Rengay Through the Seasons #13 [1-6]

by Masago: Rengay #13 (Nov 25 - Dec 1), Verses 1-6 (of 6)

Cascades of pink / among windowsill cacti — first openings.
Popcorn out of the microwave — steam bursts from the corners.
Weight watcher — the host offers her another / piece of cake.
Channel surfing — a new gadget shown on / the shopping channel.
Crowded holiday mall — she squeezes his hand tighter.
A stubborn cork / finally comes loose — bottle of Rosé.

Click here for the previous rengay in the series.

Rengay Through the Seasons #13 [1-5]

by Masago: Rengay #13 (Nov 25 - Dec 1), Verses 1-5 (of 6)

Cascades of pink / among windowsill cacti — first openings.
Popcorn out of the microwave — steam bursts from the corners.
Weight watcher — the host offers her another / piece of cake.
Channel surfing — a new gadget shown on / the shopping channel.
Crowded holiday mall — she squeezes his hand tighter.

Click here for the previous rengay in the series.

Rengay Through the Seasons #13 [1-4]

by Masago: Rengay #13 (Nov 25 - Dec 1), Verses 1-4 (of 6)

Cascades of pink / among windowsill cacti — first openings.
Popcorn out of the microwave — steam bursts from the corners.
Weight watcher — the host offers her another / piece of cake.
Channel surfing — a new gadget shown on / the shopping channel.

Click here for the previous rengay in the series.

Rengay Through the Seasons #13 [1-3]

by Masago: Rengay #13 (Nov 25 - Dec 1), Verses 1-3 (of 6)

Cascades of pink / among windowsill cacti — first openings.
Popcorn out of the microwave — steam bursts from the corners.
Weight watcher — the host offers her another / piece of cake.

Click here for the previous rengay in the series.

Rengay Through the Seasons #13 [1-2]

by Masago: Rengay #13 (Nov 25 - Dec 1), Verses 1-2 (of 6)

Cascades of pink / among windowsill cacti — first openings.
Popcorn out of the microwave — steam bursts from the corners.

Click here for the previous rengay in the series.

Rengay Through the Seasons #13 [1]

by Masago: Rengay #13 (Nov 25 - Dec 1), Verse 1 (of 6)

Cascades of pink / among windowsill cacti — first openings.

Click here for the previous rengay in the series.

Rengay Through the Seasons #12 Summary

by Max Verhart (mv), and Vaughn Seward (vs);
Rengay #12 (Nov 18-24) Summary

The Graying Hare

Hazy sunlight — a cloud of lapwings / practicing. /mv
After school at the piano... thoughts of other places. /vs
Rattling shutters — Checking the condition / of my sweaters. /mv
The graying hare / hops into a willow thicket — overcast day. /vs
A kid's shoe with a carrot / sitting near the fireplace. /mv
A grizzly lingers / in a patch of rose hips — darkening sky. /vs

The theme we had in mind for this rengay is "Preparation" which is something we find man and nature doing, especially in late Autumn. You will notice that there is a balance between the number of verses that are nature-related (1, 4, & 6) and those that are human-related (2, 3, & 5).

The link between verse 1 and 2 is 'other places'. For the lapwings it is the other places they will be flying to, for the child practicing piano it could be two things: (a) he/she would rather being doing something else in some other place, like playing outside or in his/her room; (b) the music being practiced conjures up far-away places (Oriental, Country, European, etc).

In verse 5 there is a reference to the Dutch tradition of Saint Nicolaas which is more popularly known as Sinterklaas. In the Netherlands he arrives in late November and rides a white horse. Helped by his black assistants, he brings children small presents, which are supposedly delivered through the chimney and placed in the children's shoes. That's why these shoes are usually waiting near the fireplace (or near a radiator, nowadays), often with some hay or a carrot in it for Sinterklaas' horse. This continues till December 5th, when Sinterklaas brings the bigger presents, after which he immediately departs again. Santa Claus, as known elsewhere in the world, is a modern spin off of this old European tradition.

Verse 6: Black bears and grizzlies eat rose hips in the fall. The link with v.5 is 'Carrot' with 'Rose hip', but also the image of a veggie within something. In verse 5 the carrot is within the shoe, in verse 6 the rose hips are being put inside the bear.

