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| © 2013 Haiku Society of America direct link: http://www.hsa-haiku.org/frogpond/2013-issue36-2/renku.html |
A Cup of Snow
laughing with delight
a cup of snow
a moon-eyed girl
John
half gone, the last jar
of ginger jam
Carole
roadside shop
the chain-saw artist
asks me my sign
Michael
a faint glow in the sky
before sunset
Alan
first chill night
the smell of cedar
in the quilts
Hortensia
tic by toc
the leaves begin to fall
John
***
dab, dab, dabbing
at her cards the old lady
yells “bingo!”
Carole
a mosquito bite
on the toddler’s cheek
Michael
their second date
she drinks him
under the table
Alan
we roll with the waves
of the water bed
Hortensia
and bathe eche veyne
in swich licour
of which engenderé́d . . .
John
the scent of wild rose
in the birthing suite
Carole
***
deepening depression
the telephone
stops ringing
Michael
a late-night diner
the hum of the fridge
Alan
constant as the
poverty of poets
autumn moon
John
three generations
peddling fallen walnuts
Carole
leftover candy
the pumpkin’s toothy grin
starts to sag
Michael
candle wax obscuring
the way of light
Hortensia
***
tamarisk honey
the el-tarfah of dry tears
Alan
with each breath
the desert’s fire and dust
Carole
searching for an airplane
without wings
John
affair the after
way wrong the home coming
Michael
each snowflake different
his wife’s kiss
Hortensia
the lack of a sharp knife
and a whetstone
Alan
***
abattoir—
the apathetic gaze
of man and beast
Carole
from rock to rock
the grizzly’s nose
Michael
the sniper scope
adjusted
on the Canon Sure Shot
Alan
fighting through the shed
to reach the mower
John
we fill our pails
with plum blossoms
and then?
Hortensia
the spring dawn
spills down the mountain
Carole
Notes
el-tarfah ~ The manna of the Sinaitic peninsula is an
exudation from the “manna-tamarisk” tree (Tamarix mannifera), the
el-tarfah of the Arabs. At night it is fluid and resembles dew, but in
the morning it begins to harden. The Arabs use it like honey or butter
with their unleavened bread.and bathe eche veyne/in swich licour/of which engenderéd . . .
~This verse is in Middle English. It is taken from the second couplet of the General Prologue of The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer, generally dated between 1340 and 1370. As with all texts of this antiquity there are many variants. A recent, re-versified translation by A.S. Kline gives the full couplet as:
And bathed each vein with liquor of such power
That engendered from it is the flower
Afterword
The form is modular rather than having a set length, permitting as many verse movements as the participants wish to complete, up to six. Season and seasonality are important, but not in a structural manner; the same is true for moon and blossom verses. A high rate of change is guaranteed as nothing may endure for more than two verses.
Also, the penultimate movement of any rokku is inclined towards experimentation. I served as sabaki, but the renku effectively wrote itself, the very different personal styles of the participants being vital to the effort to break new ground. Sadly, one of us is no longer present, though her writing, as ever, stands out from the page. So we dedicate this renku to Hortensia Anderson, who passed away in May of 2012.
Hortensia Anderson
June 24, 1959 – May 21, 2012
Her book:The Plenitude of Emptiness
hortensia anderson : collected haibun
with an introduction by Jim Kacian
“I have my copy already dog-eared and it is brand new! The haibun are potent and profoundly moving. This is a must-read. Get this book!” —Denis M. Garrison, poet, writer, editor, publisher: The MET Press
“I have tried to read Hortensia’s haibun with a critical discerning eye but I cannot. Again and always, the flow of her words and the intense images they allow me to create pull me under and away into a riptide of emotions.” —Jane Reichhold, poet, writer, editor, publisher: AHA Books
“The term ‘essential reading’ is horribly overused, but this book really is essential reading for anyone interested in writing the best, direct, real haibun being written today.” —Alan Summers, renga poet-in-residence for the City of Hull
The Plentitude of Emptiness:
http://www.darlingtonrichards.com/index.php/updates/preview-of-the-plenitude-of-emptiness-by-hortensia-anderson/
http://www.lulu.com/shop/hortensia-anderson/the-plenitude-of-emptiness/paperback/product-10293919.html;jsessionid=F211C07FB1AB7624791D6636E2A574CA
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