The Renku Sessions: New Calendar 35
Welcome to The Haiku Foundation’s Fifth Renku Session: New Calendar. I am John Stevenson, leading my second Kasen (36 verse) renku on this site. We will be trying something a little different this time. Instead of making all of the selections myself, new verses will be selected by the poet who wrote the preceding verse. This will be on a voluntary basis and I remain ready to preform this task for anyone who prefers to pass up the opportunity.
This week, we were somewhat preoccupied with concern for our friend, Betty Shropshire, who was in the path of hurricane Harvey. We have heard that she is safe. What more there is to know must wait for flood waters to subside. Since Betty was understandably unavailable to make this week’s selection, I have done so.
Those who have read my recent commentaries on the selections I’ve made will already know that I favor adding poets whose verses have not yet been included in our renku, when possible. We had some excellent offers from poets already included but we also had good offers that allow me to consider adding a poet this time.
While I didn’t select it, I thought hard about Lee Nash’s “blossom / I want to protect you / from the wind and the bees.” The tone of the kyu is more about acceptance, gratitude, and optimism than about distress and rebellion against nature. But, still, I would have liked to have found a place for this verse. It would have been fun to link to it.
I also liked the directness and simplicity of Elizabeth Moura’s “blossom / your gift / of spring” and the image of raindrops and petals on a shared umbrella, provided by Jackie Maugh Robinson.
Here is what I did select:
a pink petal
comes to rest
on a raindrop
–kjmunro
Hoping that the poet would accept the small changes I made to the original verse (in order to avoid conflict with the numbering conventions of renku), I was intrigued with this image from my first encounter. For me, there are three important entities in this verse; two specified and the third implied. A very large portion of the raindrops that fall to earth are either instantly absorbed or quickly incorporated with other drops. But there are certain surfaces that allow water to bead, either preserving individual raindrops or accruing water in droplets, which we also refer to as raindrops. It is the nature of this unspecified surface that is the third entity in this poem.
Taken together, the “stacking” of these three layers can be viewed as a model for the “stacking” of renku verses, one on another. Each has a unique quality but each has a natural place.
kjmunro will be offered the opportunity to select the next verse. kj, please contact me, either in a reply below or by e-mail (ithacan@earthlink.net) to let me know whether you accept this offer. If you do, I will ask you to choose the next verse in accordance with the requirements listed below and to write a paragraph or two about your selection and send it to me on Wednesday morning (September 6, eastern US time) so that I can incorporate it in the next posting, which appears on the following day. If you would rather not make the selection, I will do so, but I would prefer to know that I’ll be doing that as early as possible
Verse thirty-six is our final verse, a spring image written in two lines. In Japanese renku, this verse is called the ageku. Here is what Professor Fukuda said about it, “It should…be a bright or relaxed verse that expresses the joy of completing the work. Sorrowful topics must be avoided.” To this, I would add that we are not writing “the end.” Our sense should be of something that goes on, even as we part from it.
Verse thirty-six must link to the thirty-fiifth verse (and only the thirty-fifth verse) but it also must clearly shift away from it in terms of scene, subject, and tone.
You will have until Tuesday night to make your offers. The Haiku Foundation site has been busy lately and the link to our renku session has not always been obvious on the home page. There is a permanent “Renku Sessions” button a little further down the home page and you can always reach the current session via this route. We will continue to check for new verse offers through each Tuesday.
