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


.

Solo Rengay/Travel-WestCoast

duty free
whales lingering
in eel grass

vernal equinox
the tides go slack

songs of humpback
traveling through water
migrating current

trumpet flowers
in the north wind
sound of jazz

dressed for the cold
memory of pine

the road
to my mountain home
once under the sea

John Merryfield
April 2, 2009