Tanned and Healthy: A Dozen Tan-renga from AsilomarFirst published in a trifold broadside titled Tanned and Healthy in 1997. Also published in an article in Frogpond (need to confirm the issue) in 1997. Prior to this, tan-renga never seemed to appear in any of the haiku journals, but started to appear regularly after my article was published. I’m not sure that my article was the chief catalyst for this change in the haiku journals, but perhaps it was. See also “An Introduction to Tan-Renga.”
A dozen tan-renga from Asilomar, written by Michael Dylan Welch with Jerry Ball, Alex Benedict, Beth Brewster, Jocelyn A. Conway, Helen K. Davie, James Ferris, D. Claire Gallagher, Christopher Herold, George Knox, Liz Knox, John Schipper, and Laurie W. Stoelting. The following poems were composed at the Yuki Teikei Haiku Society’s annual haiku retreat at Asilomar Conference Center, Pacific Grove, California, in September 1996.
nearing the summit— this tiny ladybug on my shoulder
Michael Dylan Welch
circular horizon and not a cloud in the sky
Christopher Herold
~ ~ ~
a letter from home— the cat on my laundry paws the red socks
Michael Dylan Welch
another Christmas Eve alone smell of burnt cookies
Jocelyn A. Conway
~ ~ ~
walking the dune with a bird book in hand— bark of a seal
Michael Dylan Welch
web-footed tracks through the sand lead away to the empty sky
Helen K. Davie
~ ~ ~
an old fungus imprinted with a maple leaf . . . the story she tells
Michael Dylan Welch
of this revealing tattoo— better to say little more
D. Claire Gallagher
~ ~ ~
last day of vacation— mailing a postcard to myself
Michael Dylan Welch
the crowd near the train station reflection in store windows
Jerry Ball
~ ~ ~
beach path— the flapping of the kite in the little boy’s arms
Michael Dylan Welch
his father some distance away with a metal detector
James Ferris
~ ~ ~
above white breakers the gull on the rocks—his cry drowned out by the surf
Beth Brewster
at last the sun sets into offshore fog
Michael Dylan Welch
~ ~ ~
the bonsai book falls over in the bookcase— the bent pine branch
Michael Dylan Welch
some things are out of plumb with the worlds we build for them
George Knox
~ ~ ~
haiku poets alert for nature’s sounds but listening for the lunch bell
John Schipper
dried stalks along the boardwalk —do they smell the sea?
Michael Dylan Welch
~ ~ ~
from hand to hand the pumice stone . . . distant surf sound
Michael Dylan Welch
echoes of the quiet last night on the beach
Alex Benedict
~ ~ ~
colored grape leaves closely cover the cheese tray the grapes all eaten
Liz Knox
all the way through the speech his fly undone
Michael Dylan Welch
~ ~ ~
race day— one swimmer doesn’t stop after the false start
Michael Dylan Welch
the deaf girl watching smoke from the starter’s gun
Laurie W. Stoelting
~ ~ ~
What is a tan-renga?A tan-renga is a Japanese form of linked poem. It’s the smallest linked poem possible—one verse each by two poets. As with renku verses, the idea is to link and shift. Tan-renga consist of a three-line verse followed by a two-line “capping” verse. Typically, the second verse should have some connection (link) with the first, yet shift away from it significantly. A few of the preceding capping verses deliberately do not shift away, showing a more thematic approach to this poetry. Another way to look at tan-renga is as a tanka written by two poets. The “turn” technique commonly used in tanka occurs naturally in the shift from one poet to the other.
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