Please click here for link details and other notes:

http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pcytHc47X3uAArpV5fER6WA&gid=0

Click here for the previous rengay in the series.

Rengay Through the Seasons #12 [1-6]

by Max Verhart (mv), and Vaughn Seward (vs);
Rengay #12 (Nov 18-24) Verses 1-6 (of 6):

Hazy sunlight — a cloud of lapwings / practicing. /mv
After school at the piano... thoughts of other places. /vs
Rattling shutters — Checking the condition / of my sweaters. /mv
The graying hare / hops into a willow thicket — overcast day. /vs
A kid's shoe with a carrot / sitting near the fireplace. /mv
A grizzly lingers / in a patch of rose hips — darkening sky. /vs

[Black bears and grizzlies eat rose hips in the fall. ]

Click here for the previous rengay in the series.

Rengay Through the Seasons #12 [1-5]

by Max Verhart (mv), and Vaughn Seward (vs);
Rengay #12 (Nov 18-24) Verses 1-5 (of 6):

Hazy sunlight — a cloud of lapwings / practicing. /mv
After school at the piano... thoughts of other places. /vs
Rattling shutters — Checking the condition / of my sweaters. /mv
The graying hare / hops into a willow thicket — overcast day. /vs
A kid's shoe with a carrot / sitting near the fireplace. /mv

[In Dutch tradition Saint Nicolaas, or more popularly Sinterklaas, arrives in late November. He rides a white horse and, helped by his black assistants, brings children small presents, which are supposedly delivered through the chimney and put in the kids' shoes. That's why these shoes are usually waiting near the fireplace (or near a radiator, nowadays), often with some hay or a carrot in it for Sinterklaas' horse. This continues till December 5th, when Sinterklaas brings the bigger presents, after which he immediately departs again. Santa Claus, as known elsewhere in the world, is a modern spin off of this old European tradition.]

Click here for the previous rengay in the series.

Rengay Through the Seasons #12 [1-4]

by Max Verhart (mv), and Vaughn Seward (vs);
Rengay #12 (Nov 18-24) Verses 1-4 (of 6):

Hazy sunlight — a cloud of lapwings / practicing. /mv
After school at the piano... thoughts of other places. /vs
Rattling shutters — Checking the condition / of my sweaters. /mv
The graying hare / hops into a willow thicket — overcast day. /vs

Click here for the previous rengay in the series.

Rengay Through the Seasons #12 [1-3]

by Max Verhart (mv), and Vaughn Seward (vs);
Rengay #12 (Nov 18-24) Verses 1-3 (of 6):

Hazy sunlight — a cloud of lapwings / practicing. /mv
After school at the piano... thoughts of other places. /vs
Rattling shutters — Checking the condition / of my sweaters. /mv

Click here for the previous rengay in the series.

Rengay Through the Seasons #12 [1-2]

by Max Verhart (mv), and Vaughn Seward (vs);
Rengay #12 (Nov 18-24) Verses 1-2 (of 6):

Hazy sunlight — a cloud of lapwings / practicing. /mv
After school at the piano... thoughts of other places. /vs

Click here for the previous rengay in the series.

Rengay Through the Seasons #12 [1]

by Max Verhart (mv), and Vaughn Seward (vs);
Rengay #12 (Nov 18-24) Verse 1 (of 6):

Hazy sunlight — a cloud of lapwings / practicing. /mv

This rengay was written with Max Verhart who was born in 1944 in the Netherlands. He has written and published haiku since approximately 1980 and has held the following haiku association positions:

• President of the Haiku Circle Netherlands (1999-2003).
• European director of the World Haiku Association (2001-2002).
• Member of the editorial staff of the Red Moon Anthology (USA) since 2002.
• Co-editor of the Dutch/Flemish quarterly Vuursteen (Flint), the oldest haiku journal in Europe (2003-present).
• Associate editor for Modern Haiku, USA (2007-present).

Translations of Max's haiku have been published in journals, e-zines, and anthologies in at least twelve languages. Individual volumes include:

• Zijn met wat is (To be with what is), 1993.
• Een beetje adem, 1998 (English version: some breath, 1999).
• Geen woord teveel/not a word too much, 2000.
• Om kort te gaan (to be short) 2005.
• With Betty Kaplan: smoke signals - nine rengay, 2003.
• With Horst Ludwig: twelve moons/zwolf Monde/twelve moons - a bilingual rengay series (with English translation), 2004.

