Renga

A few months ago I was asked to be part of a renga with Keiji Minato (a Kyoto-based poet whom I had the great pleasure to meet last year) and another Japanese poet named Hiroshi. We wrote ku in turns, with Keiji translating between Hiroshi and myself. Here's what we wrote. The letters in brackets at the end of the first three ku indicate who wrote it - the order is preserved throughout. hello haikunauts! i write to you in autumn golden leaves flying (D)
a sun's stroke has just arrived over the seas in three lines (K)
look! that shooting star lets someone in love wonder where all's going to (H)
make an unseasonal wish blowing out birthday candles
on penguins turning their back to the north the snow in spring starts to fall
unfeathered painters line up their mouths unable to keep closed
birds sprout on the bough their throats swallow the new sun spring sings in the trees
all peek out and see the light no exception, even moles
in one-sided love you are to shoot a water pistol at the moon
the arc of our wet passions causes eerie eclipses
the earth's axis in such a lonesome ballet leans on nothingness
yes, this is my lucky day! best tarot I found with google
in the cold darkness light is like a paper bag popped between god's hands
firework drops have turned into golden sparkling of champagne
Pretty good, huh?

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