Poetry

Adventure 338 ~ The Big Renga Project [Day 4]

/ intrepidjane

After Flemming’s invocation of the Love Rule yesterday, today’s renju, Betsy Anderson, has very limited options! Betsy must continue the theme of love (the Love Rule has an attached continuity rule : when love is mentioned at least one more consecutive verse on the theme must be created) but she cannot mention the word love. She must also show a shift in direction.

Here’s how she got on with her 7-7 verse :

A longed-for kiss, light and chaste :
heart swells, and colour rises.

Pretty impressive , right? We’re in no doubt that we’re still on the subject of love – and she turned up the temperature too. We’ve gone from crystal coldness to the heat of passion (“colour rises”), and that’s a clever change of direction too 🙂 .

Hmmm. So what does this mean for tomorrow’s verse? Well it means that there could be a third and final verse on love. Or, the Moon Rule (autumn) could get invoked. Or it might mean a return to winter or a visit to summer, dwellings, mountains or shores!

You can hear the latest news from today’s episode of The Big Renga Round-Up.

I am just going outside and may be some time.

JT

Adventure 337 ~ The Big Renga Project [Day 3]

/ intrepidjane

Leslie left the renga playing field wide open yesterday, giving the third renju , Flemming Funch, LOTS of options. Today, Flemming could have created a final winter verse (no more than 3 consecutive winter verses are allowed), or he could have used the Moon Rule to start off autumn, or he could have used the Love Rule to start off the theme of love. He could have also created a verse about summer, dwellings, mountains or shores.

Flemming invoked the Love Rule and created this 5-7 -5 verse :

Crystal light above,
travelled paths divide and merge :
strangers finding love.

So, he shows continuity with Leslie’s verse by using crystal as a winter kigo. There is contrasts and connection in his poem too. The first image is of separating and merging paths : the second image is of strangers finding love. The second image brings to mind the similarities of chance meetings as our human paths divide and merge. Flemming has created new direction by shifting the theme to love.

Now this is getting exciting because the next poet has absolutely no choice ~ she’s cornered! She’s got to write a 7-7 about love. No two ways about it 🙂 . This is because of the Love Continuity Rule which states that once love is mentioned, another verse on love must follow!

I am just going outside and may be some time.

JT

Adventure 336 ~ The Big Renga Project [Day 2]

/ intrepidjane

I posted the hokku (the first verse) of our renga yesterday, and, from now on, it’s my job to be a diligent sōshō . The  sōshō makes sure that the renga is completed and that the renju (renga poets) adhere to the complex rules.

Verse 2 should be in 7-7 format, and Leslie (the second poet) had lots of options. She could have continued with winter, or moved on to autumn, or onto love, or onto some of the minor (but allowable) themes such a summer, travel, mountains and shores. The only topic off-limits today was spring (you can’t mention spring until after the 8th verse!).

She needed to use a kigo word (to identify the season) and not repeat any previous images. She needed to demonstrate some kind of link with verse one, but also a shift in direction.

Leslie stuck with winter and this is what she came up with :

Lone wolf sings a lullaby :
bear dreams the new icy day.

So, there is continuity because we are still in winter, and there is a shift : the temperature just dropped! Leslie also introduces animals into the image and a she alludes to hibernation too.

You can get the full low-down on today’s episode of The Big Renga Round-Up.

I am just going outside and may be some time.

JT

Adventure 327 ~ Write The Final Haiku For My Collection

/ intrepidjane

first winter frost November 2014So, I’ve been clearing the decks, ready to start writing my next faerie story. The plan is to start writing tomorrow. The last couple of days has been about tying up loose ends of other projects and about starting the process of bringing The Merrow Of Murlough Bay to life.

There is one loose end that is still waiting to be tied up though. It’s been waiting to be tied up for a while.

If you remember, I started writing a collection of haiku poems back in August. The aim of the collection was to track the turning of the seasons from summer into autumn. I decided that the last haiku would be written when the first frost appeared.

So, I’ve been waiting for the first frost for some time. These past few weeks, I’ve been jumping out of bed every morning to take my dog for a walk. I couldn’t wait to get outside just in case the frost had come. It just never came!

And today it arrived : right on time. Everything is tidied away now until my story is done.  I’ve a bit of juggling to do with coaching clients, but I definitely have the space to get that merrow’s story on its way  🙂 .

I read my haiku out in today’s video blog : it’s called First Frost. You can also read it here.

I am just going outside and may be some time.

JT

Adventure 308 ~ Write A Cleave Poem

/ intrepidjane

cleave poem by Jane TalbotFor today’s adventure, I decided to try out a new form of poetry. I Googled “experimental poetry” and found several references to the term “cleave poetry”.

A cleave poem is 3 poems in one – and I’ve tried my hand at writing one today. The way to read the poem is :

1. Read the poem on the left (in black) first. Let it sink in.
2. Read the poem on the right (in purple) second. Let it sink in.
3. Read the two poems together, from left to right. Let it sink in.

