Go to Renku Home.





The Click of Mahjong Tiles
A Kasen Renku

Dedicated to the Memory of Elizabeth Searle Lamb and the Life of Alden Thomas Post Vieira

Composed Online February–May 2005

Click here for the
Annotated Version.

Lunar New Year—
the click of mahjong tiles
into the wee hours

 
 
Carole MacRury

   down in the wolves' wood
   a cluster of snowdrops

Gerald England

after lunch
the farmer and his son
count lambs


Norman Darlington

   another dreamcatcher
   put in the east window

Hortensia Anderson

The Hurlers
flout the autumn wind
whistling
 
 
Eryu Susan Shand

   our hemisphere
   spun further from the sun
 
John E. Carley


ouch! blood
from my thumb stains
the shrike's larder


John W. Sexton

   he thickens the water
   mixing medicinal herbs

William J. Higginson

she wipes
the dust from a bottle
of vintage port
 
 
Carole

   our wedding video
   transferred to DVD
 
Gerald

I watch the breeze
enter my neighbor's dress
on the washing-line


John W.

   under the dry lake
   a mudfish dreams
 
Norman

like so much rain
this silver on the roof
a cooling moon 


John E. C.

   Pope John Paul
   waits for the shadow
 
John W.

another day
and still the undertaker
hasn't called
 
 
Gerald

   eight letters in the post
   yet only one unpaid bill
 
Eryu

a petal drops
from the apricot branch
in my cup of tea


Hortensia

   a boat in the spring torrent
   of an upper Yangtze gorge

Bill


through the lattice
David's royal eye
on passing pilgrims


Norman

   with her head so high
   she steps on a potsherd
 
Carole

would you sweeten
every sorrow, every care
with a kiss?


John E. C.

   had I been awake . . .
   now this emptiness
 
Bill

an F-minor chord
in the rustling concert hall
the north wind


Fûseki Susan Shand

   wave after wave collapses
   into seafoam and snow
 
Hortensia

Turks at the gate
Vienna's pastries take on
a croissant shape
 
 
Norman

   delight on her face
   another marathon win
 
Gerald

a blacksnake
slithers across the road
a passing cloud
 
 
Hortensia

   the thing about dark matter
   is its darkness
 
John E. C.

even this moon
nothing but a vibration
in my augenblik
 
 
Bill

   and here I am haggling
   over windfall apples

Carole


the perfect greens
are turned to perfect red,
dragonfly


John E. C.

   each stone a prayer
   at the mountain shrine
 
Norman

in his hymnbook
the choirboy scribbles
secret notes


Gerald

   my initials in the sidewalk
   out there in the rising mist
 
Hortensia

from a bare branch
the blackthorn brings
another spring


Fûseki

   reaching grandad's pond
   she pours the tadpoles free



John W.

Contributors
Carole MacRury
Gerald England
Norman Darlington
Hortensia Anderson
Eryu/Fûseki Susan Shand
John E. Carley
John W. Sexton
William J. Higginson, Sabaki





Copyright Notice: This work is copyright © 2005 by William J. Higginson for the authors. All rights reserved by the authors individually and collectively, except as stated herein. This entire page may be copied for personal use, or for use in a renku workshop. It may not be sold. It may not be incorporated into any other work, in digital or hard copy, even as part of a stapled packet. To quote portions only, or for any other use, permission is required: contact William J. Higginson, P. O. Box 1402, Summit, NJ 07902 USA. This Web page is http://renku.home.att.net/kasen/MahjongTiles.html. First posted publicly 7 August 2005; last updated 7 August 2005. Webmaster contact: wordfield-at-att-dot-net, replacing "-at-" with "@" and "-dot-" with a period.

Go to Renku Home.