Written for:  Carpe Diem Weekend Meditation #102 – Renga with Basho . . . ancient times

“This weekend I have chosen to challenge you (again) to create a Renga With Basho. I will give you a series of haiku by Basho to work with. You can decide which “line-up” you will follow, and add your two lined stanza towards the renga. It’s a wonderful opportunity to create a renga with Basho, my sensei.”

Japanese Morning Glory

Here are the six haiku to work with (all translated by Jane Reichhold and taken from “Basho, The Complete Haiku”):

flood waters
stars too will go to sleep
on top of a rock

where the ocean flows below
and rises high at will

still summer
the harvest moon too hot
to enjoy coolness

when harvest moon pales
too much coolness will set in

morning glories
in the day time a lock lowered
on the gate

nothing can hold them back
joy and color have no lock

chrysanthemum flowers
bloom at the stonemason’s
between stones

hearty flowers bloom anywhere
stones take on their colors

warriors
the bitterness of pickles
in the talk

seizing up their enemies
how many will come home?

plum blossom scent
since ancient times the word
has been sorrowful

now photographs are taken
plum aroma freshens air

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