Monday, November 12, 2007

Monday Poetry Stretch - Renga

Over the course of the last twelve days I've had house guests for more than half of them. Since I'm all about company these days (my next guests will arrive in time for Thanksgiving), I thought this would be the perfect time to work on some group poetry. Therefore, the form for this week's poetry stretch is renga, an ancient Japanese form of collaborative poetry.

The Renga platform in the UK provides this introduction for beginners.
A renga is a series of short verses linked into one long poem, composed collaboratively by a group. Each constituent verse must make sense independently. It should also connect in some way with the verses that follow and precede. The verses alternate between 3-liners and 2-lines throughout.

The opening verse of a renga is called the hokku. It takes the same form as haiku -three short lines. A renga opens with some reference to the season of composition and moves - not necessarily in orderly sequence - through all four seasons, generally ending with a spring verse. Seasonal themes are generally sustained for at least a couple of verses, and the passage from one season to the next is often broken by one or more non-seasonal verses.

Seasonal reference is made through the use of a season-word, which may be obvious, like ‘autumn rain’ or ‘snow’, or more subtle, for instance, ‘watermelon’ for summer. Season words include cultural as well as natural references; for instance, you might use April Fool's Day for spring. The two key principles of renga are link and shift. Link means that each verse should connect in some way with its immediate predecessor. Shift means that, with the exception of the link just noted, each verse should move on, drawing on imagery, which is new (for that particular renga). That is, repetition is to be avoided. Even when linking, although there will be some implicit connection, actual words and phrases should not be repeated.
So, are you up for some collaborative poetry? Here's what I propose. I will post the hokku to get this thing going. The next person will post a two line stanza in the comments. I'll add it to the poem, and then next poet can add a three line stanza. As each person adds a new stanza, I'll add to the growing poem on this page. Are you ready? Here we go.
leaves blush then drift
down with acorns tumbling
toward quiet slumber

blankets of clouds pile
at the orange edges of the sky

cool dark sighs
from east to west
in a slow blink

dusk reveals the bones of trees
washed in cool, cleansing mist

squirrels scatter and gather
then scramble and climb
to chatter and screech

bending bare boughs
waking Old Man Winter

snowflakes drift slowly
to the ground, covering it
with a blanket of white

when the sky sits also white,
the horizon vanishes betwixt the two

one black crow
flies low against the white
crossing the circle

leaving wide silences
to listen with great charity

a tree bakes
in a mid-day thaw
and dreams of summer
Now it's your turn. Step right up and join in. Remember to pick up the theme of the last written stanza (not the poem as a whole), follow the alternating 3-2-3-2 pattern for stanza length, and write with the economy and sensibility of haiku.

13 comments:

  1. blankets of clouds pile
    at the orange edges of the sky

    ReplyDelete
  2. Oh Sara, thanks for joining in. I love this! I can't wait to see where this goes.

    ReplyDelete
  3. cool dark sighs
    from east to west
    in a slow blink

    ReplyDelete
  4. I've been watching the squirrels out my window earlier this autumn afternoon, and listening to their strange language on the roof. So how about...

    squirrels scatter and gather
    then scramble and climb
    to chatter and screech

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hi Terrell,
    Someone else got in with a three line stanza before you. Do you have a two line for us?

    ReplyDelete
  6. This is great fun Trisha! I'll offer two lines you can slip in there if Terrell agrees...

    dusk reveals the bones of trees
    washed in cool, cleansing mist

    If this doesn't fit I'll come back and offer something else. It's tricky putting this all together, isn't it?

    ReplyDelete
  7. Thanks, Andi. That works!

    ReplyDelete
  8. bending bare boughs
    waking Old Man Winter

    This is the best I can do right now, Tricia!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Snowflakes drift slowly
    to the ground, covering it
    with a blanket of white.

    ReplyDelete
  10. when the sky sits also white,
    the horizon vanishes betwixt the two

    I hope that connects ok!

    ReplyDelete
  11. one black crow
    flies low against the white
    crossing the circle

    ReplyDelete
  12. leaving wide silences
    to listen with great charity

    ReplyDelete
  13. a tree bakes
    in a mid-day thaw
    and dreams of summer

    ReplyDelete