Max started his own small private publishing house called 't schrijverke' (whirlywig) in 2005.

I first encountered Max's work in issues of the Outlaw Poet's Sketchbook. In each issue he and Betty Kaplan wrote Rengay that I found captivating and original. I was very pleased when Max agreed to participate in this Rengay series.

Click here for the previous rengay in the series.

Rengay Through the Seasons #11 Summary

by Masago: Rengay #11 (Nov 11-17, 2007) Summary

Crust of White

A crust of white / becomes a sheet of dew — early morning.
Steamed mirror — she applies / final touches of lipstick.
His canvas depicts / autumn colours — the essence / barely captured.
New jeans — that worn out look with / rips and tears.
Winterized garden — holes / where veggies had grown.
The first snow / blankets the yard — branches / of rhubarb droop.

The central theme of this rengay is "Transformation". The other two themes are "Flatness" and "Colours".

There is an artist's depiction of an autumn scene in verse 3. Is it possible to really capture the essence of this experience? Is it not a difficult thing to accomplish, to capture this essence of the autumn feeling. The artist perhaps did so, but just barely, even though it may be a very excellent, remarkable picture. On the surface of the canvas, the painting faithfully reproduces the autumn colours, perhaps very well, but that essence of the autumn experience can only be barely captured (the light reflecting off the leaves, the smells, the cool breeze... these are some of things that constitute the full essence).

Verse 4 references a trend that's been around for a number of years and that is the buying of jeans that have been already "worn". This is accomplished by washing them in sand/rocks and creating rips and tears as if the jeans had been worn for several years.

Please click here for link details and other notes:

http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pcytHc47X3uBBImvU_jdAXw

Click here for the previous rengay in the series.

Rengay Through the Seasons #11 [1-6]

by Masago: Rengay #11 (Nov 11-17), Verses 1-6 (of 6)

A crust of white / becomes a sheet of dew — early morning.
Steamed mirror — she applies / final touches of lipstick.
His canvas depicts / autumn colours — the essence / barely captured.
New jeans — that worn out look with / rips and tears.
Winterized garden — holes / where veggies had grown.
The first snow / blankets the yard — branches / of rhubarb droop.

Click here for the previous rengay in the series.

Rengay Through the Seasons #11 [1-5]

by Masago: Rengay #11 (Nov 11-17), Verses 1-5 (of 6)

A crust of white / becomes a sheet of dew — early morning.
Steamed mirror — she applies / final touches of lipstick.
His canvas depicts / autumn colours — the essence / barely captured.
New jeans — that worn out look with / rips and tears.
Winterized garden — holes / where veggies had grown.

Click here for the previous rengay in the series.

Rengay Through the Seasons #11 [1-4]

by Masago: Rengay #11 (Nov 11-17), Verses 1-4 (of 6)

A crust of white / becomes a sheet of dew — early morning.
Steamed mirror — she applies / final touches of lipstick.
His canvas depicts / autumn colours — the essence / barely captured.
New jeans — that worn out look with / rips and tears.

Click here for the previous rengay in the series.

Rengay Through the Seasons #11 [1-3]

by Masago: Rengay #11 (Nov 11-17), Verses 1-3 (of 6)

A crust of white / becomes a sheet of dew — early morning.
Steamed mirror — she applies / final touches of lipstick.
His canvas depicts / autumn colours — the essence / barely captured.

Click here for the previous rengay in the series.

Rengay Through the Seasons #11 [1-2]

by Masago: Rengay #11 (Nov 11-17), Verses 1-2 (of 6)

A crust of white / becomes a sheet of dew — early morning.
Steamed mirror — she applies / final touches of lipstick.

Click here for the previous rengay in the series.

Rengay Through the Seasons #11 [1]

by Masago: Rengay #11 (Nov 11-17), Verse 1 (of 6)

A crust of white / becomes a sheet of dew — early morning.

Click here for the previous rengay in the series.

Rengay Through the Seasons #10 Summary

by Masago: Rengay #10 (Nov 4-10, 2007) Summary

Heading South

Prairie horizon — ducks in a 'V' fly in / from the north.
An A-frame roof raised - the urban view expands.
A horse shoe / over the fireplace mantle — fading memories.
Basement reno — the wooden sawhorse, now / the kids' pony.
Telephone pole nest — an osprey lands with fish.
E-mail message: "Our last kid moved out / just yesterday."

