solstice

solstice

a renga between

dorothy howard sheila windsor gerald england

composed january 2005

yesterday's sunset sky and this morning's equally diaphanous
white pine peering hard to see the start of you end of me
back on track intense cold the cactus bloom whiles away
the morning lost in thought and tea steam
a little stew left for lunch a man at the door and wind
gutter down still the repairers haven't come back


santa back in the box with stars
epiphany for a fortuitous advertisement
heavy rain the council clean street lamps
sycamore crows in such a swish & sway i doff my hat
lacesknottedonto snow glitter
squirrel scurries along the fence

out of order machine on SAQ strike
sunrise over the hill in matching aran sweaters
saturday gale only the florist on the market
berg-a-maid in a side note
fortune cookie i catch him peeping
her pet ferrett out on a leash

bottom road an ambulance piercing sirens
swollen tongue stud bloodied gold
hands & breasts : someone's plea for help
waving from the waves
in silence even this deep a pine sheds needles still
ice & slush to be cleared

blackbinbag flapping round the rosebush tears away
fast clouds ophelia here and gone
beet textured sigh the new year media release
imported strawberries at a price
week by week in tesco's the organic section grows
dust on the pane sunshine bright

motorway exit roundabout blocked a shed load
Methodist coffee morning hot toast
yellowed icing stuck to their feet the bride and groom
the childrens' clown waiting at the bus stop
gibbous moon all the way home we speak of raphael
press any key to continue the fire burns on

Beneath Thin Snow

Included in the latest issue of Simply Haiku: A Quarterly Journal of Japanese Short Form Poetry, Vol.7 #2 is Beneath Thin Snow, a triparshva renku by Carole MacRury, Colin Stewart Jones, Gerald England, Alison Williams, Susan Shand, Kathy Earsman, Norman Darlington and Mary White, composed in the Facebook Renku Group during December 2008 and January 2009.

There is also another version which includes Notes from some of the participants which gives a little insight into how the work was composed.

Evening Star

In 2005 under the leadership of William J. Higginson, eight poets gathered to compose the kasen The Click of Mahjong Tiles.

Upon news of Bill's death in October 2008 it seemed natural to gather again in the same spot of cyberspace where they had shared the creative and inspiring experience of writing with Bill three years earlier. To mark the passing of their friend and teacher, they decided to write to a pre-modern abbreviated form known as Ura Shiro, meaning "back blank" because it approximates to the first side of the first sheet of a hyakuin (100-verse renga). The Ura Shiro has eight verses; there were eight members in the group, including Bill, and an old ku of his was used as hokku.

First published in Frogpond Vol.32 #1, Evening Star by Carole MacRury, John Carley, Susan Shand, Gerald England, Hortensia Anderson, John W Sexton, Norman Darlington and William J, Higginson can now be viewed on Xaiku.