Renku Sessions

The Renku Sessions: New Calendar 6

renkuchainWelcome 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.

Dru Philippou has made this week’s selection:

“Here is my selection:

flickering light of a bike
from the side road

        –Marina Bellini

Marina Bellini’s intriguing verse caught my immediate attention. I took the liberty of reversing her lines to avoid a pause. Here we have two phenomena of perception that arrive unbidden at the sense receptors—the flute’s music and the bike’s “flickering light.” The “flickering light of a bike” appears “from a side road,”— and with “slowly rising” coming right before “hazy” we see the moon rising out of the “side” of our eye, closer to the horizon, than not. The bike rider takes a journey in the dark as does the moon. Also, the moon and bike both provide light in the dark. Well done, Marina.

I would like to thank John Stevenson for his patience in answering many of my questions and all the poets who participated.”

Thank you Dru, Marina, and everyone.

Marina Bellini will be offered the opportunity to select the next verse. Marina, 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 (February 15) 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 seven will be written in three lines and will be non-seasonal.

It must link to the sixth verse (and only the sixth verse) but it also must clearly shift away from it in terms of scene and subject matter.

We have now completed the opening section of the renku (the jo, or the first six verses), and we are about to begin the long middle section (the ha, or verses seven through thirty). This is when the party begins to cook! Any subject is allowed (so long as it does not invoke a season, love, blossoms, or the moon, all of which will have specified verse locations as we go on). Any emotional tone is allowed. Surprise us!

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

This Post Has 105 Comments

    1. a simpatico voice
      on the GPS
      for Valentine’s

      .

      I’m not begining with an ‘ing’ (sounds like Dr Seuss) 🙂

    1. *A “street” bet is a type of “inside” bet in roulette where the player bets on 3 consecutive numbers and also pays better than an “outside” bet…not that I gamble! 😉

  10. sound of a flute
    slowly rising
    with a hazy moon
    .

    –Dru Philippou
    .
    flickering light of a bike
    from the side road
    .
    –Marina Bellini
    .
    just another day
    of detention for refugees
    Down Under
    .
    – Karen Cesar

  11. or:
    .
    .
    breakneck pace
    of the treadmill
    next to mine
    .
    .
    blistering speed
    of the treadmill
    next to mine
    .
    .
    blistering speed
    of the elliptical
    next to mine

    1. I know, but just for fun.
      .
      with her golden tresses
      a modern-day Rapunzel
      rescues a rapscallion

        1. Yeah, spinning straw into gold…But the new Disney version definitely has no Prince Charming/Helpless Maiden! 😄

    1. duh…scratch this…and revise to:
      .
      bootlegged relics
      passed around
      some back room
      .
      .
      or:
      .
      .

      relics
      heaped upon
      sarcophagi
      ~ Betty

  24. flickering light of a bike
    from the side road
    –Marina Bellini
    *

    let’s keep track
    of all our paper towel
    replacement rolls

  36. Deep in the caves of Mordor
    Gollum hides
    with his “precious”

    –

    reference to “The Hobbit”

  43. Lovely choice, Marina and Dru…a beautiful link.
    .
    flickering light of a bike
    from the side road
    .
    –Marina Bellini
    .
    .
    a field of wind turbines
    humming softly
    day and night
    .
    .
    day and night
    the soft humming
    of a wind farm
    .
    .
    all night long
    the murmuration
    of wind turbines

      2. Hi Jude,
        For me, yes, there would be, since to my mind there’s already a noticeable surplus in the preceding verses: 3 out of the 5! … ‘taking’, ‘rising’, ‘flickering’.
        —
        – Lorin

        1. Yes. And, also, I notice that we have a lot of outdoor images. Would be good if this verse was indoors or neutral in that respect.

  49. aggh – flitter and flicker too close…

    **

    shadow from moth wings
    around the inside
    of my lamp

    1. Jennifer, dear, Japanese saki-wise both moth and mosquito are seasonal. A hard assignment to be both not repetitive and nonseasonal. – Paul

    1. I just love this verse! But with moon, linked to the light of a bike, we won’t want a third “light” verse here. Great verse, though!

  54. nicely done, Dru and Marina!
    .
    flickering light of a bike
    from the side road
    –Marina Bellini
    .
    ***
    he loses
    another game of chess
    to the computer

  66. Marina has contacted me and asked me to make the next selection. I will be glad to do that. And I’m happy to make the point that this is voluntary. While I hope that most of those whose verses are selected will take up the offer to make the next selection, I don’t want anyone who might be reluctant to do that to feel the least bit discouraged about contributing their verses.

    Congratulations, Marina and, again, thank you for your verse!

    1. Loved that flickering light, Marina – I sensed a hint of mystery in your verse.
      .
      Well said, John.

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