Renga, meaning ‘linked poem’ is a 1,000-year old Japanese form of collaborative poetry. Its form alternates between three-line haiku poetry and two line couplets.  Renga poems can have any number of verses but are written in a day in response to a scheme of prompts.  The ability of the group to work collectively is key to the choosing of each verse and to keeping the poem flowing in a reflection of the mood of the day.

 

This poem was written in the workshop I ran in August 2017 in response to the Wild Garden.

 

The Accepted Invitation

 

stones lying down

rain falling into their arc –

a sacred space

 

the earth drinks

I feed it bare-footed with gratitude

 

a cave

partially seen in the light

unmoulded shapes await

 

golden leaves radiate the sky

morning dew to harvest

 

a burning smell clings to the air –

Guy Fawke’s night

with blazing bonfires

 

unfathomable and edgeless

love might wander in right now

 

rooted deep within

mirror to every soul

whose beauty shines forth

 

forms become blackened

in praise of ash

 

The Accepted Invitation was written by Joan MacMaster, Sheila Moir, Jane Ronie, Rosalind Thompson, Fenneke Wolters-Sinke and myself over the course of four hours.