Now, with this verse, the connection and shift become visible, and the interaction between the newly selected verse and the previous verse is noticeable and striking.

The ‘white space’ is doing its magic!
Attempting to grasp these subtle nuances will aid you in deciphering this 400-year-old collaborative linked verse poetry.

I request all of you to use your imagination and creativity, in keeping with the demands of the renku conventions. Isn’t that what art is all about?

Enjoy the journey!

_kala

Half the renku is done! And, it’s done well, thanks to all of you. In the next six verses, half belong to the ‘jo’, which means expansion and moving deeper into the poem. And the concluding part will be the ‘kyu’, the rapid close.

We now move on to the 7^th verse.

Please read the schema:
Junicho: a twelve-verse renku (collaborative poetry)

hokku – spring blossom

wakiku – spring

daisan – cut away verse – no season (ns)

4 short – ns

5 long – summer

6 short: love – no season (just chosen)

7 long – love winter (working for!)

8 short – ns

9 long – end summer (monsoon in India!)

10 short – ns

11 long – autumn moon

12 short – ageku – autumn

* Please remember: you should only offer blossom, moon, love, season verses, rain, and so on during the specific slots provided in the schema.

The poem so far:

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

Renkujin so far in this renku are:
hokku: Pauline O’ Carolan – spring
wakiku: John Daleiden – spring
daisan: Sanjuktaa Asopa – no season
4^th verse: Mohua Maulik – no season
5^th verse: VJ Green – summer

Now, regarding the shortlisted verses, most of them were very suitable for the slot. Any of these verses would have worked equally well. Many of you submitted some challenging verses, and I spent a lot of time reading and re-reading them to determine which verse fits best in this position. In many ways, imagination played a part, and I could see you enjoyed writing on this topic!
A few wrote verses on spring, thinking that love happens only in spring! This slot was a no-season.

***
Strong verses for this slot:

atop the rocket ride
holding each other tight

Richard Straw

on grandma’s porch swing
we remember our first kiss

Veronica Hosking

she loosens her hair
and I forget to speak

Guliz Mutlu

they blush slightly next to
a children’s clothing store

Urszula Marciniak

on grandma’s porch swing
we remember our first kiss

Veronica Hosking

his smile from behind
catching her off-balance

Pamela Garry

fingers interlaced
a couple whisper sweet nothings

Neena Singh

their hands meet lightly
reaching for the same cup

Rebeca Thomas

the surprise of late love
growing stronger

Barbara Feehrer

they untangle laughter
in the shade of the porch

Anton R-kelian

what untangles the tango
of four left feet

Rachel Greve

.
the time Time stood still
and I said I do

Anju Kishore

eyes lock as they weave
through the crowded room

Debbie Feller

your breath beside mine
everything loosens its hold

Sathya Venkatesh

falling head over heels
like a teenager again

Laurie Greer

she checks his hand
for signs of a wedding ring

Sally Biggar

she eats his chocolate heart
before it melts

Marion Clarke

our first date was a film
we didn’t see

scott anderson

tearing through traffic
to find the girl who blew him a kiss

Madeleine Kavanagh

lights come up too soon
at the midnight movie

Margaret Anderson

***

Close contenders included:

only her gatos
enjoyed my gringo serenade

Dan Campbell

‘Gatos’ means cats in Spanish, but in Madrid, and “Gringo” is a commonly used, often informal term in Latin America and Spain for a foreigner, typically referring to someone from the United States, Canada, or the UK.

This verse introduces foreign cultural references into the ‘jo’, which is all about expansion. I would have loved to take this verse, but it loops back to Mohua’s Beethoven’s verse. Music as a topic has been covered.

running his hands
through her hair

Andrew Shimield

I liked this for its simple action, and the moment would have been highly charged!

Tracy Davidson’s tall, dark stranger takes the slot:

the tall dark stranger
changes more than her tyre

Travel is a new topic here. Remember, renku is about variety. Oh! Look at the second part of this sentence. It is all about storytelling. How naturally it flows into the overall poem. That is renku!

The readers see a tall, dark stranger, in the middle of a highway or a remote village road, and you are utterly stranded, and this man comes along to offer to change the tyre and he changes more than the tyre!

Simple and effective!
Congratulations, Tracy.

The three essential parts of a renku (linked verse) sequence — specifically relating to the structural requirement of a “leap” or “shift” — are uchikoshi (the penultimate verse), maeku (the preceding verse), and tsukeku (the current or attached verse).

an unmarked key
found at the bottom
of the drawer sa (uchikoshi)

spinning wheel thread
unwinds from the spindle
in summer heat vjg (maeku)

the tall dark stranger
changes more than her tyre td (tsukeku)

The poem so far:

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

the tall dark stranger
changes more than her tyre td

Renkujin so far in this renku:
hokku: Pauline O’ Carolan – spring
wakiku: John Daleiden – spring
daisan: Sanjuktaa Asopa – no season
4^th verse: Mohua Maulik – no season
5^th verse: VJ Green – summer
6^th verse: Tracy Davidson – no season

***

Requirements for the 7^th verse:

Read the entire schema and see how your poems fit into it.
6 short: love – no season (just chosen)

7 long – love winter (present verse)

Please note: only three offers from each poet — no more.3. Link to Tracy’s verse, and move away from all the verses above! No backlash. Which means, no images or words used above will be used in the new verses. Remember, renku moves only forward and never goes back.4. It’s a winter love verse. 3 lines, of around 12 to 14 syllables.

For verses that need a kigo (formal season word or phrase), we will be using The Five Hundred Essential Japanese Season Words:
https://thehaikufoundation.org/omeka/items/show/821

New topics. Use imagination and creativity. Renku is all about how the story comes together – a collaborative story from different parts of the world through different cultural backgrounds.

Love is the only theme in renku that extends across two consecutive slots. Here, love in the 7th verse refers to a love that has endured for many decades or pertains to the death or separation of a spouse for other reasons.

***

I’ll wait for your submissions. The window closes each Monday, and my selection, along with the requirements for the next verse, will be posted here every Thursday.

Let’s have fun creating this masterpiece!

your sabaki,
_kala

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The Renku Sessions: Purple Haze – Week 6

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John Stevenson

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