A Record of the Renku

Each YT Haiku Retreat winds up with a bang on the last evening with the group-writing session

for a renku. Here we see Patrick Gallagher in his Renku Party Regalia as he videos the completed

renku several years ago, accompanied by Carol Steele.

Below is another renku from two years ago. Notice that in this style of renku there are 36 verses, which alternate between two and three lines. Certain links, like the blossom and moon verses, occur at specified positions. Participants write several links, which are submitted to the Renku Master, who chooses each link as we proceed. Each link is written on the display board as it is chosen. The whole event is a lot of fun and can get a quite rowdy.

So Good To See You; kasen renku

November 9, 2013

Asilomar Retreat

Pacific Grove, California

Written by Roger Abe, Mimi Ahern, Beverly Acuff Momoi,

Linda Papanicolaou, Michael Sheffield, David Sherertz,

Christine Lamb Stern and Alison Woolpert

Carol Steele, renku master

1) I knocked and knocked —

so good to see you again

acorn woodpecker

ra

2) through the branches

just a bite of chestnut moon

bam

3) plated pomegranates

and the heady smell

of mulled wine

ms

4) in the music room

so many vintage flutes

lp

5) dry zephyrs

moving sparse clouds

slowly across the sky

ds

6) the patio party startled

with the arrival of a toad

aw

7) wrestling with Proteus

who changes into

a giant robot

ra

8) a blind date arrives

in a rental car

cls

9) the parents ask him

“just exactly what is it

that you do?”

aw

10) come upstairs and

look at my etchings

cls

11) for hours on end

Henry David Thoreau

stared at the dust motes

cls

12) the calico in the window

cleaning her claws

bam

13) longing for peace

Syria impaled

on the cold moon

aw

14) gingerbread men

with all the heads bitten off

bam

15) at Urgent Care

the doctor on duty

knows all the regulars

bam

16) two tickets to see

the losing team

cls

17) cherry blossom rain

will it be yet another year

before the Dream Act passes?

aw

18) concentric colors

ring the vernal pool

ra

19) April Fool’s Day

there’s salt

in the sugar bowl

cls

20) new candles in holders

ready for the match

cls

21) the long-awaited

box arrives from

Amazon.com

lp

22) skipping down the street

the boy lands on every crack

bam

23) the old garden hose

unkinks again

spraying her face

ma

24) our slugs will only

drink imported beer

lp

25) in the early dawn

a single, piercing cry

jolts the calm

ds

26) could her jeans

be any tighter?

cls

27) after their annulment

sky typing

ten miles wide

bam

28) she draws the drapes

across the dirty windows

ma

29) a rumpled square

of moonlight

in the motorcycle shop

lp

30) new sake always inspired

the wandering poets

bam

31) invitation

to a feast of chanterelles

sautéed in butter

cls

32) even the atheist

joins hands for the prayer

cls

33) singing in unison

unexpected harmonies

raise goose bumps

ds

34) remember when we

reminisced into the night

lp

35) laughing

to be caught

in swirling cherry blossoms

aw

36) the koi leaps

into the shining wind

ra

(This renku was published in the 2014 membership anthology.)