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Writer's pictureKala Ramesh

RENKU: linked collaborative verses: TRIPARSHVA 17th verse & Call for 18!

Sabaki (lead poet) - Linda Papanicolaou


TRIPARSHVA RENKU - Post 14 SABAKI: L I N D A P A P A N I C O L A O U



POST: Choice of verse 17 & Call for verse 18

13th JULY 2022

CHOICE OF VERSE 17


With this verse, we are beginning the Kyu, the third and final side of our renku.”Kyu” Means “fast close,” and the nature of the verses we want in the section changes yet again. The topics of discussion are lighter, not edgy or complex, and avoid literary, political, or current events references that would take readers out of the poem. Returning to that analogy of the progress of a party, we are now at the point where the party is winding down and people are preparing to take their departure.


With this preface, several participants took me literally and offered verses about departure and travel. That was fortuitous, because although the renku has an airplane, the Sistine Chapel and a pyramid, we have not yet had a verse that is about travel, and it became clear to me that once again the renku was telling me what it wanted. All the travel topic verses were lovely and would have made an excellent lead-off for the Kyu, but the verse that stood out for me was Kala’s “trekking on Himalayas.” A few verses ago I had been wondering if our renku based on the Subcontinent saijiki would be able to include that iconic mountain range—especially since Kala will be there in two more months for a haiku workshop.


See how the verse shows us these pyramidal peaks rising from Amrutha’s verse, equating the peeling of extraneous layers with the simpler writing of our final “fast close” side. A brilliant metaphor!


Here are the three most recent verses together. If you’d like to see how well the Himalayan verse works with the break of sides, scroll down to the full renku further down on this post.


moonbeams dipping

into a storm drain and a stream

with the same alacrity / Priti Aisola


the whisper of falling leaves

rolls into a pyramid / Amrutha V. Prabhu


trekking on Himalayas

when layers

of our false selves peel off / Kala Ramesh



CALL FOR VERSE 18


This will be a single monsoon verse. The requirements are:


2 lines, monsoon.

person.

As always link to the previous verse, and shift away from the leap over the verse. Here they are again:


the whisper of falling leaves

rolls into a pyramid


trekking on Himalayas

when layers

of our false selves peel off


Recommendations: This is the second occurrence of Monsoon in our renku. When a topic repeats, the task is to make it different—explore different aspects. Reread Marcie’s and Milan’s monsoon verses in our Ha, and check them against the saijiki:(https://www.trivenihaikai.in/post/saijiki-monsoon-varsha) to see what you can bring to the renku that’s different.

Before you post, do a bit of self-critique. Have you checked (as best you can) that your verse follows the required criteria? How does it link to the previous verse? How does it shift away from the leap-over verse? What new topics or things does it introduce to the renku?


INSTRUCTIONS FOR SUBMITTING


Each participant may offer two submissions, posted together in the same comment, with your name as you would like it to appear in the renku. Instructions for submitting remain as last time.

The deadline is 48 hours from now. We follow Indian Standard Time (IST). This POST will go up on 13 July at 6 A.M. So on 15 July at 6 A.M, the window closes (IST). All the 18th verse offers must be posted on this thread BEFORE 6 A.M on 15 July.



THE RENKU SO FAR


1. Jo

house warming …

all the flavours of summer

on a dining table / Firdaus Parvi


a dozen ripened mangoes

from the neighbour next door / Kala Ramesh


the gleeful shouts

of street kids rolling

a bicycle tyre / Priti Aisola


an airplane through the clouds

in an indigo twilight / Margherita Petriccione


so close

the snow moon

envelops the field / Angiola Inglese


crackling silence as we bend

over the chess board / Sushama Kapur


2. Ha

caparisoned elephants

raising their trumpets amid

the village prayer beats / Lakshmi Iyer


a pied crested cuckoo

on a telephone wire / Marcie Wessels


after the downpour

she squeezes our clothes

under the banyan tree / Milan Rajkumar


a backlit craving races

into an embrace / Kavita Ratna


those dreams

of my first love

once again / Arvinder Kaur


the merry go round horse

stopped on a high note / Robert Kingston


a crick

in the neck

after Sistine Chapel / Sanjukta Asopa


shadows lengthen

into this new bite in the air / Sushama Kapur


a crick

in the neck

after Sistine Chapel / Sanjukta Asopa


shadows lengthen

into this new bite in the air / Sushama Kapur


moonbeams dipping

into a storm drain and a stream

with the same alacrity / Priti Aisola


the whisper of falling leaves

rolls into a pyramid / Amrutha V. Prabhu


3. Kyu


trekking on Himalayas

when layers

of our false selves peel off / Kala Ramesh



THE SCHEMA: NOTE ADJUSTMENTS IN VERSES 8-12 OF HA


Side one - Jo

hokku summer

wakiku summer

daisan non season

4 ns

5. winter moon

6 ns


***


Side 2 - Ha

7 ns

8 monsoon

9 monsoon love

10 ns lv

11 ns lv

12. ns

13 ns

14 autumn

15 au moon

16 autumn

***

Side 3 - Kyu


17 ns

18 monsoon (we are here!!)

19 ns

20 spring

21 sp blossom

ageku - sp



*** **** ***** LINKS TO RESOURCES:




Kondo and Higginson, “Link and Shift, A Practical Guide to Renku Composition”: http://www.2hweb.net/haikai/renku/Link_Shift.html


Ferris Gilli, “English Grammar: Variety in Renku”: https://sites.google.com/site/worldhaikureview2/whr-archives/grammar-in-renku


Richard Gilbert’s “Muki Saijiki”: https://gendaihaiku.com/research/kigo/05-muki-saijiki-TOC.htm

*** *** *** *** Linda, The renku is progressing so well. Honoured to have my verse chosen for this beautiful renku. _()_

169 views35 comments

35 Comments


Nani Mariani
Nani Mariani
Jul 17, 2022

There is a teacher

named univers


**

starlings chirping sweetly ..

to cheer up tired

Like

Arvinder Kaur
Arvinder Kaur
Jul 14, 2022

My offers


the last laburnum petals

in her rain wet hair


the laughter of children

splashing in puddles


Arvinder Kaur

Like

Arvinder Kaur
Arvinder Kaur
Jul 14, 2022

An amazing verse Kala. Congratulations !

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lakshmi iyer
lakshmi iyer
Jul 14, 2022

My offerings

.


tiny fingers pushing paperboats

in the fresh water puddles


.


arthritic fingers turning calendar

of the next festive season


.


Lakshmi Iyer


Like

angiola inglese
angiola inglese
Jul 13, 2022

My offers


with those clouds so dark

I put on my rain boots

---------------

dark gray clouds

cross the waves

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