The Renku Sessions: Way of the Wind – Week 13
I am John Stevenson and I am your guide for a twenty-stanza, nijûin, renku.
As I stated last week, there are often factors that have a bearing on my selection, beyond what I have listed as requirements. This week, that involves my realization that our next two will be a pair of love verses. This does not require anything in particular from our twelfth verse but it does impose some considerations about whether its contents positively provide a setup for a love verse, or negatively foreclose on certain aspects of that theme.
Here, for instance, is an image that links in an interesting and complex way with the pack of wolves in verse eleven:
cornered by a married man
at the New Year’s Eve party
Keith Evetts
But it could also be mistaken for a love verse, bearing in mind that love does not always mean generous and caring consideration in a renku context but can also include lust and domination.
I should also point out that the New Year begins on January 1 for pretty much everyone in the English-speaking world. But that date is early winter in the northern hemisphere and early summer in the southern. It is registered as a winter kigo on our list but that list was not created specifically for a global renku group and some discretion is required in its use for our shared project. The same applies to any kigo that is associated with a specific calendar date.
Here are some of the many verses that caught my attention:
icicles forming
on the welcome sign
Sandra St-Laurent
logs heaped on our bonfire
to drive back unseen haunts
Marietta McGregor
a PETA protest march
shuts down the hunt
Marietta McGregor
the passing year full
of empty bellies
Tracy Davidson
unpacking the firearms
from an heirloom quilt
Laurie Greer
cor! how screeches pierce
the cold, clear night
Maxianne Berger
ski resorts prefer faux snow
over no snow
Chris Patchel
lost in a
desert of snow
Dan Campbell
that pink tongue
waiting for the snowflakes
Margherita Petriccione
And here are a couple that may have been finalists if we didn’t already have a verse from each of the poets:
never swallow an oyster
that is having nightmares
Dan Campbell
In this part of the renku, a verse that stretches imagination, especially if that involves a certain degree of goofiness, would be very welcome.
if only this virus
was in winter seclusion
Wendy C. Bialek
We haven’t yet included a “current events” verse and what could be more effective for this purpose in a “global” renku than a reference to the pandemic.
The final choice comes down to five offers:
fewer places
to host the Winter Games
Chris Patchel
This gives us the “current events” topic, plus “sports.” It links with the vast tundra of verse eleven by reminding us that human encroachment and climate change endanger such places and the lives that depend upon them. We named the season in verse five, so I will be reluctant to do so again. This will be a factor in several of these finalists.
pidge porridge hotter
than the fires of hell
Michael Henry Lee
I must admit that I am very tempted by the thought of a winter verse containing the phrase “hotter than the fires of hell.” And heat may be a useful prelude to the love verses.
in a snowy landscape
fuel hard to find
Carol Jones
I would have to revise this to eliminate the break created by starting with a prepositional phrase. But this could be easily done. The verse is simple but powerful. It invokes, for me, the way in which finding something to burn during winter was a matter of survival for most of humanity’s history but now contributes to a mechanism that produces the threat of global warming. Compare this to the winter quest of wolves, which is completely in balance with a natural world.
a double=knock hammer sound
on a clear winter day
greenrhythm
We haven’t had a specific sound image since verse three, although the juxtaposition of this with the wolf pack of verse eleven highlights the fact that their pursuit is likely to be noisy.
the winter fly
reluctant to leave
Kanjini Devi
The contrast of the fly’s motion, or lack thereof, with the hot pursuit of wolves over a wide-open landscape… We do, however, have another flying insect, in verse six,
Here, after a great deal of vacillation, is what I have selected as our twelfth verse:
pidge porridge hotter
than the fires of hell
Michael Henry Lee
Here is what we have, so far:
Way of the Wind
green barley—
we follow the way
of the wind
Lorin Ford
kids playing pooh sticks
with plum blossoms
Linda Weir
the long day opens
with a chime of pots
on the kitchen island
Laurie Greer
a coin in the cap
of a street busker
Andrew Shimield
summer moon
low on the hips
of the horizon
princess k
mosquitoes know that my wife
has sweeter blood
Dan Campbell
still drawn to him
after all the bumps
along the line
Wendy C. Bialek
queuing up to enter
the Escher exhibit
Carol Judkins
do you think
they discovered chaos theory
by chance
Keith Evetts
three-martini lunch
with old pals from sigma nu
Betty Shropshire
wolves
in relentless pursuit
across the frozen tundra
Sally Biggar
pidge porridge hotter
than the fires of hell
Michael Henry Lee
We will now be writing a pair of love verses. The first is to be non-seasonal and the second set in autumn.