With best wishes to all,
John
New Calendar to Date
new calendar
a year of
“Natural Wonders”
- –John Stevenson
a clownfish offers
the first greeting
- –Peter Newton
taking a fistful
of freshly tilled earth
to my cheek
- –Shrikaanth Krishnamurthy
café aromas
on the warm breeze
- –Maureen Virchau
sound of a flute
slowly rising
with a hazy moon
- –Dru Philippou
flickering light of a bike
from the side road
- –Marina Bellini
under the bed-sheet
tales of bold highwaymen
and horse-drawn coaches—Lorin Ford
has the lord executed
his droit du seigneur—Polona Oblak
Jimmy Carter
and Rosalynn
on the kiss cam—Judt Shrode
after the picnic
some spirited croquet—Michael Henry Lee
the old quarry
so deep and cold
and daring—Mary Kendall
her scars stay hidden
though the neckline plunges–Debbie Feller
each time I wake
the moon lights
something different—Gabrielle Higgins
the whir of dragonfly wings
in the remaining heat—Sally Biggar
a neutrino
passes through the chestnut
and the worm, too—Lorin Ford
the tension of the needle
piercing linen—Carmen Sterba
Dutchman’s breeches
sprout along a cliff’s
ragged edge—Maureen Virchau
six pairs of boots
by the pilgrim shrine–Polona Oblak
in full flight
fledglings skim
through the archway–Barbara A. Taylor
my toddler puts her milk glass
on the kitchen counter–Paul MacNeil
on the store’s intercom
comes a cleanup request
for aisle thirteen–Michael Henry Lee
recalling where they were
on Jerusalem Day–Debbie Feller
snowflakes
falling north and south
of the peace wall—Marion Clarke
Tolstoy in Russian
by a roaring fire–Michael Henry Lee
could it be
that women prefer
a room with a view?—Karen Cesar
absinthe and “that look”
as they suck on sugar cubes–Betty Shropshire
date nights
purely
for conversation–Marietta McGregor
all the agar plates
contaminated–Polona Oblak
lunar maria
resolving into
the rabbit–Lorin Ford
one last guess at
the weight of the Blue Hubbard–Peter Newton
folding
the scarecrow’s
clean clothes
- –Sally Biggar
searching for candles
in the back of the drawer
- –Carol Jones
ribbon-tied letters
release the faint scent
of face powder
- –Marietta McGregor
how this kite gently pulls
us together
- –Betty Shropshire
a pink petal
comes to rest
on a raindrop
- —kjmunro
This Post Has 75 Comments
Comments are closed.
her baby daughter
enthralled by skylarks
my children’s laughter
above the stream
the old windmill
creaks into action
the old windmill
cranks into action
whir of a pinwheel
started by the breeze
the morning mist
gifts us a kaleidoscope
that young hare jumping
through morning haze
a stream of bubbles
blow over the fence
a stream of bubbles
from beyond the fence
we watch a tadpole
set off on its journey
a pink petal
comes to rest
on a raindrop
.
—kjmunro
.
a slight smile from the girl
as she lets go her balloon
a slight smile from the girl
who lets go of her balloon
amongst tide pools
the ebb and flow of “oh my!”
…
a pink petal
comes to rest
on a raindrop
.
—kjmunro
.
young voices & skipping ropes
now set the beat
.
.
young voices & jump ropes
now set the beat
.
(jump ropes and skipping ropes are the same thing, but we
are an international group writing this renku so I believe skipping ropes would be more familiar to all)
thanks for these verses, Mary – I like the skipping ropes, & your earlier honey bees – so many things to consider… I am thinking about it…
a pink petal
comes to rest
on a raindrop
.
—kjmunro
.
an old box turtle
emerges from mud
a pink petal
comes to rest
on a raindrop
*
we await for the mists
to reveal our new day
thanks Barbara – again, I like the idea of the new day, but maybe mist is too close to rain? I am thinking about it…
let’s follow
that giant soap bubble
thanks Sally – I like how this describes something that goes on… & hasn’t ended
from beneath the decay
new life emerges
rook nests emerge
against a cobalt sky
a clash of colour, and maybe a cultural difference of seasons 🙁
thanks, Carol – yes, I’m not sure about using a colour again here…
Yes, both colors and birds have been used. More than once, each. Topics always get “tight” in a kasen especially toward the end. The universe of possibilities is so large… best to be inventive in the expansion. This renku has really! covered a lot of ground. Good stuff! Link and shift is quite a concept, a non-Western concept for poetic Art.
Thanks, paul, ’tis getting a bit tight, but one more before the road 🙂
Attempting a rewrite and avoiding “fledgling.”
