we couldn’t later have a verse with the Brooklyn Bridge (or even just ‘bridge’) in it? I don’t think so. (unless Monet’s bridge was mentioned in the verse, of course)

          While ‘moonlight’ or ‘moon shadow’ both do imply the presence of the moon, does ‘Earthrise’ , the photograph, imply the presence of the moon in the same way? (and not all Americans, if I recall rightly, believed that it really was a bit of moon landscape in the photo at the time. 🙂 )
          .
          My view: the moon as listed in kiyose and saijiki is the moon observable from wherever we live on Earth. It shines, it changes shape in a predictable cycle and it has its attributed seasons for renku and haiku. Mentioning ‘moon’ alone, in renku, indicates autumn, in either hemisphere. Add a season, say ‘spring moon’, and ‘moon’ is qualified. But a photo of the turning earth taken from a rocket orbiting the moon . . . we can’t attribute a season to that.
          .
          In the famous photo, Earth, our planet, is the subject. Yes, there’s a bit of moon landscape in it (and not all Americans, if I recall rightly, believed that it really was a bit of moon landscape at the time. 🙂 ) but the moon is not the subject nor is it mentioned.
          .
          That’s my view, anyway. I don’t feel that ‘earthrise’ cancels out the possibility of a moon verse:the moon in the sky as seen from somewhere on earth and within a season, or the effects of the moon such as moonlight and moon shadows.

          1. as we have been instructed by john in the past….a picture of a flower….is not a flower.

             but the date the picture was taken/the event….could that connect it with a season????

             1. “but the date the picture was taken/the event….could that connect it with a season???? “- Wendy,
                .
                um. no, Wendy … that would only be possible if the Earth was actually flat. (I thought all the ‘flat Earth’ theorists had long gone!)
                Today’s time and date (for the Eastern coast of Australia) is the 3rd of July. That’s the beginning of the 2nd month of winter. What season is it now, where you are?
                What season was it up in that rocket near the moon where the photo was taken?

77. Earthrise still fresh
    in our memories

    Lorin Ford

    those moments
    you never forget
    the first times

78. Earthrise still fresh
    in our memories

    Lorin Ford

    *
    donating
    a bag
    of the gently used
    *
    giving away
    a bag of the not
    so gently used
    *

79. mall shoppers
    surge inside
    by the busload

80. Way to go, Lorin! Thanks, John, for the notice above.
    *
    Earthrise still fresh
    in our memories

    Lorin Ford

    *
    holding the note
    while the pianist
    picks out the tune
    *

    1. Thanks, Laurie!

81. Congrats, Lorin! And thank you John for the mentions, too. 😊

    short night
    barely time
    to count the stars
    – Keith Evetts
    *
    Earthrise still fresh
    in our memories
    – Lorin Ford
    *
    an elephant
    waves its trunk
    and trumpets
    – Betty Shropshire

    1. Thanks, Betty. 🙂 I certainly did not see this one coming.

82. Congratulations, Lorin – very stylish!

    —
    Earthrise still fresh
    in our memories

    Lorin Ford

    —

    the throb
    of a trawler
    snagged by the reef

    gyres of plastic
    in the great pacific
    garbage patch

    only so many
    ways to rearrange
    the rubble

    the Ministry official
    claims she is passionate
    about compost

    catastrophes vanish
    at a touch
    of the remote

    feeding the crumbs
    of yesterday’s loaf
    to leftover birds

    children
    surf with dolphins
    in the limpid sea

    everyone
    looks the other way
    at the smell

    1. Thank you, Keith. This is quite a surprise for me! 🙂 I’m honoured, of course.

       (and certainly glad that my computer, which has been playing up, did finally come to life this morning. Yesterday too, several of those old “computer error haiku” haiku from last century were doing rerns ibn my head.)

83. Grandma’s cookbook
    pops open
    to soufflés

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