Rengay Through the Seasons #9 [1-4]

by Masago: Rengay #9 (Oct 28 - Nov 3), Verses 1-4 (of 6)

Revealing itself / upon a banana leaf — October wind.
Tree foliage descends — naked limbs emerge.
A battleship tattoo / under a sleeve rolled-up — blood-pressure test.
Fast-food server — my order taken between / tongue-ring flashes.

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Rengay Through the Seasons #9 [1-3]

by Masago: Rengay #9 (Oct 28 - Nov 3), Verses 1-3 (of 6)

Revealing itself / upon a banana leaf — October wind.
Tree foliage descends — naked limbs emerge.
A battleship tattoo / under a sleeve rolled-up — blood-pressure test.

Click here for the previous rengay in the series.

Rengay Through the Seasons #9 [1-2]

by Masago: Rengay #9 (Oct 28 - Nov 3), Verses 1-2 (of 6)

Revealing itself / upon a banana leaf — October wind.
Tree foliage descends — naked limbs emerge.

Click here for the previous rengay in the series.

Rengay Through the Seasons #9 [1]

by Masago: Rengay #9 (Oct 28 - Nov 3), Verse 1 (of 6)

Revealing itself / upon a banana leaf — October wind.

This first verse was selected as co-winner of the World Haiku Review, 2006/Autumn issue.

Click here for the previous rengay in the series.

Rengay Through the Seasons #8 Summary

by Daniela Bullas (db), and Vaughn Seward (vs);
Rengay #8 (Oct 21-27) Summary:

At the Mirror

All 'round the scarecrow / a large flock of loud blackbirds — he wears new old clothes. /db
Just-built library courtyard — Mahatma Gandhi's bronze head. /vs
A whodunit book — disguising his appearance / with a judge’s wig. /db
His peg-leg missing — the Captain orders "no rum" / till someone 'fesses. /vs
Pinocchio's nose — the cricket / sings a modern, pop'lar tune. /db
Lightsaber duel: her dad as Darth Vader and / his mirror image. /vs

Each 3-line haiku in this Rengay is in the 5-7-5 syllable format, and each 2-line haiku is in the 7-7 syllable format.

We had two themes in mind when we developed this Rengay: "Human-related Fakeness" and the pattern of "Old/New" (note that the two 2-line verses represent the New).

Verse 4 mentions Pinocchio. This is from a novel called "The Adventures of Pinocchio" that was completed as a book for children in 1883. In the 1940's Disney version of Pinocchio, a cartoon cricket named Jiminy was appointed by the Blue Fairy to serve as the conscience for Pinocchio. He is also a comical and wise partner who accompanies Pinocchio on his adventures. The cricket sang the movie's theme song "When You Wish upon a Star" over the opening credits and again in the final scene of the film.

The last verse's "lightsaber" is a fictional weapon from the Star Wars movies. It is like a saber, but with the metal blade replaced by something resembling a solid bar or cylindrical beam of plasma about one meter long. "Dad" is cited for the Old/New theme not only because dad's are older than kids but usually it's kids that dress up and role play. Isn't Dad a little too old for that? A fun aspect of this verse is that Dad is playing out some childhood fantasy in the mirror (fighting himself), with the hint in the verse that his young daughter is watching.

The title "At the Mirror" was chosen is it reflects seeing yourself in the mirror as old/young and, of course, the image is fake. It also parallels the reflections in the rengay itself in that the pattern of the Old/New theme is reflective, i.e. old-new-old / old-new-old. As well, the pattern of haijin is mirrored: db-vs-db / vs-db-vs.

Please click here for link details and other notes:

http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pcytHc47X3uA76xDPck3_Bw&gid=0

Click here for the previous rengay in the series.

Rengay Through the Seasons #8 [1-6]

by Daniela Bullas (db), and Vaughn Seward (vs);
Rengay #8 (Oct 21-27) Verses 1-6 (of 6):

All 'round the scarecrow / a large flock of loud blackbirds — he wears new old clothes. /db
Just-built library courtyard — Mahatma Gandhi's bronze head. /vs
A whodunit book — disguising his appearance / with a judge’s wig. /db
His peg-leg missing — the Captain orders "no rum" / till someone 'fesses. /vs
Pinocchio's nose — the cricket / sings a modern, pop'lar tune. /db
Lightsaber duel: her dad as Darth Vader and / his mirror image. /vs

Click here for the previous rengay in the series.