.
the last songbird
makes the leap
thanks for all of these, Mary
Correction
.
a pink petal
comes to rest
on a raindrop
.
–kjmunro
.
cheers for the oldest
runner of the race
thanks for this improvement, Carmen
a pink petal
comes to rest
on a raindrop
.
—kjmunro
.
could it be a magic hat
where ladybugs take flight
.
(note: in America we say ‘ladybugs’; in the UK, they say ‘ladybirds’ — either is fine)
a pink petal
comes to rest
on a raindrop
.
—kjmunro
.
a cloud of honey bees
circles the new hive
a pink petal
comes to rest
on a raindrop
.
—kjmunro
.
a perfect arc of colors
brushed across the sky
a pink petal
comes to rest
on a raindrop
.
–kjmunro
.
cheers for oldest
runner of the race
thanks for these verses, Carmen!
a pink petal
comes to rest
on a raindrop
.
–kjmunro
.
all ages celebrate
the jubilee in folk dances
a pink petal
comes to rest
on a raindrop
.
–kjmunro
.
circles of children
dance to folk songs
Congratulations, kj. Such delicate and memorable imagery. Love your commentary, John. As usual! Looking forward to everyone’s verses.
thanks Maureen!
mother bird
returns with a full mouth
thanks, Elizabeth – I like these lines, but am struggling to find the link…
I wanted to connect from the fallen drop to the rising bird, returning to feed her babies, a continuation of spring. That you for commenting, I appreciate your time.
Thank you.
mother bird
returning with a full mouth
again, our mother gives
promise of multiple births
thanks for this, Carol – I am thinking about it…
a skylark spirals upwards
as the sunshower passes
lantern glow on crystal
warms the garden party
crystal glasses on a table
laid for travellers
crystal glasses laid
on a table in the sun
canteens filling with meltwater
this bright dawn
canteens full of meltwater
this crisp morning
Thank you everyone for the kind words of welcome, & especially John for improving the verse!
prismatic shimmers
dance through a waterfall
A beautiful verse, kj. Captures a delicate, transient moment. Congratulations! The idea of ‘layering’ is interesting too, John.
Thank you for your kind words, Marietta, & for the verses…
.
a pink petal
comes to rest
on a raindrop
.
–kjmunro
.
What wonderful timing, with my book on the way by you.
.
Neat verse Kathy, it gathers joy in me each time I read it!
.
warm regards,
Alan
thanks Alan – do let me know when you receive that book!
Hi Kathy!
.
Just emailed you, and love the books, both Body of Evidence, and your wonderful booklets, utterly gorgeous.
.
Body of Evidence looks brilliant, ingenious, and I will have a lot of fun reading this, and as Karen is involved in crime documentaries, I bet she’ll want to read it too!
.
warm regards,
Alan
.
Fabulous verse, kjmunro. We see this image so often after rain, and you have summed it up with such beauty and grace. Another great write – up, John.
Look forward to the next verse submissions.
thank you Carol
what a great blossom verse. k,a great renku John, and to all her participated
kanpai
****************
baby birds open wide
with the promise of a meal
Thank you Michael
a pink petal
comes to rest
on a raindrop
.
—kjmunro
.
the last fledgling
now makes the leap
or perhaps without “now”:
.
the last fledgling
makes the leap
Unfortunately Barbara has already had fledglings skimming through an archway, Mary.
.
marion
Oh no, I forgot!!
thank you for reminding us about the earlier fledglings, Marion
I really like this image, Mary – but…
a pink petal
comes to rest
on a raindrop
.
—kjmunro
.
first hatched
now first in flight
a pink petal
comes to rest
on a raindrop
.
—kjmunro
.
.
I love how this verse links to Betty’s. There is such a peaceful and beautiful feeling to this new verse. Congratulations, KJ, for your contribution to our renku. John, your explanation was excellent–I like how you allude to the stacking of this verse.
I totally agree, Mary. I almost sighed upon reading it! 😍
.
marion
thank you Marion!
I know what you mean. 🤗
thank you Mary!