kxsw ~ yotsumono

KXSW* --
agencies and native tongues

connect in live streams

above this rag-tag village

eagles stay a constant course

the 'best in the west'

hop on board that yellow bus

certain of a win

once the creek fills up with fish

there'll be circles 'round the drum

*KXSW is best heard near dawn on a weekday morning, US central standard time; it will offer your spirit power

 

 

Yotsumono: November (2017)

 

 

 

 November --
countless raindrops to measure
the length of a day


a veil of frost
tints Johari's window


ranks of children
prone and obedient
to a flickering image


Lebensraum,
a none too distant dream

 

 

Kotatsu ~ Yotsumono

 

 

'Cisco: yotsumono

in forest's verdure -
to each its separate branch
squirrels natter and nag  

a check mark by "climate change"
on every certificate

canvass and leather
an even trade
for nylon and Velcro

before he moved on
'Cisco was a friend of mine

flu season ~ yotsumono

`













the man in black
puffs his inhaler -
flu season

never looking up
no one notices the crow

queue at full stop
I steal a glance at
the nape of her neck

gritty snow
in the bus stop's shadow

flu season: yotsumono

the man in black
puffs his inhaler -
flu season

never looking up
no one notices the crow

queue at full stop
I steal a glance at
the nape of her neck

gritty snow
in the bus stop's shadow

Yotsumono ~ tassels

red and yellow silks
weave tassels on the corn --
crows keep to the rows



on a rainy Midwest morning,
muted shades of grey



inspiration found
from the very first page
of the new best seller



not merit nor dishonor
in lines of 1's and o's

 

 

 

 

 

 

Little Book of Yotsumonos

three day moon

still a few stalks
by the windbreak in the snow --
three day moon

the dog makes a beeline
for the fox's spoor

in the villager's panic
torches and pitchforks
passed all around

she posts a view of blossoms
one last time


Bandit, Rice


` '';;;;'' yotsumono

hot again ::: yotsumono

a lone gull gliding
catches up to its cries --
Lake Mallalieu


kinetic theory
its rippling arc bending


pomade, coffee, talcum,
clean shirt, too -
the Fat Man's stick is hot again


a note with no name,
and roses, just shy a dozen




;;;;;

November :: yotsumono

November --
countless raindrops to measure
the length of a day

a veil of frost
tints Johari's window

ranks of children
prone and obedient
to a flickering image

Lebensraum
a none too distant dream



` ` ;;;;;

Little Book of Yotsumonos

Darlington Richards, publishers of Journal of Renga & Renku,
are pleased to announce the launch of

the Little Book of Yotsumonos

Purchase: http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/darlingtonrichards

John Carley’s recently-designed four-verse renku format is represented by 60 poems, wherein Carley collaborates with such well-known haikai poets as Hortensia Anderson, Lorin Ford, Carole MacRury, Sandra Simpson, William Sorlien and Sheila Windsor, together with an introduction to the form.

“I have always been impressed by John Carley’s knowledge of Japanese linked verse… It is my sincere hope that this new form of linked verse will take root.” —Nobuyuki Yuasa, Professor Emeritus, Hiroshima University, and translator of Basho’s The Narrow Road to the Deep North and Other Travel Sketches (Penguin Classics, 1966).

“the Little Book of Yotsumonos opens up a world of poetic possibility, sourced by the old, both the Chinese and Japanese poetic traditions, yet fresh and original… I suspect few will be able to read this book without wanting to try and compose a yotsumono themselves.” —Sonja Arntzen, Emeritus Professor of East Asian Studies, University of Toronto, and translator of The Kagero Diary and Ikkyu and the Crazy Cloud Anthology.

Purchase: http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/darlingtonrichards


Norman Darlington
Moira Richards
Darlington Richards Press
http://darlingtonrichards.com