| renku |
The two sequences presented here are a 36 verse Kasen and a 20 verse Nijuin. Beyond the novel stanza form they are in all aspects conventional, though the Nijuin, Waiting for Anubis, tends to use season words and topics that are more typical of occidental writing. |
| The Salted Sea Bream |
the
salted sea bream's |
grinning gums |
look
so cold |
at the fish shop | MB |
.r |
customers
debate |
the likelihood .of snow | jec |
.r |
through
cobalt blue |
and shreds of clouds |
a
red bi-plane |
approaches | kk |
.r |
thieves |
trying to rake the moon .from a mill pond | pc |
.r |
old
baskets |
release a musk |
of mushrooms found |
in needle cast | dwb |
.r |
out
from the movies |
with winter .at our heels | ey |
*
* * * * * * |
the
road mender's trousers |
as he turns his sign |
from
stop |
to go | pc |
.r |
what
gravity |
woos iron .to the magnet? | dwb |
.r |
of
all the lies |
I ever heard |
Cassandra's |
were the sweetest | jec |
.r |
we
cleave |
to the transcendent joy .of Kailas | kk |
.r |
a
ribbon |
tied around a shoe box |
filled
with |
such mementoes | pc |
.r |
one
quick swipe |
and the katydid .is captured | kk |
.r |
blinking |
through the crack in the door frame |
I
watch |
the silent moon | jec |
.r |
milky
way |
faintest .over highway traffic | dwb |
.r |
Basho's
best |
in his briefcase |
her
first son |
takes the second train | pc |
.r |
remembering
|
where .the reading glasses lie | kk |
.r |
I
awake |
with such sweet longing |
for
the fragrance |
of the may | jec |
.r |
two
girls |
in the Whit walk .a flourish of brass | pc |
*
* * * * * * |
barn
music |
each day |
the
tractor burps |
and hiccups into life | pc |
.r |
a
swollen river |
rushing madly .past cows | dwb |
.r |
one
eye out |
for saharan swifts |
he
scrubs up |
the patio | pc |
.r |
Afghan
Aid talks |
chaired by Sadako .Tokyo | ey |
.r |
flickering |
through the substance |
of
the shadows |
of the forest | jec |
.r |
the
fleet |
rounds the cape .against the wind | kk |
.r |
this
morning |
I can't think straight |
for
the pain |
in my left molars | pc |
.r |
so
shy a boy |
his heartfelt words .just won't come | pc |
.r |
drowning |
in two sapphire lakes |
wanting
to kiss |
two garnet lips | kk |
.r |
a
radio |
plays .to an empty kitchen | jec |
.r |
over
the hills |
and under the moon |
unmoving |
sultry heat | dwb |
.r |
"owzat!
owzat!" |
hundreds of lager cans .hiss | jec |
*
* * * * * * |
when
I turn |
a calendar page |
Hawaiian
days |
come back to me | dwb |
.r |
if
only |
we had not eaten .that apple | jec |
.r |
it's
hard to understand |
the falling |
yen |
versus the dollar | kk |
.r |
overnight |
molehills have arrived .with the melt | pc |
.r |
my
pregnant neighbor |
stops to stroke |
a
nub |
of pussy willow | dwb |
.r |
"what
a wonder.." |
in the blossom haze .Satchmo | ey |
.r |
Contributors:
Debra Woolard Bender, John Edmund Carley, Paul Conneally, Kirsty Karkow
& Eiko Yachimoto (sabaki)
Facilitated: WHCjapan - The World Haiku Club 2000 - 2001 Translation:
Hokku by Matsuo Basho trans. Yachimoto& Carley |
| Waiting for Anubis |
Easter
comes |
and crocuses |
rise
yellow |
through the sodden ground | kk |
.r |
vestiges
of ice |
unfurl .a fractal edge | jec |
.r |
our
shadows |
on this hazy day |
indistinct |
against the wall | ha |
.r |
groups
of souls |
gather .waiting for Anubis |
kk |
*
* * * * * * |
the
endless blue |
of summer skies |
perturbed |
by a waxing moon | jec |
.r |
though
romance wanes |
they share .the sorbet spoon | ha |
.r |
each
one whirling |
in ecstasy |
the
Sufis |
dance before God | kk |
.r |
stones |
nothing but stones .& gardens turned to sand | jec |
.r |
with
the cresting waves |
of the sea |
another |
solar eclipse | ha |
.r |
fountain
pens |
out of date .like blotting paper | kk |
*
* * * * * * |
the
boy ploughs on |
through driving sleet |
resentful |
of short trousers | jec |
.r |
the
long stay |
as pine boughs .bend beneath the snow | ha |
.r |
yearning |
for ten year old Scotch |
smooth
skin to touch |
and rumpled sheets | kk |
.r |
he
left |
while there were martins .over Morray | jec |
.r |
we
have the moon |
to our right |
on
the way |
to the pumpkin patch | ha |
.r |
this
fashion |
of tatting lace .like spider silk | kk |
*
* * * * * * |
the
girl |
that packs the parachute |
wonders |
what it's like to fall | jec |
.r |
they've
made it |
to the mountain peak .over night | ha |
.r |
dawn
reveals |
a spring of plum |
so
graceful |
in a pewter mug | kk |
.r |
the
sudden |
rushing tang .of new mown pasture | jec |
.r |
Contributors:
Hortensia Anderson, John Edmund Carley (sabaki), Kirsty Karkow
Facilitated: The Renkujin
Palace 2002 |