The requirements for verse thirteen will be as follows:
- A three-line verse of seventeen syllables or less
- Without a season image (kigo)
- Without a grammatical break
- Linking in some way to verse twelve (and in no obvious way to previous verses)
For this renku, we will be using this site (http://www.2hweb.net/haikai/renku/500ESWd.html) as the source for our season words and images. We should also check it when writing non-seasonal verses in order to be sure we have not used a kigo without intending to.
I will be reviewing your offers until midnight on Monday, July 26 (New York time). On Thursday, July 29 there will be a new post in which I will announce my selection of the thirteenth verse, comment on some of the other offers, and issue instructions for writing verse fourteen.
Thanks, everyone!
John
The Haiku Foundation reminds you that participation in our offerings assumes respectful and appropriate behavior from all parties. Please see our Code of Conduct policy https://www.thehaikufoundation.org/code-of-conduct/
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he left
both dorm mates
with clap
7/26/2021 by wendy © bialek
his eyes
locked on her thong
under see through shorts
pidge porridge hotter
than the fires of hell
Michael Henry Lee
their knotted embrace
against the cool stones
of the cathedral walls
Verse 1:
…
when I first saw him
it was like
a volcanic eruption
…
Verse 2:
…
he came to mend my fence
but my lust
made my walls fall down
…
Verse3:
…
he ignited
a raging inferno
of desire
candles everywhere
but he thinks
the lights went out
shouts
of “get a room”
at the party
pidge porridge hotter
than the fires of hell
Michael Henry Lee
*
the dragon tattoo
beneath her kimono
awakens
*
her open robe
reveals
a 666 tattoo
after fifty years together
now in our bed
all this space
pidge porridge hotter
than the fires of hell
– Michael Henry Lee
•
true confessions
of a committed serial
monogamist
– Betty Shropshire
high fever
yet throwing away
his pickle
**
height of temper
his discarding
birthday gift
****
not having desire
to wear new dress
on his birthday
***
first sip of coffee
for want of sugar
in sink
**
holding mobile
in hand with running water
of surf
******
writing haiku
beyond prescribed seventeen
syllables
pidge porridge hotter
than the fires of hell
Michael Henry Lee
*
their embrace moves
unseen
into the unknown
*
a kiss
and the taste of apple
on their lips
Thank you John for your attention to my verses
*
My new proposals
.
I hate this laughter
between you
and her young lips
*
stop looking at me
because the chili
is enough
*
I feel like
I’m dressing nettles
just seeing him
*
refreshing
the melancholy
to think of you
imagine
the risks
when dragons mate
forever
carrying this torch
for an old flame
what a dish
crossing her legs
on a barstool
flamed on reddit
as a cereal
sex pest
on page
one hundred seventy five
of the Kama Sutra
Way-to-go, Dan 🙂
Thanks Carol, it has been fun but my back is killing me!
L.O.L 🙂
pidge porridge hotter
than the fires of hell
– Michael Henry Lee
•
that spark
of recognition
comes less often now
– Betty Shropshire
that spark
of recognition
ever so faint
Congrats and a belated happy birthday Michael!
.
pidge porridge hotter
than the fires of hell
– Michael Henry Lee
.
.
the monarch’s
other
flushed cheek
.
ironically
heart’s desire is a possessive
singular
.
that itch
not even marilyn
can scratch
.
no that is not
eye-shadow rather mercury
in retrograde
.
dear
john
echoes in empty chambers
.
