The Crow: A Summer Renga (part vi)

With this sixth part of our renga, ‘The Crow’ has come to an end. It has been a thrill as always working with Ashley and Cindy; already we are planning an Autumn renga, so watch this space over the coming weeks. For now, enjoy the final flight of The Crow.

[photograph by Cindy Keong]

tissues pile up
every branch
stripped bare

*

face to face
with the wind

*

genealogy is all
you sleep in
a rented suit

*

unworn for years
this memory

*

clouds pass
the confused heads
of sunflowers

*

paperboy on your starlit route
the dark turning into birds

The Crow: A Summer Renga (part v)

[photograph by Cindy Keong]

*

funeral procession
seeing more
of my mother

*

flamenco
with his ghost

*

mist rises
the sound of our
shadows touching

*

arm to arm
my son’s first steps

*

at the border
a crooked finger
fear of frost

*

letter from home
cracked on the fold line

The Crow: A Summer Renga (part iv)

[photograph by Cindy Keong]

*

drunk again
the blush of
bougainvillea

*

that we might have
bigger fires

*

Australian quality
stainless steel legs
on the lawn swan

*

so deceptive
the neighbour’s manicured nails

*

deaccelerate
as a gymnast slips
wetly off the bar

*

sun warmed
the orphaned nestling

The Crow: A Summer Renga (part iii)

[photograph by Ashley Martin]

*

milky saucer
cat’s got
your ebbing tongue

*

again…
the pond turns silver

*

rear view mirror
leaving town
at the lights

*

half a palace you bragged
our names in glyph

*

looking around
to ensure no one sees –
naked ladies

*

the gardener’s
toothless grin

The Crow: A Summer Renga (part ii)

[photograph by Cindy Keong]

*

he sets back his watch
one hour
to save himself

*

three hairs on the pillow
give her away

*

one night stand
the weeds in the garden
nameless

*

city workers
the sisters will not reconcile

*

at the altar
the complete absence
of prayer

*

an act of defiance
her perfume lingers

The Crow: A Summer Renga (part i)

Ashley, Cindy and I have teamed up again to write a renga to celebrate each of the seasons in 2013. And already the excitement is building between us! We are also hatching some other exciting plans at present, so stay tuned. For now, the first six links in our summer renga, ‘the crow’.

[photograph by Cindy Keong]

*

the crow
has a song for it
summer heat

*

the drip, drip
of humidity

*

they gave up
because of the highway
silverfish, so soft bodied

*

on the front stairs
nothing but your shoes

*

autumn moon
your side of the bed
empty

*

shoppers notice lights
already  turned on