PLEATED, ORIENTAL

Like an old friend
the tenderness
of the dog rose

__laughing we cycled hard
__with the sun

in the cathedral
of the trees
a silver disc teasing

__across the path
__the chime of a bell

winter makes inarticulate
all that summer
made lucid

__he gets up before me
__and rakes the embers

suddenly your hands
bright and startled
as a lapwing

__surprised by the ache
__the balm of your voice

deep in a pocket
loose change
my heart

__conspiratorial as children
__the wind speaking to the sycamores

six months after
the tsunami
roots still bare

__the recipe for layered cake
__handwritten icing

turning to the cusp
of golden light
see the moth!

__bereft – not just a word
__a time, a place

named after his grandfather
and the house
he was born in

__dressed in white
__that’s how you came home

I’ve got girls
to see to
I have to go

__candy stripes and rick-rack
__a cotton wash

on a single plant
white and pink poppies,
both pleated, oriental

__is it only in the fire
__there is a quickening?

a nijuuin renga in summer
Langley Woods, Northumberland
26 June, 2005

Participants

Linda France (master)
Sue Dunne
Helen Elliott
Joan Johnston
Helene Murphy