After yesterday’s third (and final) compulsory verse on autumn, today’s renju, Leslie Marsh, had plenty of options. She could have continued with another verse on autumn – or gone for love, dwellings, travel, mountains or shores.

She went for a 5-7-5 on autumn and came up with this :

Monarch butterflies
rise, kissing silent goodbyes:
reeds wave in return

Leslie says : “The Kigo is the monarch butterfly, a creature closely associated with september. Once it has made its change it has to migrate. The seeds of the butterfly’s change has released it from the cage of its cocoon. Once this is done it must,as Persephone did, say goodbye to all it has known and go on into the future changed forever. Continuity is provided by the echo of Persephone’s mourning in the butterfly’s good-bye. A change of direction is provided by the movement from the image of a cage to the freedom of rising.”

You can watch today’s episode of The Big Renga Round-Up here :

I am just going outside and may be some time.

JT