Soliloquy no Renga “Ah! Those Cherry Blossoms” – July 22, 2015

Credits: Woodblock print “Sakura” by Hiroshi Yoshida (1876-1950)

 

Hokku:

Ah! those cherry blossoms
their beauty amazes me again –
finally spring is here

© Chèvrefeuille

raining pink perfumed petals
decorates the warm tarmac

swallows from Africa
celebrate with cherry blossoms
making new nests

farmer’s barn decorated
with wicker basket homes

eggs laid
maturing in the warm spring
last cherry bloom falls

peeping young swallows cry
no cherry blossoms greet them

tiny green cherries
dangling tree decorations
young swallows first flights

swirling in the warm orchard
bees, swallows and butterflies

last swallow departs
the cherry tree stands bare
golden leaves fall

thoughts of swallows as it snows
dreaming of cherry blossoms

first cherry blossoms
greet the returning swallows
rebirth of life

 © G.s.k. ‘15

Written for: Carpe Diem Tokubetsudesu #53, Soliloquy no Renga “Ah! Those Cherry Blossoms”

Today’s episode of Tokubetsudesu is to write a soliloquy no renga … that is a renga where just one poet creates a series of haiku for the hokku presented … concluding it by connecting in a full circle to the hokku.  Here is how Chèvrefeuille explains it:

The first verse “hokku” gives the title to the renga and sets the entire image of your renga. By association on the verse before the verse you have to write you can make the renga a complete story. The Soliloquy no Renga is just for fun and I hope it will bring you the fun and inspiration as I had in mind. You can choose on your own how much links you use, but at least (as I said above) six (6) links. The last link has to make the “circle complete” and in that way has a link with the first verse. That last verse is called “ageku”.