LEAD, ANTIMONY, BISMUTH

This year’s hawthorn
blushing as it lets
its petals fall

__a constellation of bites
__where the midgies fed

walking through the fields
past midnight
unable to sleep

__she shapes metal into stamens —
__lead, antimony, bismuth

inside the chimney
safe from wind and sleet
he scrapes the gleanings

__the little boat’s moored
__by ice, forgetfulness

all the lost ones
the hungry ones
gathered in your head

__I say I’m coming to see him tomorrow
__he asks when I’m coming to see him

she finds her seat
in the carriage
full of couples

__a right old squawking
__as she lays her morning egg

turk’s cap lilies
jaunty, fragrant
begging to be painted

__October and Beethoven
__have become his themes

a pile of oak leaves
waning
in the autumn rain

__is it only mothers
__who make apple pie?

on the shed roof
the juvenile blackbird
tries to hide

__to be is to be seen
__and we’re all half-blind

he sends her emails
from the swamps
of Arkansas

__the whole world
__is melting

wild garlic
dresses the hillside
for a wedding

__no trains arrived
__or departed all day.

A nijuuin renga in summer
Garden Station, Langley
17 June, 2006

participants

Linda France (master)
Subhadassi (master)