Jane Talbot

Adventure 342 ~ The Big Renga Project [8]

/ intrepidjane

Yesterday’s saw the completion of the third compulsory verse in the autumn sequence. This meant that today’s renju, Kate Trafford, had lots of options! She could have continued with autumn or shifted direction into winter, summer, love, dwellings, mountains, shores or travel.

Kate stayed with the theme of autumn and came up with this 7-7 for today’s submission :

Acorn hoard, squirrelled away;
fear conceals buried treasure

Kate says : “Continuity is shown by taking up Caroline’s reference to secrets and referring to something being ‘squirrelled away’. Change of direction is created by moving from dark/fear-driven imagery to the bright/exciting image of buried treasure. Nature mirroring human nature is shown in second line. The squirrel is driven by fear/ scarcity to bury his treasure of a stockpile of food. For us humans, fear also conceals (masks) the inner treasure of insights/self awareness…”

In today’s Big Renga Round-Up I actually get to interview Kate about her stanza!

I am just going outside and may be some time.

JT

Adventure 341 ~ The Big Renga Project [7]

/ intrepidjane

Yesterday we already knew that today’s stanza was going to be about autumn because of the Moon rule’s continuity clause. Whilst today’s renju , Caroline Johnstone, didn’t have much room for manoeuvre, she certainly made use of the little space that she had!

Here’s the 5-7-5 that Caroline added today :

Mushrooms mulched fully
feed on the dead like poison :
harvesting secrets

Every time a poet submits a verse, they have to provide a commentary to show how they’re complying with the renga rules. This is what Caroline said about her submission : “Continuity was via the leaves that nourished the ground, which they do by rotting. I was watching Gardener’s world and it was all about mulch…which like so many things has a dark side to it too, with fungal infections lurking, which also linked to mushrooms which are fabulous – or poisonous.. Senga’s verse was such a lovely picture of autumn (my favourite season, and I love scrunching through leaves)… so the contrast was to show the other side of that… and then because it was autumn, time of harvests and Samhain and the Day of the Dead etc, I wanted a plot change and thought about the sorts of things you can harvest – and the things you couldn’t, or wouldn’t, want to harvest :  secrets being one.. ”

And here’s today’s edition of The Big Renga Round-Up 🙂

I am just going outside and may be some time.

JT

Adventure 340 ~ The Big Renga Project [Day 6]

/ intrepidjane

Because Kate invoked the Moon Rule yesterday, it really narrowed down the options for todays renju, Senga Cree. By mentioning the rule, it means that at least the next to verses must be about autumn.

This is what Senga came up with :

Tall branches sway, shedding flame :
earth’s crisp nourishing carpet

Senga keeps the continuity going by echoing the height of the peaks and the tides that Kate mentioned yesterday (she uses the word tall). She also echoes the heat of Kate’s verse by layering flames onto yesterday’s glow. The change in direction comes with a shift of our attention : we’re no longer looking up, we’re looking down on the crisp carpet.

What I like about Senga’s verse is the powerful and simple autumn image. The kigo word is “shedding” and all I can imagine when I read it is fiery autumn leaves!

Here’s today’s round-up :

I am just going outside and may be some time.

JT

Adventure 339 ~ The Big Renga Project [Day 5]

/ intrepidjane

Betsy really raised the renga temperature yesterday with a smokin’ hot second verse on the theme of love. The options for today’s renju, Kate Gold, remained alluringly wide for today’s verse 😛 . Kate could have written a third ,and final, 5-7-5 verse on the theme of love. She could have invoked the Moon Rule and started of the theme of autumn. She could have written a verse about summer, winter, shores, mountains, dwellings of travel.

Kate plumped for the Moon Rule and this is what she came up with :

Strength of waxing moon
pulls the tide ever higher
as distant peaks glow

To invoke autumn, you must use the kigo word “moon”. Kate shows a link with Betsy’s by mirroring the swell of hearts with the swell and pull of tides. She shows contrast within the verse by inviting us to compare an image of the sea with an image of mountains. She shows a shift in direction by pulling us back into nature.

So, what does this mean for tomorrow? Well, it means one thing : autumn. Once autumn has been started, at least another two verses on the them must follow.

Oh – and I almost forgot. Something brilliant happened yesterday : one of our poets (Caroline) was interview on BBC Radio 3 about the Big Renga Project. How brilliant is that!

I am just going outside and may be some time.

JT

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 335 ~ The Big Renga Project [Day 1]

/ intrepidjane

Today sees the launch of the Big Renga Project.  Over the next 25 days, 13 poets will be working together to create 25 linked verses. The first stanza (the hokku) is in and the game is on!

The first stanza was my responsibility, and this is what I wrote :

Prickly ghost blankets
spread out of winter shadows :
butter melts on toast.

I’m running a daily TV show throughout the project to give you the full low-down on all the renga news. Every day, I’ll be explaining the rules and you’ll get to see how the poem is growing (and why it’s growing the way it is!) You can watch today’s show here :

I am just going outside and may be some time.

JT

Adventure 328 ~ Retreat From The Real World And Dive Into My Imagination

/ intrepidjane

The Merrow Of Murlough BaySo, that’s me! I’m checking out for a week 🙂 . The decks are (more or less) clear, and after this evening’s coaching clients, I’m ready to retreat from the real world and take up full time residence in my imagination.

I had forgotten how busy I am at the moment : 2 webinars coming up in the next 10 days, the launch of my collaborative poetry project on the 1st of December, and work (yes, actual work!) on top of all that! I’ve done what I can to create the necessary “silence” for writing (I don’t like distraction : I do like sustained, and uninterrupted, quiet focus).

I’m clearing my office space, I’m shopping for as much food as I can after I’ve posted this blog post (so I don’t even need to leave the house)  … and then, I am going in!

I’ll be keeping a video diary, but I won’t be posting daily on my blog. I expect to be back on the 30th November / 1st December. You can keep up with my videos on my YouTube channel

My feet are already in the water : it’s beautifully warm 🙂 .

See you on the other side!

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