The Renku Sessions: Purple Haze – Week 13
Hi, everyone,
I’m Kala Ramesh from India, and I’m your sabaki for this renku.
We are composing a Junicho, a 12-verse renku (linked verse). The twelfth verse has been chosen!
Many have sent in such positive responses. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. I would to share a few of them here.
Dear Kala,
I have followed since you began and just now had time to minimally participate. So many excellent bookmarks added to my browser based on your lucid guidance. Thank you for considering my moon verse. I hope you will be sabaku for many more THF renku. You have the gift. The importance of worldwide conversations cannot be overstated.
Yours, Clysta
Clysta Seney
*****
Hi Kala, “crescent moon inches closer…” by Orense, is a beautiful and mystical verse…perfect for the moon slot. The explanation of the stone chakor is very inspiring and I enjoyed reading about it. The short verses are lovely. Thank you always for your insightful commentary… It has greatly helped my understanding of renku:)
madeleine kavanagh
*****
See what Orense Nicod had to say about the joy of having two of her verses selected for this renku:
Dear Kala,
Thank you so much for selecting my verse! I was genuinely surprised and deeply delighted to see it included in the renku.
It’s been a real joy following the sequence as it unfolds, and I feel very grateful to be part of it, especially in such a carefully shaped closing movement. To have one verse chosen was already an honour, so seeing a second included felt unexpectedly moving.
I’ve learned a great deal simply from watching how each link shifts the poem into new spaces.
Here are my offerings for the ageku, playing is as much a reward as being selected.
*****
Junicho: a twelve-verse renku (collaborative poetry)
JO
hokku – spring blossom
wakiku – spring
daisan – cut away verse – no season (ns)
HA
4 short – ns
5 long – summer
6 short: love – no season
7 long – love winter
8 short – ns |
9 long – end summer (called monsoon in India!)
KYU
10 short – no season – selected
11 long – autumn moon
12 short – ageku – autumn. Chosen
Before I go on to the strong links to the moon, let me tell you some major drawbacks in some of the verses submitted:
- I still received hokku – a proper haiku with a cut and two images.
- A few of you repeated the words or images. In such a short renku (just 12 verses), it’s imperative that we not look back or leap backwards.
- Out of the three verses, many of you didn’t remember to stick to autumn. The schema clearly says the ageku (last verse) is an autumn verse. The fun and the challenge in renku is when you adhere to these restrictions and still manage to get a good verse that links and shifts.
Some good verses for this slot were:
a brook gurgles
with a million stars
Firdaus Parvez
This is a very effective ageku. Uplifting and so beautiful, but we have done numbers in our 7th verse: Laurie Greer – love. Winter verse. I had to reluctantly let this verse go …
a windstorm
redrawing boundaries
Pamela Garry
I love ‘redrawing boundaries.’ It’s most uplifting, but the word ‘windstorm’ is not something I would like to end this beautiful renku with. The image of the windstorm is unsettling – we don’t know how tomorrow will be.
an intake of breath
as wild geese depart
Richard Straw
Very nice autumn verse. But we have just done ‘chakor’, even if it was just a stone one!
the scarecrow’s coat
flaps in a stiff breeze
Richard Straw
Scarecrow is a good autumn kigo word.
freshly picked grapes
misted with dew
Andrew Shimield
Nice verse, and I was happy to see Andrew’s candidate again.
as wind settles on the pond
a diya stays lit
diwali gifts the sky
with ribbons of flame
Anton R-kelian
We have two verses with Diwali – an autumn festival in India. Good thinking Anton! But I wouldn’t like to end this renku (and the last segment Kyu) with an Indian festival. I would end it on a broader note.
into the light
a new life takes flight
Curt Linderman
A verse full of life, but I couldn’t find any reference to autumn.
The verse that grabbed my attention was Lakshmi Iyer’s scarecrow! But it was difficult to reach here, and it took me a long time after repeated readings.
white-pumpkin-headed scarecrow
for the groundnut yield
Lakshmi Iyer
New topic: produce.
A verse with strong impact.
A scarecrow is a decoy — typically a human-shaped mannequin dressed in old clothes and stuffed with straw — placed in fields to frighten birds away from newly sown seeds and growing crops. Used globally by farmers, these figures protect crops by simulating human presence, often utilising bright colours or wind-driven movement to increase effectiveness.
Taken from the net:
“Perhaps the scarecrow is a harvest symbol because we are thanking him, now and in generations prior, for the hard work he’s done in keeping our harvest bounty ours and not leaving it to the birds. So next time you come upon one of these hard-working guardians, tip your hat, wave, and thank him for a job well done.”
Thanks to everyone who enthusiastically participated in this junicho.
For me, it was great fun. I was so eager to read all your verses each week. You kept the fire going with such good, thoughtful contributions.
As a final step, could you please share your feelings, reactions, views and reviews of this renku? What were the salient points you enjoyed most in this renku? Do you have any other suggestions for a title?
Looking forward to hearing from all of you.
My sincerest thanks to John Stevenson for inviting me here. I’m so caught up in the Triveni Haikai India website and all the activities there that, on my own, I wouldn’t have offered to lead a renku at THF. It’s a lot of commitment, but I’m happy I found time for it. You all made it possible for me.
Please note: I’ve made minor alterations to the poem in a few places to make it read more smoothly. I seek your permission.
Here is the whole poem for your enjoyment!
Purple Haze
purple haze …
sunlight filters through
jacaranda branches pc
a flight of butterflies
on the wood corral jd
an unmarked key
found at the bottom
of the drawer sa
Beethoven’s symphony
builds up to a crescendo mm
spinning wheel thread
unwinds from the spindle
in summer heat vjg
a tall dark stranger
changes more than her tyre td
reliving soda shop days
with porridge from one bowl
and two spoons lg
how silent the cave
of the last bears in Ireland mc
monsoon clouds
like a sea
above the sea on
quick firm strokes
of the barber’s razor ma
a crescent moon
inches closer
to the stone chakor on
white-pumpkin-headed scarecrow
for the groundnut yield li
Renkujin in this renku are:
hokku: Pauline O’ Carolan – spring
wakiku: John Daleiden – spring
daisan: Sanjuktaa Asopa – no season
4th verse: Mohua Maulik – no season
5th verse: VJ Green – summer
6th verse: Tracy Davidson – no season love
7th verse: Laurie Greer – winter love
8th verse: Marion Clarke – no season
9th verse: Orense Nicod – monsoon verse
10th verse: Margaret Anderson – no season
11th verse: Orense Nicod – autumn moon verse
12th verse: Lakshmi Iyer – autumn ageku
I’ll wait for your feedback.
See you soon.
your sabaki,
_kala
(Note from John Stevenson: Rob Barkan has advised me of the passing of Wendy C. Bialek. He has asked me to pass this along to poets who knew Wendy or knew her work in haiku and in these renku sessions.)
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