Autumn Encampment: Half-Kasen Renku

First published in Geppo (need to confirm the issue), 2000. The following is a half-kasen renku written at the Yuki Teikei Haiku Retreat at Asilomar, Pacific Grove, California, on September 11, 1999. Kiyoko Tokutomi served as renku master.

the salty sea air

greets a party of horsemen—

autumn encampment Jean Hale

 

            moon drifting through pines

            whiter as it climbs higher Anne Homan

 

mushroom gatherers

bent in a circle—

I strum my guitar Michael Dylan Welch

 

            rechecking his scribbled notes

            paper clip flashes earthward Roger Abe

 

an old rattan chair

and a glass of iced tea—

she puts her feet up June Hymas/Linda Hess

 

            the television rambling

            about a sunburn remedy Jerry Ball

 

 

 

an ambulance

races by with lights flashing—

my heart falters Bill Peckham

 

            unorthodox CPR

            Resusci-Annie on top! Roger

 

trail of clothes . . .

the safari lovers

in a hundred curves James Ferris

 

            archeological find

            the Pre-Columbian with strange tools Roger

 

high-rise apartments

with poorly reinforced concrete—

who’s to blame? Anne

 

            in a Van Gogh painting

            table with uneven legs Fumio Ogoshi

 

my tired mind goes blank

staring through the open door

at the winter moon Martha Dahlen

 

            the wild ducks

            fill the empty field Linda Hess

 

blessed by St. Francis

the Pirate and his dogs

together snoring Roger

 

            bull market

            each daughter asks for pearls James

 

she grabs my camera

to take my picture near

the cherry blossoms June Hymas

 

            unencumbered by barbed wire

            the soaring Painted Ladies Patricia J. Machmiller