Recently I found myself captivated by the poet Linda France’s Book of Days – in which she set herself the challenge of writing a renga verse every day for twelve months – so much so that I have set myself an identical challenge. I began it on July 25th.
Renga is a traditional form of collaborative verse dating from 10th century Japan where poets would gather and write verses together, whilst drinking tea or saki – subjects were the natural world, love, the moon and all phenomena vulnerable to change. The first verse of 3 lines – the hokku is the origin of the haiku and is followed by a two line verse.
In renga each verse must have some connection with the preceding one but also depart from it, avoiding repeating a word or an idea. So the renga is carried forward, mirroring the flow of our lives, always changing, never still.
France says it is the – ‘authenticity and integrity’ that she ‘most appreciates about renga – the way it refuses to fix things into easy categories, how it resists personal ownership and control. It has ideas of its own.’
After only eight days I find I am fascinated by the way in which renga has such ideas of its own, how out of a simple two or three line verse inspired by the particular: one’s own world or daily life, emerges a greater truth that at times may sound and behave like an ancient proverb, that may contain a simple but unexpected universality.
When I began I found that when I tried to sleep that night my head swam with words – hence
Silver scales fall from my eyes
renga fish in the net of night
And the next day –
The closed mill race
forces the flood waters
inside
Renga should of course be collaborative so please add your own 2 or 3 line renga – I would love to publish it for my 100th post which is coming up next!
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