Collaborative Poem

 

 Shisan – Cobblestone Path

 

Included is the collaborative poem discussed on Wednesday’s zoom.

I thought it could be of interest to the group to see yet another strand of poetry.

It would be helpful if all of this email could be put on the blog, as people can better understand the format etc.

 

I have sought permissions from the other writers for it to be published and all are happy to be included.

The poem has recently been published in “Presence”, Britain’s top haiku genre related journal.

 

I look forward to seeing the outcome.

Best wishes

Rob

Cobblestone Path (12 verse Shisan)

cobblestone path

a view of blossoms

with every step                                   mv

 

children play leapfrog

in the new grass                                 ms

 

winding down

with smooth jazz

and a bubble bath                               po

 

the last nut in place

on the cloudbusting machine              rk

 

she tells me

she’s a dominatrix

over ice cream sundaes                      mv

 

since the mastectomy

they’ve slept in separate rooms          po

 

plate boundaries

shifting along the fault lines

of the East-African Rift                       ms

 

the mutant crickets’ 

soundless wings                                 rk

 

moonlight 

has silvered

all the daytime colors                        ms

 

graffiti artists

share a cigarette                               mv

 

the Pope again

asks Michelangelo

when it will end                                 rk

 

a wedge of swans

above a withered field                      po

 

 

mv - Maureen Virchau (USA), ms - Mary Stevens (USA),  po - Polona Oblak (sabaki - Leader) (Slovenia), rk- Robert Kingston (uk)

 renku is a collaborative poem generally taken on when a group of poets meet. Formally named rengay, it as been around in Japan and China for hundreds of years.

Each poets can either take turns or the sabaki (leader) chooses from supplied verses.

Dependant on length of poem, they range between 12 and 36 generally, but can be upwards of a thousand verses. Each verse, be it three or two lines follows a table of events and must link to the previous verse, whilst shifting away from the previous. The events generally include at least one blossom or flower verse,  a moon verse, two love verses , with the rest being non seasonal verses. The opening verse is from where haiku originated. Separated out by Basho.

The poem is divided into 4 sections, with each section traditionally being written on one folded side of a piece of paper.

 

Shisan a significant occasion Kaoru Kubota - 1970's
The Shisan - 12 verses - A Description
The Shisan is a twelve verse sequence consisting of four movements of three verses each. The movements are treated as preface, development part one, development part two, and rapid close. To the extent that the four part division is taken to reflect that of the kasen, the shisan also lays claim to the topical and tonal characteristics of the jo-ha-kyu pacing paradigm. As with all formal renku the shisan starts with the season in which composition takes place. Unusually the seasons then appear in calendar order with one season featuring per movement. Typically spring and autumn will take a grouped pair of verses, whereas summer and winter are represented by a single verse apiece. However, for sequences begun in summer or winter, the wakiku would also be expected to take that season as the shisan invites a relatively conventional treatment. The majority of moon and blossom verses will be set against autumn and spring respectively - the order in which they appear, and the characteristics of the relevant movement, being dependent on the demands of the calendar. In more experimental sequences the blossom position may be treated as the more generic flower. In all cases, a pair of love verses will appear in one of the central movements, normally the one that does not feature moon or blossom.  The word shisan may be read in several ways. Primarily shi means four, and san means three. When written in kanji shi may read as tamawari - something bestowed - and san as bansankai - a formal meal. The suggestion is that participants are invited to a significant occasion - reflecting the expectation that all will respect the finer points of style.
side 1
	autumn		autumn	spring		spring		summer		winter
hokku	au mn		au	sp bl		sp [mn]		su		wi
wakiku	au		au	sp		sp [mn]		su/ns		wi/ns
daisan	ns		ns	ns		ns		ns		ns
side 2
4 short		ns/wi	wi/ns [mn]		ns/su lv	ns/su		ns		ns
5 long		wi/ns	ns/wi [mn]		su/ns lv	su/ns		au mn		sp bl
6 short		ns	ns		ns	ns		au		sp
side 3
7 long		ns/sp [bl]	ns/sp lv	ns/au [mn]			ns/au		ns	ns lv
8 short		sp	sp lv	au			au lv		wi/ns lv	su/ns lv
9 long		sp/ns [bl]	sp/ns	au/ns [mn]			au/ns lv		ns/wi lv	ns/su
side 4
10 short	ns lv		ns	ns		ns			ns	ns
11 long	su/ns lv		su/ns [fl]	wi/ns		wi/ns [fl]			sp bl	au mn
ageku	ns/su		ns/su [fl]	ns/wi		ns/wi [fl]			sp	au
Not s	su/ns - (wakiku only) - where the hokku is summer, wakiku may be non-season wi/ns - (wakiku only) - winter likewise sn/ns or ns/sn - (elsewhere) - whichever is selected first its counterpart is selected after ns - non-season (miscellaneous) position bl - blossom position [bl] - alternate blossom position (when season selected) - the choice is either/or [fl] - alternate flower position (when season selected) - the choice is either/or mn - moon position [mn] - alternate moon position (when season selected) - the choice is either/or lv - love position, indicative - love verses move as group

 From Robert Kingston