The Renku Sessions: New Calendar 6
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.
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
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the Scottish publican
offers a flight
of single malts
—
Valentine’s night
border crossing refugees
frostbitten
on the radio
border crossing refugees
frostbitten
at the memory
his crisscross lines deepen
into a smile
spin doctors
on every channel
eviscerate
~ Betty
switching the GPS
to a different voice
on Valentine’s Day
a simpatico voice
on the GPS
for Valentine’s
.
I’m not begining with an ‘ing’ (sounds like Dr Seuss) 🙂
on CCTV
a cop points the way
with his taser
—
– Lorin
a policeman
points the way
with his laser gun
—
– Lorin
…forget this… morning brain, not enough coffee.
—
Lorin
😆
all street bets
placed on 3-4-5
at her roulette table
~ Betty
*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! 😉
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
🙂 . . . and many hopeful Mexicans declared illegal in the USA praying for this exchange deal to go through.
—
– Lorin
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
Oops…More ‘ings’.
:- ) . . . “breakneck pace” is good!
—
– Lorin
Thanks 🙂
breakneck pace
of the elliptical
next to mine
who chose
to color outside
their box?
~ Betty
birds and animals caper
in the spinning zoetrope
or maybe …
.
birds and animals caper
across the spinning zoetrope
turning cross-eyed
at the show
of old lantern slides
that Whirling Dervish
exudes piety
and sweaty flannel
a late night supper
watching the cancan
at Moulin Rouge
modern-day Rapunzel
uses her golden tresses
to rescue a rapscallion
I know, but just for fun.
.
with her golden tresses
a modern-day Rapunzel
rescues a rapscallion
🙂 . . . I get it, that tower & all.
Yeah, spinning straw into gold…But the new Disney version definitely has no Prince Charming/Helpless Maiden! 😄
the wheels wobble
between alternative fact
and truthiness
—
– Lorin
between truthiness
and alternative facts
wobbly wheels
—
– Lorin
heads we’ll watch
Bear Country, tails
we’ll watch Wolf
—
– Lorin
short extract from Bear Country, for fun :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4ftY9zBVE0
—
– Lorin
without a blink
that dumb blonde gives us
“alternative facts”
—
– Lorin
the flotilla
of Canadian geese spot me
riding in the park
bootlegged relics
from some back room
passed around
~ Betty
duh…scratch this…and revise to:
.
bootlegged relics
passed around
some back room
.
.
or:
.
.
relics
heaped upon
sarcophagi
~ Betty
flickering light of a bike
from the side road
–Marina Bellini
*
let’s keep track
of all our paper towel
replacement rolls
a new president
now faces his many
certainties
fickering light of a bike
from the side road
.
–Marina Bellini
.
quick movements
of the spanish
guitarist’s pick
the dealer
has one more card
up his sleeve
Thomas the train
bumps into more
Matchbox cars
~ Betty
or:
Thomas the train
bumps into
her house of cards
~ Betty
or:
each domino
topples
in succession
~ Betty
an old scroll
reveals a surprise
in the lineage
following the light
I crash into the kerb
next bright idea
Karen Harvey
jokes about
a ball and chain
elicits front row silence
lickering light of a bike
from the side road
–Marina Bellini
class reunion starts
as he spins her across
the dance floor
flickering light of a bike
from the side road
–Marina Bellini
.
class reunion
he spins her across
the dance floor
another shipwreck
relieved of its cargo
on the Cornish coast
—
– Lorin
was it a tic
or did Xi Jinping
wink?
—
– Lorin
Deep in the caves of Mordor
Gollum hides
with his “precious”
–
reference to “The Hobbit”
who will join me
for another ride
on the ferris wheel?
under the bedsheet
tales of horse drawn coaches
and highwaymen bold
—
– Lorin
under the bed-sheet
tales of bold highwaymen
and horse-drawn coaches
—
– Lorin
her American dream
wrapped inside
a flag
~ Betty
sanctuary
cities out west
uncowed
~ Betty
binoculars
sweep across
Qsar Al Sarab
~ Betty
oops, spelling error:
.
binoculars
sweep across
Qasr Al Sarab
~ Betty
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
among dripping ferns
stroking the bark
of an old-growth cedar
Too many participles?
.
.
among moist ferns
stroking the bark
of an old-growth cedar
One more note 🙂
In the Pacific Northwest old-growth rainforests, ferns are all seasons.
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
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.
Thanks, John…But, oh dear, how to get my old-growth cedar indoors…😊
Agree, Lorin…”moist” is better anyway.
the memory
of E.T. still brings
a smile
in the distance
a spot fire
coming your way
—
– Lorin
ooops… this would suggest summer.
– Lorin
lowering the needle
to the vinyl
to play our song again
ZAP!
there goes
another mosquito
aggh – flitter and flicker too close…
**
shadow from moth wings
around the inside
of my lamp
moth wings flitter
around the inside
of my lamp
Jennifer, dear, Japanese saki-wise both moth and mosquito are seasonal. A hard assignment to be both not repetitive and nonseasonal. – Paul
who could turn
their back
on this child
~ Betty
you could tell
who was wearing dentures
under the strobes
—
– Lorin
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!
Thanks, John … ah yes, of course 🙂 …moon, bike light, strobes … too much light!
—
– Lorin
with eyes wary
a coach watches his team
trailing on the scoreboard
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
losing our cool
in bobby socks
at Elvis’s gyrations
in bobby socks
losing their cool
at Elvis’s gyrations
a trucker inked
with Wile E. Coyote
brakes gradually
the lark’s song
announces dawn
and its silence
first daylight
a warm croissant
from the bakery
or maybe
he brings home
a warm croissant
from the bakery
her fortune changes
with another spin
of the roulette wheel
in a rush
to avoid breaking
the approaching curfew
tai chi group
grasps sparrow’s tail
together
‘anti-American’
that little Tramp’s kick
in The Immigrant
—
– Lorin
flickering light of a bike
from the side road
–Marina Bellini
—
to enchant the heart
Cinema Paradisio
again and again
—
– Lorin
whoops! with the italics.
Trying again:
—
to enchant the heart
Cinema Paradisio
again and again
—
– Lorin
Yikes, now I’m misspelling! Again. . . 3rd time lucky.
—
to enchant the heart
Cinema Paradiso
again and again
—
– Lorin
or, a variation:
—
the enchantment
of Cinema Paradiso
again and again
—
– Lorin
leaving
a very short message
on the White House line
opening
another reject letter
i miss home
(haha)
Anna
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!
Loved that flickering light, Marina – I sensed a hint of mystery in your verse.
.
Well said, John.
thank you Marion
A wonderful choice, Dru.
Congratulations, Marina
Thanks you, Theresa.
Oh, Dear! Sorry about the typo.
thanks