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XXVII:1
February, 2012

LYNX  
A Journal for Linking Poets  
  
   
     
     

COLLABORATIVE POETRY

 

CAT IN ITS IDLENESS
Anna Attard Cini
Francis Attard

Cat in its idleness
& appetite for whitebait good ...
the cluttered desk

the strangle-hold of warm talk
by the door-to-door salesman

the morning glory
star-shaped blue at daybreak
the woven blossom

quorum for Sunday meeting
at the vegans club

not much
of a weight added, shadow
of no import

frown on her face sums it all up,
but who will notice?

the shrike's cry
takes us by surprise
weak lock on the door

changing house just a whim
the sultry heat & a low moon

randomly profound
the mood for a heart tattoo
a smile seducing

a gilded mask with stubborn
chin & smooth mouth says love

in Venice for Carnival
under the Bridge of Sighs
promises withdrawn

bare shoulders cold
under a wintry sky

the imminent fear
of nightfall
of profiles

in its inherited strain
auctioneer’s voice fast &
furious

dowager in riding boots
& on the leash
a greyhound

a whiff of good will
autumn at the livestock show

in its fancy framework
scarecrow's warhorse look
& the moon is bright

oak tree design on minted coin
woodpecker sculpts

 

 

DRUNK ON RAINBOWS
Susan Constable
Jane Reichhold
Ken Wanamaker

butterfly colors
the air woven with
autumn leaves /jr

near the cornucopia
a wild geese sampler /kw

fir needles
finding their way
into the house /sc

each of the party guests arrive
wrapped in different perfumes /jr

sandalwood
burning on porcelain...
winter moon /kw

the distortion of my smile
in the car's hubcap/ sc

who can hear
the wild heart beating
racetrack varoom / jr

only the yearning herdsman
scuffling through leftover snow / kw

in solitude
I gather fiddlehead ferns
for tonight's salad /sc

eating an elegant dinner
we listen to the violin solo / jr

a stream
of champagne swirling
in my flute/ kw

drunk with the beauty
of sweet peas and rainbows /sc

composed online at AHAforum
September 27-October 27, 2011

 

           

YUGEN* DIALOGUE
Valentin Dishev
Vania Stefanova

Trace in memory
Shadow of a gnome

Idea is on tiptoe
Horny cat

Fingers of a idea
The cat is puma

Red and black
The cougar to hunt

Hunters of words
Singing boomerang

 

 

WREATH

Haiga Emily Romano

 

 

NEW  ROOF
Dick Pettit            :  1, 5, 10,14,17,  20,23,26,  30,3
Jann Wirtz            :  2, 6, 9, 13,19,  22,25,28,  32
Hanne Hansen     :  3, 7, 12,16,  29, 31,33,35
Vasile Moldovan :  4 ,8,  11,15,18,  21,24,27,  3

the new roof
should be on next week
autumn rain

apple scented attic
roots in the cellar

the sky in silver
the landscape in grey colours
cannot find the moon

today the old people listen
to the echo of childhood bells

sorting gear
in the dusty pavilion
time for tea

cold hands around the cup
add a dash of amber*
              
out in the streets
waving old flags
on the first of May

rocking on a lime twig
two turtle doves

citrus slice
and a pinch of salt
Tequila passions

I could if I thought I should
but maybe I won't

the smile of a child
is enough for the parents
to end their quarrel

cries at the doctor's
his dog is no big comfort

seeing the Tardis
far beyond Sirius
the Volpuk hides her eyes

snow in the wintry wind
stings like specks of ice

tracks of sledges
icicles hanging from
grandpa's moustache

grandma cooks every day
she loves boiled potatoes
march wind

a single spray of blossom
taps on the window

on the Easter Monday too
they remain in the parents' house
       
the war over, but still
fear of snipers
in the greening streets

there's a city in the jungle
completely overgrown

North Star brilliant
laurels of the Nobel Prize
on a poet's forehead

Red Bull Podium hero
drenches all in champagne

a glorious night
the moon out, dancers
reeling in the square

the whirlwind snatches an unread
love letter from my hand

into the storm
with no word spoken
now I'll never know

louder than the hubbub
a friendly touch

Valentine's concert:
chirping sparrows under the eaves,
minstrels at the window

little winter flowers
frost on the birdbath

nobody could reach
the big violet orchid
before it drowned

thrashing about, his wallet
disappears in the crowd

this windfall
finances a six-week stay
in Thailand

a backpacker teaches a while
at a school under the trees

steady purpose
and persistent application
is the key to success

a kitten finds a hundred things
to touch or look at

our baby in her pram
on her first trip
in the light green wood

only a breath of wind and
wild bees beginning to swarm

*  amber = whisky

 