Rengay Through the Seasons #8 [1-5]

by Daniela Bullas (db), and Vaughn Seward (vs);
Rengay #8 (Oct 21-27) Verses 1-5 (of 6):

All 'round the scarecrow / a large flock of loud blackbirds — he wears new old clothes. /db
Just-built library courtyard — Mahatma Gandhi's bronze head. /vs
A whodunit book — disguising his appearance / with a judge’s wig. /db
His peg-leg missing — the Captain orders "no rum" / till someone 'fesses. /vs
Pinocchio's nose — the cricket / sings a modern, pop'lar tune. /db

Click here for the previous rengay in the series.

Rengay Through the Seasons #8 [1-4]

by Daniela Bullas (db), and Vaughn Seward (vs);
Rengay #8 (Oct 21-27) Verses 1-4 (of 6):

All 'round the scarecrow / a large flock of loud blackbirds — he wears new old clothes. /db
Just-built library courtyard — Mahatma Gandhi's bronze head. /vs
A whodunit book — disguising his appearance / with a judge’s wig. /db
His peg-leg missing — the Captain orders "no rum" / till someone 'fesses. /vs

Click here for the previous rengay in the series.

Rengay Through the Seasons #8 [1-3]

by Daniela Bullas (db), and Vaughn Seward (vs);
Rengay #8 (Oct 21-27) Verses 1-3 (of 6):

All 'round the scarecrow / a large flock of loud blackbirds — he wears new old clothes. /db
Just-built library courtyard — Mahatma Gandhi's bronze head. /vs
A whodunit book — disguising his appearance / with a judge’s wig. /db

[In England and Wales judges had worn full-bottomed wigs for criminal trials until the 1840s. This old-fashioned custom is now only used for ceremonial dress and in January, 2008 the tradition will be abolished.]

Click here for the previous rengay in the series.

Rengay Through the Seasons #8 [1-2]

by Daniela Bullas (db), and Vaughn Seward (vs);
Rengay #8 (Oct 21-27), Verses 1-2 (of 6):

All 'round the scarecrow / a large flock of loud blackbirds — he wears new old clothes. /db
Just-built library courtyard — Mahatma Gandhi's bronze head. /vs

Click here for the previous rengay in the series.

Rengay Through the Seasons #8 [1]

by Daniela Bullas (db), and Vaughn Seward (vs);
Rengay #8 (Oct 21-27), Verse 1 (of 6):

All 'round the scarecrow / a large flock of loud blackbirds — he wears new old clothes. /db

This rengay was written with Daniela Draghia-Bullas who was born in 1969 in Deva, Romania. She holds a degree in archaeology and museology and has lived with her husband in the U.K. since 2001. Daniela started writing poetry and prose in her teens. Her short stories won her the "Scanteia tineretului" Award in 1988. Her editorial debut was the "Umbra Libelulei" (Dragonfly's Shadow), a haiku anthology. Between 2003 and 2007 she has been a member of the editorial staff of two Romanian magazines. She has also published two books and several of her works have appeared in on-line journals.

I met Daniela via the The Outlaw Poets Yahoo group and since the Spring of 2007 we have written numerous renku and rengay together. Daniela likes to write haiku in the 5-7-5 / 7-7 syllable format so each verse in this eighth rengay of the series is in this format.

Click here for the previous rengay in the series.

Rengay Through the Seasons #7 Summary

by Masago: Rengay #7 (Oct 14-20) Summary

Tinkle of an Earring

Autumn lawn... more leaf-mulching than / grass-cutting.
National Geographic — she clips pictures for school.
Grandma blinks / for the fourth straight time — family portrait.
A young man / across the table... a speck / in her eye.
Vacuuming some crumbs — the tinkle of an earring.
Harvest hail — mice in the wheat field / head for cover.

This first verse was selected as the 64th entry in the World Haiku showcase on Oct 1, 2005:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WHCshowcase/message/73

The theme in this rengay is "Unintended Outcomes". The idea in verse 4 is that the young woman gets a speck in her eye which the young man interprets as a flirtatious wink. In verse 6, at first the hail chases the mice to take cover, but later it turns out to be a possible benefit as the damaged wheat may not get harvested and could be left for the mice to eat during the coming winter. In writing this I saw some parallels that we often face in our lives.

Please click here for link, theme, and other comments:

http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pcytHc47X3uB749-GHg14Zw&gid=0

Click here for the previous rengay in the series.

