Saturday, December 17, 2022

A version of renku with my creative-writing course yesterday

Yesterday, my creative-writing course did a version of the Japanese renku form. The students began as "writers" of one three-line stanza each for me as the "reader" to choose among. Then I became a writer, and the student whose stanza I chose became the reader to choose among the writers' new set of two-line stanzas linked to the first. With each further alternating three-line and two-line stanza, the writer of the chosen stanza became the reader for the next stanza. From the third stanza on, the content of each stanza linked to the previous one while shifting from the next-to-last one. We completed ten stanzas by the end of the session. (Andrew Shields, #111words, 17 December 2022)

 

fifteen minutes or two hours

the wait, unbearable

only to see if the story ends                             (MK)

 

it eats me up from inside

as my mind is unravelling                               (AR)

 

thoughts spiralling

there's no escape

at least for now                                               (DL)

 

maybe, after some coffee

the plan will bear fruit                                    (MK)

 

oranges, grapes or apples

I could transform it into jam

Maybe the outcome will be a masterplan      (SZ)

 

Add a little sugar to the mix

that's not a problem we can't fix                     (JH)

 

but what if I pick salt instead?

will it burn or

will it make it worse?                                      (RG)

 

how bad can it be?

choking on your destiny                                 (EK)

 

then will it finally be

fulfilled, at last

jam-filled lungs, my end                                 (MK)

 

sticky and stuffy

but at least sweet                                             (LA)

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