 

THE RABBIT'S EARS
Giselle Maya
Amelia Fielden
  
long after
their harvest time,
dry corn husks
the shape and color
of a rabbit’s ears
  
man in the moon
rabbit in the moon. . .
why is it
I see there only
the delay of daylight
  
Rabbit
wise and cautious
do teach us
to go straight ahead steadily
walking between rain drops
  
in our car
the navigation system
displays only
the streets one should drive,
not the way one should live
  
Sunday lunch
with three friends
a salad with violets
and in her garden
we find snowdrops
  
the importance
of small things, these earrings
he chose himself
more valued than the sum
left to me in his will
  
shadows
of shaven heads
on the shoji –
walking slowly at a temple
long searched for
      
paper blossoms
showing on the shoji
there are children
with pokey fingers
in this family home
  
twelve-armed
Kannon at a Nara temple ...
delighted
I stay in her presence
rooted to the earth
  
to the music
of a bush-warbler,
black butterflies
dance above yellow iris
at Narihira's temple
  
a flower’s name
deep blue thistle face
not remembered ...
when I stop thinking
‘cornflower’ comes to mind
  
"off with his head"
Alice's dream or nightmare
in Wonderland
so colourful, so scarey
so loved by children
  
at the tea party
"does your watch
tell you what year it is ?”
the hatter and the hare
expand Alice’s sense of time
  
a harmony
of kimono-clad ladies
attentive
to their tea ceremony master,
to the tightness of tradition
  
on the scroll
rabbit in the moon
painted –
was it you who crossed
my path this winter dawn ?
  

     

 

SNOWFLAKES MELTING
Patricia Prime
Rodney Williams

I recall his kiss
when we met at the station
that winter's day
before going to a concert
snowflakes melting on our lips

eighteen years
together from age eighteen
her ex-partner
still cooks her a Christmas pudding
another eighteen years on

she carries a book,
towel and bottled water
to the beach . . .
but she'd rather be in town
where her friends are partying

birthday calls
to my older brother ~
he always wishes
me my own happy returns
four days overdue

at a party
my nephew introduces
his new girlfriend ~
a tall girl, with blonde hair:
a Niuean beauty

sighing, she smiles
listening to his schemes . . .
her cat
between their pillows
really the one in charge

taken for a stroll
in the foothills that open
from her garden gate
I share a slice of her life
a swathe of her thoughts

my son a chemist
in doctoral research
beyond me
tells family friends with pride
how his father's poems improve

 

tar

Haiga Alan Taylor

 

 

OVERLOOKING THE OCEAN
Patricia Prime
Rodney Williams

a circus of birds
performs on the beach:
oystercatchers,
terns and black-backed gulls,
fossicking for shell fish

jellyfish
sponges and sea-cucumbers
pipi and kelp
over warm golden sand
a laden picnic cloth

struggling
out of his clothes
a young father
sprints down to the sea
& splashes his naked baby

jade-green
as his love's eyes
the cape
pokes its tongue
at a storm out to sea

'first sketch the coastline
with a soft pencil', I say
to my granddaughter
as she paints a watercolour
using one of her brushes

against the sandbar
beyond this sheltered inlet
white caps
from the break off the strait...
telling you the truth

on the bluff
overlooking the ocean
a memorial plaque
to hundreds of drowned sailors
aboard HMS Orpheus

through these heads
the South Pacific ...
hector dolphins
smallest of their kind
direct our helm to harbour

 

