By the Gazebo

A shisan renku by Tadashi Kondō (sabaki), June Hopper Hymas, Patricia Machmiller, Kenneth Tanemura, Kiyoko Tokutomi, and Michael Dylan Welch

Written on 28 August 1993 on the occasion of Tadashi Kondō visiting San Francisco. Published in Cicada VII:1 (#22), September 1996, page 9. This may be the very first shisan renku I ever contributed to.

morning chat

starts flowing

by the gazebo Tadashi

the silverware’s noise

and music—it is so cool Kiyoko

lake wind

changing the pages

of my journal Kenneth

brighter than the bonfire

moon in the sand Michael

pumpkins tumbled

every-which-way

in an open field June

hurrying to Sunday Mass

only to find the church locked Patricia

grey sky—

the dog’s water dish

iced over Michael

watching him sharpen his awl

the smell of dried leather Patricia

in the photo

the empty space beside you

I long to fill Kenneth

a gift of balloons for him

with the string in a knot! June

elderly couple

under cherry blossoms—

a far-off gaze Kiyoko

by-the-wind sailors

the slat spray on my face Patricia