Rengay Through the Seasons #7 [1-6]

by Masago: Rengay #7 (Oct 14-20), Verses 1-6 (of 6)

Autumn lawn... more leaf-mulching than / grass-cutting.
National Geographic — she clips pictures for school.
Grandma blinks / for the fourth straight time — family portrait.
A young man / across the table... a speck / in her eye.
Vacuuming some crumbs — the tinkle of an earring.
Harvest hail — mice in the wheat field / head for cover.

Click here for the previous rengay in the series.

Rengay Through the Seasons #7 [1-5]

by Masago: Rengay #7 (Oct 14-20), Verses 1-5 (of 6)

Autumn lawn... more leaf-mulching than / grass-cutting.
National Geographic — she clips pictures for school.
Grandma blinks / for the fourth straight time — family portrait.
A young man / across the table... a speck / in her eye.
Vacuuming some crumbs — the tinkle of an earring.

Click here for the previous rengay in the series.

Rengay Through the Seasons #7 [1-4]

by Masago: Rengay #7 (Oct 14-20), Verses 1-4 (of 6)

Autumn lawn... more leaf-mulching than / grass-cutting.
National Geographic — she clips pictures for school.
Grandma blinks / for the fourth straight time — family portrait.
A young man / across the table... a speck / in her eye.

Click here for the previous rengay in the series.

Rengay Through the Seasons #7 [1-3]

by Masago: Rengay #7 (Oct 14-20), Verses 1-3 (of 6)

Autumn lawn... more leaf-mulching than / grass-cutting.
National Geographic — she clips pictures for school.
Grandma blinks / for the fourth straight time — family portrait.

Click here for the previous rengay in the series.

Rengay Through the Seasons #7 [1-2]

by Masago: Rengay #7 (Oct 14-20), Verses 1-2 (of 6)

Autumn lawn... more leaf-mulching than / grass-cutting.
National Geographic — she clips pictures for school.

Click here for the previous rengay in the series.

Rengay Through the Seasons #7 [1]

by Masago: Rengay #7 (Oct 14-20), Verses 1 (of 6)

Autumn lawn... more leaf-mulching than / grass-cutting.

Click here for the previous rengay in the series.

Rengay Through the Seasons #6 Summary

by Masago: Rengay #6 (Oct 7 - 13) Summary

Over the Rail

Yellow leaves / falling in the sun...like / flakes of snow.
Her lush blond hair — first gray pulled out.
Sudden gust... his toupee lifts off, over / the bridge rail.
We pass over, the muffler does not — railway crossing.
Lake-side autumn picnic — the boom box plays hits.
Roadside vendor — cobs of corn overflow / onto the ground.

This haiku was written from a personal experience of seeing leaves being shaken off a tree laden with leaves in the fall. A gust of wind knocked off a whole "layer" of leaves and they drifted to the ground with the sun, low in the horizon, shining behind them. It instantly reminded me of a fresh snowfall being knocked off a tree in the wind. Both images are relatively uncommon. The snow has to have just fallen and be very dry, the temperature -20C or lower.

I'm not a big fan of comparisons and allusions in haiku but I felt it was essential in this one as all my other attempts at expressing this experience in haiku were pathetic. I posted this version of the haiku somewhere back in 2005/2006 and at least two individuals said this struck a chord with them (they had the same experience). I therefore felt justified in using it as the "hokku" in this rengay.

This was written without any idea of it telling a story. Later however, I noticed that one could easily envision a story about a family going out on an Autumn picnic.

Please click here for link, theme, and other comments:

http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pcytHc47X3uAENBSpyg4WIg&gid=0

Click here for the previous rengay in the series.

Rengay Through the Seasons #6 [1-6]

by Masago: Rengay #6 (Oct 7-13), Verses 1-6 (of 6)

Yellow leaves / falling in the sun...like / flakes of snow.
Her lush blond hair — first gray pulled out.
Sudden gust... his toupee lifts off, over / the bridge rail.
We pass over, the muffler does not — railway crossing.
Lake-side autumn picnic — the boom box plays hits.
Roadside vendor — cobs of corn overflow / onto the ground.

Click here for the previous rengay in the series.

Rengay Through the Seasons #6 [1-5]

by Masago: Rengay #6 (Oct 7-13), Verses 1-5 (of 6)

Yellow leaves / falling in the sun...like / flakes of snow.
Her lush blond hair — first gray pulled out.
Sudden gust... his toupee lifts off, over / the bridge rail.
We pass over, the muffler does not — railway crossing.
Lake-side autumn picnic — the boom box plays hits.

Click here for the previous rengay in the series.