It was fun to write – and quite challenging too. I think it would be a very therapeutic process for someone experiencing an inner conflict! It was really helpful to fully associate myself with both sides of “the story” before writing and not really think of the third poem. The third poem emerged quite naturally! (It’s the third poem that elicits the biggest emotional response in me. I’m going to stop and think about that for a while. I’m going to stop and sit in that poem for a while.)

I am just going outside and may be some time.

JT

Adventure 306 ~ Enter A Poetry Competition

/ intrepidjane

365 Days Of Adventure For today’s adventure, I’ve entered my very first poetry competition!

I’ve selected 10 of my haiku for a haiku calendar competition. Entries are open to anyone , anywhere in the world, and a haiku will be selected for each calendar month.

Because my haiku adventure tracked the transition from Summer into Autumn, my entries are limited to the months of August, September and October.

This has been an exciting adventure – and an interesting one. I feel no sense of exposure or risk. I’m not worried about what the expert panel thinks of my haiku. Winning something isn’t even on my radar. Instead, I feel thrilled that an expert panel is actually going to read my collection of haiku! And, I feel a sense of connection to the haiku community too.

I am just going outside and may be some time.

JT

Adventure 305 ~ Write An Acrostic Poem

/ intrepidjane

Cherry Tree acrostic poem by Jane TalbotFor today’s adventure, I tried my hand at writing my very first acrostic poem. An acrostic poem is a type of poetry where the first, last or other letters in a line spell out a particular word or phrase.

I chose to use “other letters in the line” to spell out the theme of my poem : Cherry Tree. I have capitalised the relevant letter on each line. If you scan my poem from top to bottom, my acrostic poem spells out CHERRY TREE!

I’ve been wanting to capture the spirit of the cherry tree for some while now. Its blossoms captivated me in Spring, but during the summer months the cherry trees sunk into the background , unable to compete with other flowers and trees. A part of me wondered why people would plant a tree that only held its beauty for a very short period of time.

As Autumn has advanced, I now understand the real beauty of the cherry tree. It’s as if the Spring blossoms offer a promise of better things yet to come. In Autumn, the cherry tree is bright, bold and confident. If the cherry tree is a pretty girl in the Spring, then by the Autumn, this tree is all woman (and all too ready to take off her clothes!)

I am just going outside and may be some time.

JT

Adventure 300 ~ Learn The Rules Of Renga

/ intrepidjane

365 Days Of AdventureFor today’s adventure, I set about learning the rules of renga, a Japanese form of collaborative linked-verse poetry. There are now 13 poets involved in The Big Renga Project , and I wanted to put some easy-to-follow guidelines together so that people could get to grips with the rules before the big “renga off” on the 1st December 😛 .

There are many versions of “the rules”. I plumped for a distillation of the traditional rules : I’ve based the rules for The Big Renga Project on Sonja Arntzen’s article (you’ll need to scroll down to the bottom of the article for the rules applying to renga).

I’ve spent 3 hours immersing myself in various forms of the rules today – and now it makes complete sense! I’ve adapted Sonja’s version of the rules slightly so that they work for our 25-stanza poem, and I’ve posted these rules into our group forum.

I can imagine if you haven’t seen rules like this before, you might not think that they’re that simple. That’s why I’ve written the rules well in advance of the start of  December –  the group has more than a month to get its head around these rules! As well as being one of the participating poets, I’ll also be the GRU (General Rule-Upholder 😛 ), making sure that everyone keeps on track and also understands the implications of each verse within the context of the rules. This means that people can relax and have fun, knowing that they’ll get a friendly nudge if need be or some advice if they want it.

I explain some of the rules we’ll be using in our collaborative poetry project in today’s video 🙂 .

Oh – and maybe I should mention that it’s my 300th adventure today! Only 65 days of adventuring left 😦 . I think this calls for a celebratory meal tonight, don’t you?

I’m just going outside and may be some time.
JT

Adventure 296 ~ Complete The Big Renga Project Website

/ intrepidjane

For today’s adventure, I finished creating the website for The Big Renga collaborative poetry project. I even learned how to create a contact form for the “Contact Us” page 🙂 I’m just waiting for bio details from the poets and then we’re good to go.

The brilliant news is that there are now 9 of us. I’ve worked out that if we can grow the crew to 12, then the project will work out pretty well. Of course, more than 12 would be fabulous, but 12 is enough.

In mid-November, I’ll be closing The Big Renga Project doors so that the renju (collaborative poets) can spend some time agreeing how the logistics are going to work and also learn a little more about the renga form.

I am just going outside and may be some time.

JT

Adventure 294 ~ Build A Website For The Big Renga Project

/ intrepidjane

The big renga projectFor today’s adventure, I’ve done a few things to support the success of The Big Renga Project!

I’ve built a website which you can check out here ~ the structure is complete, but the content will take a little time to finish. The project also has its own Facebook page which you can view here , and a private Facebook group to support the renju (the collaborative poets).

I might actually need a wee lie down after today’s adventure!

I am just going outside and may be some time.

JT