Renku

 

 

A Triparshva Renku*   In the Foothills   db: Don Baird, US kc: Karen Cesar, US nd: Norman Darlington IE ke: Kathy Earsman, AU c: Chibi (Dennis Holmes), US lmp: Linda Papanicolaou, US cr: Carol Raisfeld, US _k: _kala (Kala Ramesh), IN m: Moira Richards, ZA Sabaki: Linda Papanicolaou   Reunion— friends tend the hearth one log at a time / kc for every guest a bowl of oatmeal porridge / nd above the swirl a shorebird circles the tide pool / cr an old dog waits his turn at the hydrant /db moonlight on the delicate shoots of grandpa’s ginseng patch / m come morning, how the haze clings to these foothills! / nd ** feeling nice about being seen in my sequined sari / _k a pop-brush rhythm to the shoeshine rag / c red in the face like a two-year-old stomping his feet / kc damp curls of hair cling to his brow / ke the scent of her glances in an orange blossom breeze / db you offer tea, but your eyes promise more / cr You Can't Always Get What You Want on the iPod shuffle / c leaves of gold waist-deep around the garden Buddha / kc through a sea of clouds the moon in its serenity / lmp is it dew or bitter tears that dampens these loose sleeves? / nd *** at first light the snuffly crunch from deep within his nosebag / ke the smooth curve of an earthen pot by the well / _k Marysville one in five in the ash of Black Saturday / m pox crosses growing on the pilgrim crossing / c petals everywhere I remember a kindness from yesterday / cr the sparkles around an ardent crocodile / ke   Composed 17 January to 14 February, 2009 by Internet Sabaki: Linda Papanicolaou Poets: db: Don Baird, US kc: Karen Cesar, US nd: Norman Darlington IE ke: Kathy Earsman, AU c: Chibi (Dennis Holmes), US lmp: Linda Papanicolaou, US cr: Carol Raisfeld, US _k: _kala (Kala Ramesh), IN m: Moira Richards, ZA   Notes: After a year's hiatus, HaikuHut reopened in November 2008. Among its forums is an active renku board that is moderated by Chibi. "In the Foothills", our first venture beyond junicho, included nine writers whose experience with renku ranged from expert to beginner. We began with a hokku that celebrated Hut members coming together again, but while writing was in progress and the image of 'housewarming' morphed grotesquely into fiery destruction as the Australian bush fires entered the renku. We debated revising a hokku that had suddenly come to seem insensitive, then settled on selecting a title from elsewhere in the renku, and pledge our writing to the memory of the victims. Many thanks to Norman and Moi for their support during the writing, and to Gabi Greve of the World Kigo Project, who was ever present as our consultant. lmp *A Triparshva Renku: Norman Darlington designed the Triparshva format.