The Renku Sessions: Cotton Clouds – Week 17
Welcome to the current renku session. I am John Stevenson and I’ll be your guide for a twenty verse, nijûin renku.
We will be using an on-line list of season words and phrases (kigo) for those verses that require a seasonal reference: https://yths.org/season-word-list/
Here is my short list of verse 17 offerings:
chairs left
in a circle in
a room
Richard Straw
so quietly
all the old things
fade away
Urszula Marciniak
one last glance
in the mirror
and she’s out the door
Debbie Feller
will the mirror
never reveal
my secrets
John Hawkhead
the child returns
a half-chewed crayon
to its owner
Tracy Davidson
the red-orange
sunset sky slides
into delight
John Daleiden
waiting on the step
for the porchlight
to come on
Rachel Greve
at dusk
a young man walking
his two Shih Tzu
Lorin Ford
a gift
of hand-painted china
from Anonymous
Lorin Ford
sound off
watching TV
to music
Anne Fox
so smooth
this cold egg
in my hand
Sharon Ferrante
speaking
without
words
Belinda Behne
a not so
simple case
of mistaken identity
Laurie Greer
I ash my smoke
and rush back
into the theater
Joshua St. Claire
the rumble then thunk
as bowling balls
re-rack
Sally Biggar
given to
a broad selection
of ever-changing moods
Michael Henry Lee
goldfish
slowly orbit
their glass world
Jonathan Alderfer
eyes closed
on the ride
out of town
Margaret Anderson
at the reunion
everybody is the same
and different
Debbie Scheving
children asked
to draw pictures
of their families
Nancy Brady
hum
of the vacuum cleaner
first thing
madeleine kavanagh
I think this may have been the longest of my shortlists for this renku. Often, by this point in the process, when so many topics have been covered, it can be difficult to avoid serious redundancies. A kind of collective writer’s block can set in. But you seem to have avoided that problem and, once again, provided a cornucopia of possible links. I celebrate that, while regretting that so many good offers will be passed over.
Here is my choice for the seventeenth verse:
children asked
to draw pictures
of their families
Nancy Brady
This is our first invocation of childhood. Although the previous verse deals with an activity that often begins in childhood, the perspective is that of an adult. It is also the first invocation of family. These topics (without any indication of childhood trauma or family dysfunction) effectively set the tone for our entry into the kyu.
So, here is what we have, so far:
Cotton Clouds (working title)
a pinto colt
canters the meadow
cotton clouds
John Stevenson
muddied boots
on the welcome mat
Jennifer Sutherland
a bounty
of tulips spilling
over the vase
Eavonka Ettinger
the comfort of song
sung together
Anne Fox
the hermit crab’s
new shell glistens
in the moonlight
Sally Biggar
he fell for the sundress
on bare shoulders
Debbie Scheving
sweet nothings
with a hint
of Bengay
Diana Ming Jeong
we tip the busker
for attempting ‘teen spirit’
Margaret Anderson
everyone dies
at the end but
we keep reading
Devin Wilson
paper cuts
not withstanding
Michael Henry Lee
the stoic grin
on the cooling face
of the gingerbread man
Laurie Greer
downhill like a rocket
on a baking pan
rob barkan
is she in a sack
or is it a rug that rolls
out before Caesar
madeleine kavanagh
crickets
as he waits for a kiss
Orense Nicod
a flock of geese
cuts the moon
in thirds
Belinda Behne
deciding not to
give the pumpkin a face
Sharon Ferrante
children asked
to draw pictures
of their families
Nancy Brady
This week, we will be working on the eighteenth verse. This will be two lines. It will be a spring verse. It must contain a season word or phrase from our list of spring kigo. Do not include any form of vegetation in this verse, since the next will be our spring blossom verse.
As part of the “kyu” (fast finish) of this renku, this verse should feature pleasant thoughts, subtlety, and quiet reflection.
Please enter a maximum of five verse-eighteen offers. The deadline for submission will be midnight, eastern US time on Monday, August 18.
Looking forward to your spring verses!
John
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
