After learning about non-western forms in Susan Lilley’s Poetry Alchemy 2 workshop, participants collaborated on a renga via email.
Susan Lilley writes: In times past, Samurais would hold long renga sessions into the night, fueled by frequent sips of sake. A completed renga typically covers all four seasons and lasts about fifty stanzas. Our more economical, 14-stanza version was done over a period of a few weeks, sent from email to email. (Sake optional!) Enjoy, and try to see the way one stanza leads to the next without establishing any narrative.
Read the Florida Spring Renga by Vanessa Blakeslee, Brian Crimmins, Kathryn DiBernardo, Didi Gibbs, Susan Lilley, Kay Mullally, Michele Randall, Steven Williams
The renga (or renku, according to some) is a form of Japanese linked poetry practiced from the 17th century to today. A very social form, the renga depends on cooperation and good spirits—sort of a party in words.
A haiku-like verse is written by the first “player” followed by two lines suggested by that verse written by the next person in the chain. The next person must write a haiku suggested by the second stanza but unrelated to the first. This pattern keeps the ongoing chain fresh and varied and constantly moving to new material.
Traditionally, words and images that evoke the season and/or time of day are used, and the Japanese had many code words that would instantly suggest a season to the reader. For example, a hazy moon means spring, and flying geese mean autumn. In our Florida-set renga, we found our own seasonal imagery emerging!
Watch our website for more sessions of Poetry Alchemy.
MAD about Words
is the brainchild (and heartchild) of
Mary Ann de Stefano