Rengay Through the Seasons #6 [1-4]

by Masago: Rengay #6 (Oct 7-13), Verses 1-4 (of 6)

Yellow leaves / falling in the sun...like / flakes of snow.
Her lush blond hair — first gray pulled out.
Sudden gust... his toupee lifts off, over / the bridge rail.
We pass over, the muffler does not — railway crossing.

Click here for the previous rengay in the series.

Rengay Through the Seasons #6 [1-3]

by Masago: Rengay #6 (Oct 7-13), Verses 1-3 (of 6)

Yellow leaves / falling in the sun...like / flakes of snow.
Her lush blond hair — first gray pulled out.
Sudden gust... his toupee lifts off, over / the bridge rail.

Click here for the previous rengay in the series.

Rengay Through the Seasons #6 [1-2]

by Masago: Rengay #6 (Oct 7-13), Verses 1-2 (of 6)

Yellow leaves / falling in the sun...like / flakes of snow.
Her lush blond hair — first gray pulled out.

Click here for the previous rengay in the series.

Rengay Through the Seasons #6 [1]

by Masago: Rengay #6 (Oct 7-13), Verse 1 (of 6)

Yellow leaves / falling in the sun...like / flakes of snow.

Click here for the previous rengay in the series.

Rengay Through the Seasons #5 Summary

by Masago: Rengay #5 (Sep 30 - Oct 6) Summary

Remnants

Autumn morning — an old barn bites down / into the ground.
Abandoned farm truck... its door also in the box.
River valley — a rusted bicycle frame / lodged in an elm.
A small piece / of embedded barbed wire — tree trunk.
A yellowing telegram: "Coming Home Now".
Their initials / with nineteen-twenty-one — large, flat rock.

The first verse for this rengay was written early one morning on 2005 as we were leaving to go on a long trip. As we drove through the rural countryside I saw a very old abandoned barn. It seemed to me as if it was biting down into the ground.

A central theme of "remnants" was obvious from this first verse. Then, after writing the third verse, it occurred to me that it would be interesting if each verse's remnant reference got progressively smaller in size (but not less significant). The feet and inches equivalent sizes are: Barn (270' x 115'), Truck (13' x 5'), Bicycle (13' x 5'), Wire (6'), Telegram (6" x 4"), Initials (4" x 1"). The third theme of "lodged" was actually discovered quite awhile after the rengay was written.

Please click here for link, theme, and other comments:

http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pcytHc47X3uB-KAejxWOMMQ&gid=0

Click here for the previous rengay in the series.

Rengay Through the Seasons #5 [1-6]

by Masago: Rengay 5 (Sep 30 - Oct 6), Verses 1-6 (of 6)

Autumn morning — an old barn bites down / into the ground.
Abandoned farm truck... its door also in the box.
River valley — a rusted bicycle frame / lodged in an elm.
A small piece / of embedded barbed wire — tree trunk.
A yellowing telegram: "Coming Home Now".
Their initials / with nineteen-twenty-one — large, flat rock.

Click here for the previous rengay in the series.

Rengay Through the Seasons #5 [1-5]

by Masago: Rengay 5 (Sep 30 - Oct 6), Verses 1-5 (of 6)

Autumn morning — an old barn bites down / into the ground.
Abandoned farm truck... its door also in the box.
River valley — a rusted bicycle frame / lodged in an elm.
A small piece / of embedded barbed wire — tree trunk.
A yellowing telegram: "Coming Home Now".

Click here for the previous rengay in the series.

Rengay Through the Seasons #5 [1-4]

by Masago: Rengay 5 (Sep 30 - Oct 6), Verses 1-4 (of 6)

Autumn morning — an old barn bites down / into the ground.
Abandoned farm truck... its door also in the box.
River valley — a rusted bicycle frame / lodged in an elm.
A small piece / of embedded barbed wire — tree trunk.

Click here for the previous rengay in the series.

Rengay Through the Seasons #5 [1-3]

by Masago: Rengay 5 (Sep 30 - Oct 6), Verses 1-3 (of 6)

Autumn morning — an old barn bites down / into the ground.
Abandoned farm truck... its door also in the box.
River valley — a rusted bicycle frame / lodged in an elm.

Click here for the previous rengay in the series.

Rengay Through the Seasons #5 [1-2]

by Masago: Rengay 5 (Sep 30 - Oct 6), Verses 1-2 (of 6)

Autumn morning — an old barn bites down / into the ground.
Abandoned farm truck... its door also in the box.

Click here for the previous rengay in the series.