A BELL RINGS

A row of rowans
yellow flags of iris –
standards of spring

__drunk again!
__on sunlight

blue day warming
bees stir campion –
whisp of a moon

__Tibetan horns blast open space
__in Glasgow, am I?

wasp
comes to visit
my pigtail

__around the field's edge
__scalded earth

yellow brick eyes
in the line of gables
steel tents gleam

__the look of him
__froggy goes a courtin'

single magpie on the roof –
forgetting what I wanted
too late I call its name

__red robes behind the trees
__water-wishing

sound of the wind
the year begins
to tear

__hillside
__stitched wi' blaeberries

she sends off the fee
for the course in Chinese –
this time she'll finish

__a bell rings
__her mind opens

snow on the beach
gull tracks end
where waves begin

__the sky is blue
__and listen to the sea

tea stain
on the old cushion –
Ow! my shaking hand

__how tall the birch
__where the blackbird pauses

the grass is high –
lay red roses
as we make our way home

__sun’s slow descent, a fitting end
__'til tomorrow's dawn.

a nijuuin renga in Spring
the hidden gardens, Glasgow,
May 22, 2004

Participants

Jayne Wilding (master)
Colin Will (host)
Anne-Marie Culhane (co-ordinator)
Norman Bissel
Sheila Puri
Gerry Loose
Angus Farquar
Larry Butler
Frank Maurer
Donna Campbell
James Sweeney
Mirren Boyd (age 7)
Laura Boyd (age 10)
Simone Fleming (age 13)