The central theme of this rengay is the spelling of the word "VACATE". Each verse contributes a letter in sequence either by name as in verses 1, 2, and 6, or by shape as in verses 3, 4, and 5. The word VACATE, of course, is related to the ducks in the first verse that are vacating their Northern summer home as well as the last kid that has moved out in verse 6.

There is a secondary theme of things related to Homes.

Please click here for link details and other notes:

http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pcytHc47X3uC7wSui-EiVUA&gid=0

Click here for the previous rengay in the series.

Rengay Through the Seasons #10 [1-6]

by Masago: Rengay #10 (Nov 4-10), Verses 1-6 (of 6)

Prairie horizon — ducks in a 'V' fly in / from the north.
An A-frame roof raised - the urban view expands.
A horse shoe / over the fireplace mantle — fading memories.
Basement reno — the wooden sawhorse, now / the kids' pony.
Telephone pole nest — an osprey lands with fish.
E-mail message: "Our last kid moved out / just yesterday."

Click here for the previous rengay in the series.

Rengay Through the Seasons #10 [1-5]

by Masago: Rengay #10 (Nov 4-10), Verses 1-5 (of 6)

Prairie horizon — ducks in a 'V' fly in / from the north.
An A-frame roof raised - the urban view expands.
A horse shoe / over the fireplace mantle — fading memories.
Basement reno — the wooden sawhorse, now / the kids' pony.
Telephone pole nest — an osprey lands with fish.

Click here for the previous rengay in the series.

Rengay Through the Seasons #10 [1-4]

by Masago: Rengay #10 (Nov 4-10), Verses 1-4 (of 6)

Prairie horizon — ducks in a 'V' fly in / from the north.
An A-frame roof raised - the urban view expands.
A horse shoe / over the fireplace mantle — fading memories.
Basement reno — the wooden sawhorse, now / the kids' pony.

Click here for the previous rengay in the series.

Rengay Through the Seasons #10 [1-3]

by Masago: Rengay #10 (Nov 4-10), Verses 1-3 (of 6)

Prairie horizon — ducks in a 'V' fly in / from the north.
An A-frame roof raised - the urban view expands.
A horse shoe / over the fireplace mantle — fading memories.

Click here for the previous rengay in the series.

Rengay Through the Seasons #10 [1-2]

by Masago: Rengay #10 (Nov 4-10), Verses 1-2 (of 6)

Prairie horizon — ducks in a 'V' fly in / from the north.
An A-frame roof raised - the urban view expands.

Click here for the previous rengay in the series.

Rengay Through the Seasons #10 [1]

by Masago: Rengay #10 (Nov 4-10), Verse 1 (of 6)

Prairie horizon — ducks in a 'V' fly in / from the north.

Click here for the previous rengay in the series.

Rengay Through the Seasons #9 Summary

by Masago: Rengay #7 (Oct 28 - Nov 3) Summary

Under a Sleeve

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.
A rabbit-sized lump — the snake barely slithers.
Pink popcorn — a plastic toy whistle / at the box's bottom.

The central theme of this rengay is "Revealed" with a secondary theme of "Food Related". In verse 3 there is a reference to a tattoo. It was common for men to have tattoos that reflected their virility and strength. A depiction of a battleship would be one such image. It is ironical now that his strength may be in question with this blood pressure examination. As kids we'd gobble down the Lucky Pink Elephant popcorn (verse 6) to get to the cheap toy which was invariably at the bottom.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucky_Elephant_Popcorn

Please click here for link details and other notes:

http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pcytHc47X3uBFmD3M9RO5bQ&gid=0

Click here for the previous rengay in the series.

Rengay Through the Seasons #9 [1-6]

by Masago: Rengay #9 (Oct 28 - Nov 3), Verses 1-6 (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.
A rabbit-sized lump — the snake barely slithers.
Pink popcorn — a plastic toy whistle / at the box's bottom.

Click here for the previous rengay in the series.

Rengay Through the Seasons #9 [1-5]

by Masago: Rengay #9 (Oct 28 - Nov 3), Verses 1-5 (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.
A rabbit-sized lump — the snake barely slithers.

Click here for the previous rengay in the series.