by Michael Dylan Welch, Amelia Fielden, Marg Sutton,
      Naomi Beth Wakan, and Zulis Yalte.

First published in the Journal of Renga & Renku #2, February 2012, page 203. This shisan renku was written in the poetry yurt on Gabriola Island, British Columbia on Sunday, 17 July 2011. I served as sabaki, or renku leader.


Gabriola grass
still damp with rain—
clouded summer moon                                                                                 Michael

                mists clear
                to a hot orange dawn                                                                     Amelia

making marmalade
my father in the kitchen
for his annual ritual                                                                                         Naomi

                tea kettle whistles
                empty cups                                                                                        Marg

children at the bus stop
all in new clothes
a size too large                                                                                                  Naomi

                bruised leaves swirl and eddy
                crows chorus their caws                                                                Zulis

filling the bath
she adds fragrant salts,
hums an old tune                                                                                             Amelia

                Tagore’s jasmine flowers
                moaning to the sky                                                                         Zulis

he slides her hand
into his jacket pocket—
first flakes of snow                                                                                          Amelia

                into the dark
                the last ferry                                                                                      Marg

gathering lilacs
the neighbour’s bushes
overhang our yard                                                                                           Naomi

                tulips flame
                from long-buried bulbs                                                                 Amelia