.
not even
put off by his
pitchfork tattoos
7/25/2021 by wendy © bialek
making love
next to turtles
on the riverbank
how my baby
paints the town red
with her tail
one rumba with her
my volcano’s
not extinct
lover
glowing
lava
their tension
boils
over
or maybe –
his tension
boils over
too soon
in the back row
our hearts melt with
a burning desire
*
re-ignited
old flames of passion
in the on-line forum
*
with amorous caresses
he spills his
wild oats
our kisses
on the balcony
of liberty’s torch
7/24/2021 by wendy © bialek
congrats on michael and bornday wishes!
thanks, John for a fine read!
pidge porridge hotter
than the fires of hell
Michael Henry Lee
licked-off devil’s
food cake layered
in his likeness
7/24/2021 by wendy © bialek
fanning the fever
after my lover’s
last pfizer shot
7/24/2021 by wendy © bialek
pidge porridge hotter
than the fires of hell
Michael Henry Lee
under candlelight
another shipwreck
between Rose’s thighs
paying
for a second go
on the love boat
bright lights
and seed
make for raw outcomes
peeling
an onion to hide
the tears
nine days together
feeling nine years
younger
wild oats sown
in the heat
of passion
pidge porridge hotter
than the fires of hell
Michael Henry Lee
.
the satin sheets stick
to sweat-slicked
bodies
.
the sheets stick
to bodies slick
with sweat
.
one by one
he feeds her
a few pomegranate seeds
.
he feeds her
pomegranate seeds
one by one
Nancy Brady
pidge porridge hotter
than the fires of hell
*
a love match
sealed
in brimstone
*
going ahead since
we’re damned if we do
and damned if we don’t
*
after the pandemic
all the masks disappear
not their trakes
*
always postponed
the Tokyo Olympic
finally started
*
Bidding
at a incendiary price
”The Last Judgment”
*
Near the Great Lake
two elephants trump to trump-
what they will be saying?
pidge porridge hotter
than the fires of hell
*
selling our souls
to save
our hearts
*
Hope the hearts aren’t too close to the blood of the last love verses
pidge porridge hotter
than the fires of hell
Michael Henry Lee
ardent glances
across a crowded bar
from The One
she never
once mentioned that
she hated roses
pidge porridge hotter
than the fires of hell
Michael Henry Lee
*
leaping
before we look
and the devil may care!
*
falling for the pure
deviltry
of that smirk
*
her kiss sent
him from a lily pad
to a castle
she rented
a clown car
for my hearse
risked my life
to paint her name
on a suspension bridge
ex-girlfriends
always call collect
from Hell
*
all my
ex-girlfriends have
hurricane names
he sure
looks cool
in shades
.
the piercing stare
from across a hall
almost unbearable
.
suffering
the residual
scorn of his ex
.
still reeling
from the burn
of her blush
.
fellow feelings
rekindled
with an old flame
edit-
fellow feelings
kindled
with an old flame
how she makes
my toes curl inwards
with a kiss
**
hard to resist
the capo’s daughter
playing footsie
like Lucifer
he unmasks
my deepest desire
*
the horns
of a stag
in his mirrored ceiling
*
his devilish smile
when I suggest
role-play
*
I cannot bear it
when he calls me
Goldilocks
pidge porridge hotter
than the fires of hell
Michael Henry Lee
witch hazel balm
in a hand-soft poultice
for testosterone
pidge porridge hotter
than the fires of hell
Michael Henry Lee
she gives me a star
coiled in a tongue fold
of aniseed
just for kicks
*********************
through the
tunnel of love
down the river Styx
damned
if she’ll give him
a blow job
or, if an extension or current social affairs wanted
damned
if she’ll give the boss
a blow job
how we giggle
at the gurgles
of her waterbed
**
the tropic scent
of frangipani
kissing her ear
after several doses
still not immune
to love
*
the fever I feel
as her silk slip slides
to the floor
pidge porridge hotter
than the fires of hell
Michael Henry Lee
that delicious fillip
of excitement
from a sidelong glance
pidge porridge hotter
than the fires of hell
Michael Henry Lee
waking up
to champagne
and chocolates
‘pidge’ porridge with rice and pigeon meat…hmmmm. ‘Pease’ for me, please! But it makes for a fun verse to play with, Michael!
