Nine Tan-renga with Pamela Miller Ness

Previously published in various journals. Pamela Miller Ness wrote all nine starting verses, and sent them to me on 1 July 2004, with I wrote the response verses on 2 July 2004, and we made changes to verses 1, 2, and 6 on 13 February 2006.

September roses—

the night we floated

petals in the bath

a ruby-throated hummingbird

tapping at the window

~ ~ ~

rim trail

a stranger passes

at the highest point

glint of evening sun

off a passing jet

~ ~ ~

October sun

a white koi surfaces

among the lilies

a cowboy rides up

on his tricycle

~ ~ ~

another spring

the stain

on mother’s apron

her birthday circled

on the lighthouse calendar

~ ~ ~

New Year’s dawn

a rose flush ascends

Mt. Rainier

my wife tells me

her erotic dream

~ ~ ~

squeezing out

the last dab of toothpaste

New Year’s Day

mother throws out

dad’s ratty slippers

or:

a log tips over

the lip of the falls

~ ~ ~

cold spell

the oatmeal

thickens

you read the comics

without laughing

~ ~ ~

cold snap

tips of the pine

cup the snow

my hands wrapped

around a porcelain teacup

~ ~ ~

museum display

the mobile passes

through its shadow

a cell phone rings

the Ode to Joy

~ ~ ~

But wait, there’s more. The following is an additional tan-renga by Pamela Miller Ness and me, published in Frogpond 27:3, in the autumn of 2004.

decision time

tiny ripples

in the river

a blue eggshell

quivering