EVERY FEATHER
Patricia Prime V1, 6, 7, 11
Andre Surridge V2, 4, 9, 12
Catherine Mair V3, 5, 8, 10
 
noon sun
camellia petals
begin to fade

warmer day, all the car windows
down a little for her dog

from the bridge
she stares at the water hole
where boys dive at full tide

saved for later
a letter from an old friend
overseas

full moon, the dementia patient
recognizes raindrops on the path

along with autumn
the revolutions
of a clothesline

I wear a warm blue jacket
pretending it wasn't secondhand

haiku boulder
rescued from the flood tides
lovingly hosed down

a steaming hot bath
light drains from the sky

perched on the railing
a quail
every feather just so

a spray of orange blossom
in the girl's hair

dad's garden
she pulls spring onions
for the salad

 

 

OVERLOOKING THE BAY
Andre Surridge: V1, V4, V7, V10
Catherine Mair: V2, V5, V9, V.12
Patricia: Prime V3, V6, V8, V11

cherry blossom –
what a journey
this ant has made

his flecked eyes
too cool for springtime

family gathering
our talk punctuated by
laughter

hulling strawberries
one for her, two for the bowl

inking haiku
on carved boulders –
the stained knees of her jeans

retirement present
a gold-nibbed fountain pen

memoirs
must wait, he has to paint
the house

autumn wind turns the child’s hair
into a burnished halo

in moonlight
that slight hump in the ground
the old cat’s grave

freshly baked cheese scones
her grandmother’s recipe

winter wedding
he adjusts the bride’s
fur stole

overlooking the bay
the spot where he proposed

 

 

THE KEEPER OF TWO DOORS
Werner Reichhold
James Joyce
– The lines of James Joyce are taken from his book Finnegan’s Wake, first
published in Great Britain by Faber and Faber Lrd 1939.

I

(About the structure of a beam continuously be lengthened and clay
birds taking flight)

Hightime is up be it down into ours according

bride-luck the shifting of shaking shambolically

park’s acoo with sucking loves Rosimund’s by her wishing well

the book of skinheads swallowed one picture of two heirs

in the house of breathings lies that word all fairness

so cheesed in the pharynx of a Burgerqueen

the permission of overalls with the cooperation of night-shirt

she’s an elf for English as she was a seven-by-the-teen

how they succeed by courting daylight in saving darkness

the evil of axes leaking oil

our thirty minutes wars alull

overgrown milestone in its own snake hole

the toy that shall claxonise his whereabouts

godfather’s mini-nukes pass through the custom

where flesh becomes word and silents selfloud

 

 

II

(Shifting scenery: After death your identity may have to respond to
stimuli of which you have a chance to get a foretaste now)

knock – knock
wars where
which war

whooveropium smells
the hord a step sideways

on the bunk of bread
winning lies the corpse
of our seedfather

harvesting naked
ladies-go-to-bulb

quiet
takes back
her folded files

the slender by the walks
way through the creek

at her proper mitts
if she then
the then that matters

gnostophonically tuned
in church? No
Mr. Bish hops into jail

the lunger it takes
the sooner they tumble two

sand
the way I think
of floating time

the swayful pathway of the dragonfly
spider stay still in reedery

global warming
the siren yells
global cooling

spell me the chimes
they are tales all tolled

 

III

(Attempts against steeling our historic presence from the past postpropheticals)

Unclean you art not. Outcaste thou are not.
                   Leperstower, the karman’s  loki, has not blanched at
our pollution and  your intercourse at ninety legsplits does not
defile.
                   Untouchable is not the scarecrown is on you. You are pure.
 
You are pure. You are in your purity. You have not brought stinking
members into the house of Amanti.
 
                        Ellem Inam, Titep Notep
 
we name them to the Hall of Honour.
 
Your head has been touched
                        by the god Ennel-Rah and your face has been brightened by the goddess
 
                        Aruc-Ituc.

 

Faithlifters say charismaticans appear in glass-mobiles.

                                                Maya sends Mia
headfront down the temple for indulgence by the meter-man’s oracle.

                                                Tableau! Tantra & Chiropractic,
                                                turbulance, tabularasa, tick-of-tech
                                                but  fine alley tete-a-tete: how quallcomic
he chews on his sandwitch, how netescaped she giggles whisperushing her teenaddress:
                                                <give-in@worm.org>

 

 

IV
(When the appropriate wave of the unseen laps upon the shore of
possibility, and more than two patterns are moving at a time.)

