A Pair of New Clams

Kamakura— a toddler attracted to a gap in the wall

eiko

two kisses and sixpence from the tooth fairy

paul

hop, step, and jump through the mottled dirt road a summer hat

eiko

cooled in the cathedral she resumes shopping

paul

eyebrow moon hangs on the indigo shadow of a skyscraper

eiko

another busy day at the waxing salon

paul

***

power cuts bring a week of candlelight and many a story

paul

‘no net ensnares me’, was that cry a confession?

eiko

out on the moor we dig a snow hole and try to get some sleep

paul

a suave band dances aurora borealis

eiko

flexing joints the old man off in search of a heart

paul

today Nature retracted the stap cell paper

eiko

we pass quickly through the hall of mirrors into the freak show

paul

leaving his palace young Buddha to be

eiko

someone plays the lute and softly sings Moon of Alabama

paul

can’t shed dewdrops a weary butterfly

eiko

sit down! sit down! it’s only a harvest mouse in with the grain

paul

awaken to the clog-steps of blossom viewers

eiko

***

long day a registered mail came back as unclaimed

eiko

plates of mud pies in the play house

paul

a fragrance of dusk wraps walkers from waterloo station

eiko

the wild grass dreams of Mont Saint Jean

paul

from the frayed side of an iron helmet a beautiful beetle

eiko

searching grandma’s box for the right shirt button

paul

lest you should have a crush on him, remember a pocketful of rye

eiko

after thirty good years a return to Gretna Green

paul

waves keep on rushing into the cave bringing subtle voices

eiko

her second scan shows she’s in remission

paul

for their feast quail eggs boiled, each becomes the body of a crane

eiko

semaphore signals ‘not waving but drowning’

paul

***

the professor points out the Sea of tranquility over Fukushima

paul

the fresh brisk winds drying a tsunami bible

eiko

the eldest ewe nuzzles in a lost lamb from the autumn field

paul

Little Boy Blue Come blow your horn

eiko

she slowly raises her cherry blossom tattoo for comparison

paul

a pair of new clams in Neptune’s Garden

shuhitsu

Paul Conneally, Loughborough, England
Eiko Yachimoto, Yokosuka, Japan

The on-line composition of the Kasen-style renku started on 29 June, 2014 and completed on 19 July, 2014.

It has been nearly ten years since I wrote a renku in a session led by Paul. I used to translate all my renku into Japanese, during the process of which I had fun creating Japanese equivalent for Paul’s charming links. Some of them have taken root in me, thus a boy reading Basho in the first train has been with me as I lost my sister, both of my parents, Hortensia Anderson and John Carley, my long time renku friends.

A Pair of New Clams literally happened on facebook this summer like a pleasant conversation between two old friends. Unlike me I did not pay much attention to the rules of kasen. Let it be was my attitude.

I am always a language lover, but this renku not only revealed forgotten chords and nooks in me but also proved one article I clipped today: “our language, the solid mother earth, becomes richer as we plow her with our fresh words!” Inter-cultural renku, where poets have more chances to cut open an untrodden terrain, seems to have an advantage: Being different from each other gives birth to a new soil, a new life.

For those who are in trouble, depression, doubt or sorrow, renku has got an enormous power. It gives them flourishing perspectives towards life. Rereading, I am finding myself gently consoled.

I cannot thank Paul enough.

Eiko Yachimoto
27 September, 2014

And I in turn thank Eiko. Always an inspiration.

Paul Conneally
2 December, 2015

‘A Pair of New Clams’ was first published in A Hundred Gourds 4:1 December 2014

Gathering Clams, Children’s Play – Miyagawa Shuntei 1896