yotsumono

.

A writing exercise conceived by one Mr. John E. Carley
to facilitate the creation and understanding
of modern renku poetry forms.


----------------------


all the blackbirds
eye balling each other
strung out / jm

surfing debt on a
slow fuse to China / jec

satellite dishes
pointing south
dance with the stars / jm

etched on the emu's egg
yam dreaming / l




----------


cherry blossom
drifts by my mouth
and disappears / jm

loving every moment
a mayfly / jec

each and every
glass of water
full of gratitude / jm

the syrup all spun
into fairy floss / l


.

spring shisan

.


Tumbling Down The Alley



side 1 jo-preface


sp bl)

cherry sapling
pavements and peeling brick
blushed by early light


sp)

the detritus of years past
tumbles down the alley


ns)

from this vantage
faceless voices below
ring familiar


side 2 ha-development


ns su lv)

a dew of sweat
favors her upper lip


su ns lv)


as we age together
you remain
so hard to please


ns)

there's always applause
for bad karaoke




side 3 ha-intensification



ns au mn)

without fanfare
overpowered by funk
and the Texas big beat




au)

the headlong leap
into crisp leaves



au ns mn)

harvest festival
a dulled moon staggers
through the door



side 4 kyu-finale


ns)

a tipple with Alice
through the looking glass


wi ns)

reciting
these parables
only we understand



ns wi)

clouds in water
pierced by the whale's song


.

Rengay: Metamorphasis

.










eye shadow
bright blue butterflies
give me a wink / jm

Marvin K. Mooney
has lost his I.D. / ws

those saloon doors
of A.A.
swing both ways / jm

handing the barkeep
a ten year medallion...
"my name's Bill" / ws

the wet straw wrapper
wriggling like a worm / jm

a tattered obi
colorless
shrunken and faded / ws


;;;

Rengay: Smile

.

buenos dias
was all it took
silver capped teeth / jm

his designer jeans
the cutting edge / ws

pink bougainvillea
when the wind blows
on the fence / jm


screen savers
to fit any mood...
just that easy! / ws

cute little kittens
left in the trash / jm

windows
of the tenement
painted shut / ws


a rengay poem by
John Merryfield and William Sorlien


.

Rengay: Damp Earth

a black butterfly
chases the cloud
damp earth / ws

what's up is down
ceiling spider / jm

ducks on the church roof
stand witness in the rain
afternoon nap / ws

granite moraine
waiting for the next
glacial movement / jm

hard liqour and beer
business picks up after 5 / ws

backwards-
black ant
pulling a centipede / jm

John Merryfield
William Sorlien

June 19, 2009

Renhai: the signs, still the same

wrong turn
at the Stahl House Bar
the sign's still the same

old graybeard on the stoop
of #8 Winter Street

Dillinger and the Barker Gang
laying low
red cobblestones

Across the Swing Bridge

river moon
rust makes its silent creep
across the swing bridge

a masked tagger's
precarious balance

lightning's flash
the barge's grinning maw
below

maikindazen