Sketchbook  Craig Tigerman, US and Karina Klesko, US

 

Devil's Grass*  A Triolet - Rengay As summer surrenders in splendor And nature prepares for the fall We pause in reflections so tender As summer surrenders in splendor May beauty our memories render, Each color so vivid recall As summer surrenders in splendor And nature prepares for the fall This hallowed eve, each door we pass We pause in reflection so tender As youth plods through the devil's grass This hallowed eve, each door we pass Angels chirrup trick or treat en masse All Saints Day marked on the calendar This hallowed eve, each door we pass We pause in reflection so tender Recalling innocence, we see, As youth plods through the devil's grass, An angel on the balcony Restores our innocence! We see A lifting mist, a Knowledge Tree From which we feast, then on we pass Recalling innocence, and see Our youth plod through the devil's grass Sun spreads through my empty garden An angel on the balcony, The night grows longer, its fruits forbidden Moonlight spreads through my empty garden As seasons change this comely maiden Just me and you and now just me Darkness spreads through my empty garden An angel on the balcony So for a season, still a while more, The night grows longer, its fruits forbidden, We grasp for strength from secret store And then this season, all the while more A bonfire, fed by worries that we wore, Burns bright, gives warmth no longer hidden. Until next season, just a while more, No nights grow longer, no fruits forbidden Young Soldiers return from lands beyond We grasp for strength from secret store Thoughts too painful to express, bond Young Soldiers returning from lands beyond A piece of each heart cruelly pawned In the name of freedom, chained by war Young Soldiers return from lands beyond We grasp for strength from secret store ___________________________________________________ note: devil's grass* is a type of grass; the common term is quack grass.   Triolet - Rengay: The Form West Meets East The Triolet - Rengay is a six verse composition. It is a combination of Triolets and Renga (with a renga/renku ending - that serves as an ageku, which can be separate from the other five triolets, but at the same time edifying each verse). Karina Klesko devised the Triolet - Rengay as a unique collaborative form for two writers uniting a western verse form with an eastern verse form.   The third line of each triolet is repeated in each successive triolet as the B line.   There is a common theme, rather than a shift; this is an organizational feature similar to rengay that is derived from the renga, a linking but not a shifting of topics.   The last verse loops back to the first verse.   The exception of this would be that the last verse does not have to use the theme per se as long as the first verse completes the thoughts.   In the poem, "The Devil's Grass", the returning soldiers compliments the  summer's surrender...   Another way to link the  verses would be by using an appropriate kigo.   As in some  styles of rengay a story unfolds.   Karina Klesko

 

Hortensia Anderson, Bryan Bridges, John Daleiden, Betty Kaplan, Karina Klesko, Craig Tigerman, Triolet Rengay

Karina Klesko and Craig Tigerman—Devil's Grass: A Triolet - Rengay

Karina Klesko and Betty Kaplan—Mama's Waterford Vase: A Triolet - Rengay

 

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