 

Daphnedews
how all so still she lay
neath of the whitehorn
child of tree
like some losthappy leaf

much to foretell
much with no consequences
burning
breath sailing through
its own attention

wind broke it
wave bore it
reed wrote of it
Syke ran with
hand tore and wild went war

shell shaped sway
as if wishes follow
the night-view of an oyster
the kind that hosts in ripples
a soft lip’s storm

terror of the nonstruck by day
cryptogam of each nightly bridable
game here endeth
the curtain drops
by deep request

seems to be mutating
as on early waves
stand still        orange
evening behind blinds
in  your mirror

pfall if you but will
rise you must
for the nod of the nabir
is better than wink
to wabsanties’

sleeve-touch-dream
merely electric
eccentric
one hand in the first room
of a beach castle

First published in Lost and Found Times, June, 2004

 

 

THE SEA OF TRANQUILLITY

September space probe
skirting the sea
of tranquillity                              pm

big orange berries
glow in the sun                           fm

she makes a present
of her old Halloween costume
to her daughter                           vp

silence: ghost writer
recasts a rejected script              fa

at the zebra crossing
the lollipop lady
and fierce looks                          fm

dad snickers
at our lovely ski holiday              pm

widow & toy boy
come party crashing
on New Year's Day                   fa

taped to the back of a drawer
a love note from long ago           vp

frankly my dear
I don’t give
a damn                                       pm

opera by Berlioz
(3,7) across                               fm

the train to Darjeeling
zigzags into
cool mountain air                        vp

crab enters a trumpet shell
hermit under the moon  fa

being wired up slowly
the subject quips about
sleep deprivation                        fm

counting Liverpool’s
superlambananas                        pm

on the poster
it is raining civil servants
with bowler hats                         fm

daily trip to the office
a white butterfly                          vp

fragrance at daybreak
azalea unfolds its blossom
of frilled petals                            fa

the newborn lamb
shakes its woolly tail                   vp

 

This is an autumn imachi.
See http://renkureckoner.co.uk/
 click on imachi.

Players:
pm     = Paul Mercken, sabaki (The Netherlands)                                            
fm = Fokkina McDonnell (United Kingdom)
vp = Vanessa Proctor (Australia)
fa = Francis Attard (Malta)

DE ZEE DER STILTE

de ruimtesonde
van september scheert over
de zee der stilte

dikke oranje bessen
gloeien in de zon

ze schenkt
haar oude Halloweenkostuum
aan haar dochter

stilte: spookschrijver herwerkt
het afgewezen script

bij het zebrapad
de klaar-over
en vinnige blikken

Klaartje Kip  en Minnie Mouse
lekker op skivakantie

weduwe & toyboy
komen een feestje binnenvallen
op nieuwjaarsdag

achter een lade geplakt
een billet doux van lang geleden

eerlijk gezegd liefje
kan het mij
geen donder schelen

opera van Berlioz
(3,7) horizontaal

de trein naar Darjeeling
zigzagt op weg naar
koele berglucht

krab kruipt in een trompetschelp
heremiet onder de maan

langzaam bedraad
grapt het subject over
slaaptekort

het tellen in Liverpool
van superlambananas

op de poster
regent het ambtenaren
met bolhoeden

de sleur naar het kantoor
een witte vlinder

odeur bij dageraad
azalea ontvouwt haar bloesem
van geplisseerde blaadjes

het pas geboren lam
schudt zijn wollig staartje

 

Dit is een herfst-imachi.
Zie http://renkureckoner.co.uk/
 klik imachi aan.

Spelers:
pm                                                                   = Paul Mercken, sabaki en vertaler (Nederland)
fm = Fokkina McDonnell (Verenigd Koninkrijk)
vp = Vanessa Proctor (Australië)
fa = Francis Attard (Malta)

 

Paul Mercken having sent the 18-verse imachi from his group, I thought it might be interesting to have an old one as well.  I translated le Saké Nouveau from the French of René Sieffert in Friches, his translation of the whole Areno 1689 collection of 10 kasen & 400+ hokku. The one half-kasen is by Ransetsu & Etsujin, two of the leading lights in the Nagoya  group encouraged by Bashö.