pidge porridge hotter
than the fires of hell
Michael Henry Lee
carpet burns
only sting
under the shower
‘pidge’ porridge with rice and pigeon meat…hmmmm. ‘Pease’ for me, please! But it makes for a fun verse to play with, Michael!
pidge porridge hotter
than the fires of hell
Michael Henry Lee
the hurly-burly
of the chaise-longue
with her boo
devilish fun verse MHL (and happy birthday); thx john for mentioning my attempt to link Frost’s feather hammer and birders’ relentless pursuits.
pidge porridge hotter
than the fires of hell
*
afterwards
we bat around fun ways
to pay our penance
..
devilish fun verse MHL (and happy birthday); both your verse and John’s reasons for selecting it make me smile. thx john for mentioning my attempt to link Frost’s feather hammer and birders’ relentless pursuits.
pidge porridge hotter
than the fires of hell
*
afterwards
we bat around fun ways
to pay our penance
..
pidge porridge hotter
than the fires of hell
*
no need to explain
why it’s better
to marry
*
the reasons
their love rhymes
work like a charm
*
congrats to Michael .. thanks, John, for pausing at mine .. and well, here goes, just because . . .
*
pidge porridge hotter
than the fires of hell
***
Michael Henry Lee
***
how tenaciously Dante
scales his terza-rima way
to Beatrice
Oops! One syllable too many ..
*
how doggedly Dante
scales his terza-rima way
to Beatrice
whether to accept
his marriage proposal
mid-skydive
pidge porridge hotter
than the fires of hell
Michael Henry Lee
*
their pillow talk
a miscellany
of half-remembered rhymes
*
“Pidge porridge” is great, however it came about–nice work, Michael Henry–and happy birthday!
Inspired selection, John–and thanks for noticing one of my offers!
*
pidge porridge hotter
than the fires of hell
Michael Henry Lee
*
afraid at first
to call love
by its name
*
Congratulations Michael.
Interesting feedback John. Thank you
remember how
we glided together and
sometimes even soared
his desire
for a simple wedding
not what she has in mind
–
porridge is a bit close to lunch ; )
Congratulations Michael, another smashing choice, John.
Thankyou for pausing on one of mine. Enjoyed reading your comments.
she only remembers
our honeymoon suite’s
ceiling fan
I once worshipped
Kauket the goddess
of chaos
sometimes the steamiest
sex you’re having
is in your own sconce
wife in Spanish
is esposas which
means handcuffs
*
love potions
work better when made
by a witch
Wow, totally stoked you mentioned my verse. Thank you, John!
And well done, Michael. I thought it was pease as well, had to look up pidge 😉
Happy birthday Michael and thank you John for appreciating goofiness!
pidge porridge hotter
than the fires of hell
Michael Henry Lee
rolling
in the surf with her
to eternity
pidge porridge hotter
than the fires of hell
Michael Henry Lee
the hourglass
spills a dry trickle
between us
Thanks for a very interesting and instructive commentary and another stimulating selection – congratulations Michael.
pidge porridge hotter
than the fires of hell
Michael Henry Lee
**
on the back page
my horoscope still says
I will fall in love
Daddy Bear
wants Goldilocks’
phone number
pidge porridge hotter
than the fires of hell
Michael Henry Lee
this anniversary
we still want to share
a spoon
Thanks so much for choosing my verse John. My wife tells me it should be pease porridge, and after closer examination she appears to be correct
At any rate it’s still a nice early birthday surprise as i am scheduled to turn 70 tomorrow
I thought you meant “pigeon porridge” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JE6C7wTq1G4
I had never heard of it, John, but simply loved the sound of “pidge porridge” 😄
marion
In London we call it pease pudding, a savoury dish, Served with either saveloys (a boiled sausage) or boiled bacon.
The whole thing is hilarious. And behold, John has the sought-after goofiness. I love it.
And I’m going with pidge = pigeon. Convincing evidence unearthed by the master of ceremonies….