Wendy's Smile

This is Wendy Wright at Asilomar, backlit by the bright ocean sunlight.

moonlit road

the old oil wells

for company 

Wendy Wright

This is one of the moon verses from the renku party in 2004.

This renku was called "Thistle Seeds."

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.)

Renku Laughter

At the end of each YT Haiku Retreat, we have a Renku Party!

We write a linked-verse poem according to a plan.

It is quite a bit of fun as you can tell from this photo!

Left to right: Carol Steele, Judith Schallberger and Wendy Wright.

moonstones

marry the sea’s rhythms—

stories in my palm

Judith Morrison Schallberger

To the sea . . .

To the sea, the sea! The new boardwalk at Asilomar during the YT Retreat in 2009.

on and on---endless---

this passage of shearwaters

---the summer sea

Patricia J. Machmiller

The Mockingbird Sings; 1997 Membership Anthology

Yuki Teikei Haiku Society, page 12.

A fox has changed himself

When we visited Japan in Cherry Blossom Time, we were also in the time of Young Leaves.

(Remember to use the Yuki Teikei website at youngleaves.org)

Hiji shiroki so no karine ya yoi no haru

The white elbow

of a priest who is dozing!

Dusk in spring.

  

Buson

Kindachi ni kitsune baketari yoi no haru

Into a nobleman

a fox has changed himself--

early evening of spring

  

Buson

Haiku Master Buson; Yuki Sawa and Edith M. Schiffert,

Heian, 1978, page 54.

Three Presidents

The women in this picture have all been presidents of the

Yuki Teikei Haiku Society!

Left to right: Patricia J. Machmiller, Alison Woolpert 

and in the photo, founder, Kiyoko Tokutomi.

This picture was taken at an Asilomar Haiku Retreat at which

we celebrated the publication of the Tokutomi's letters to each other. (LINK)

white breath

the passage of the spirit world

through the sipapu

Alison Woolpert

Wild Violets; Yuki Teikei Membership Anthology 2011, page 18.

Wikipedia information on the sipapu.

Catching Dreams

We usually try to include an afternoon of making art in each of our YT Retreats.

This is Wendy Wright's booklet made from paper decorated by blowing

small amounts of watercolor paint with a straw. See how perfect it is as a haiku-catcher?

first autumn rain . . .

dusting the dream-catcher

for a houseguest

Wendy Wright


Wild Violets; 
Yuki Teikei Haiku Society Member's Anthology 2011,
page 19.