The translation can't be exact, but hopefully gives a fair idea. It's dedicated to Francis Attard, whose idea it was, I think, that their group should make an imachi. Dick Pettit.

 

                
NEW WINE – SAKÉ  NOUVEAU
Translated by Dick Pettit from the French  by René Sieffert in Friches which was translated from the Japanese in Arano.

not worth drinking
there's a lack of fortification
in le saké nouveau

 

jolly nippy this autumn
and I don't care for hot baths

 

while he sleeps
moonlight through the window
on his scattered books

 

collecting medicinal herbs
in the shade of the mountain

 

shouts and kicks
as wild horses harass
his peaceful nag

 

across the river, then
the footpath to the castle

 

a pockmarked face
but teeth so clear and gleaming
like ivory

 

she doesn't know music
but a wonderful voice

 

tears flow down
as pass to here and there
wandering clouds

 

ordered to marry again
he's distressed and helpless

 

all morning
he's been frying for the guests
sleeves rolled up

 

the paper lanterns fixed
a handyman takes his leave

 

taking off
one of his garments to be
ironed and scented

 

tomorrow the priestly tonsure
tonight this beautiful moon

 

all the womenfolk
out in the whitening dew
shedding tears

 

the doctor doesn't care
he just turns his back

 

blossom falling
dusk coming on
nothing stops him talking

 

the little bird calling
what tales could he tell?

 

 

end

Haiga Wolfgang Beutke & Anne-Dore Beutke

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

COLLABORATIVE POETRY

 

CAT IN ITS IDLENESS
Anna Attard Cini
Francis Attard

DRUNK ON RAINBOWS
Susan Constable
Jane Reichhold
Ken Wanamaker

YUGEN DIALOGUE
Valentin Dishev
Vania Stefanova

Haiga Emily Romano

NEW  ROOF
Dick Pettit 
Jann Wirtz  
Hanne Hansen
Vasile Moldovan

THE RABBIT'S EARS
Giselle Maya
Amelia Fielden

SNOWFLAKES MELTING
Patricia Prime
Rodney Williams

Haiga Alan Taylor

OVERLOOKING THE OCEAN
Patricia Prime
Rodney Williams

EVERY FEATHER
Patricia Prime
Andre Surridge
Catherine Mair

OVERLOOKING THE BAY
Andre Surridge
Catherine Mair
Patricia: Prime

THE KEEPER OF TWO DOORS
Werner Reichhold
James Joyce

THE SEA OF TRANQUILLITY /DE ZEE DER STILTE
Paul Mercken, Fokkina McDonnell Vanessa Proctor Francis Attard

NEW WINE /
SAKÉ  NOUVEAU

Dick Pettit
René Sieffert

Haiga Wolfgang Beutke & Anne-Dore Beutke

   
     
     

Back issues of Lynx:

XV:2 June, 2000
XV:3 October, 2000
XVI:1 Feb. 2001
XVI:2 June, 2001
XVI:3 October, 2001  
XVII:1 February, 2002
XVII:2 June, 2002
XVII:3 October, 2002
XVIII:1 February, 2003
XVIII:2 June, 2003
XVIII:3, October, 2003
XIX:1 February, 2004
XIX:2 June, 2004

XIX:3 October, 2004

XX:1,February, 2005

XX:2 June, 2005
XX:3 October, 2005
XXI:1February, 2006 
XXI:2, June, 2006

XXI:3,October, 2006

XXII:1 January, 2007
XXII:2 June, 2007
XXII:3 October, 2007

XXIII:1February, 2008
XXIII:2 June, 2008

XXIII:3, October, 2008
XXIV:1, February, 2009

XXIV:2, June, 2009
XXIV:3, October, 2009
XXV:1 January, 2010
XXV:2 June, 2010
XXV:3 October, 2010
XXVI:1 February, 2011
XXVI:2, June, 2011

XXII:3 October, 20111

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Next Lynx is scheduled forJune, 2012.


Deadline for submission of work is
May1, 2012.

Send to: Werner@WernerReichhold.com