Summer hats
kittiwakes rise then settle
on the Tyne bridge

she cools her hands
round a glass of iced water

neighbours complain
to anyone who’ll listen
a radio mast

up on the roof
Laura Nyro Live

a mouse’s shattered body
delineated
by the moon

lovers share a Marlboro
on a pile of red leaves

no longer rivals
sisters in disguise
enjoy trick-or-treat

the magician crawls over
his gob-smacked audience

news of mob rule
fast food and olives
in Old Baghdad

circus life survives
on horse muscle and grit

indoors or out
skating is fun
in the right company

we paste down silver foil
for a winter moon effect

the hole in Daddy’s arm
where all the money goes
but he loves it so

another three hours
on the parking meter

steamy windows
a new line in the poem
I never wrote her

she reads them Treasure Island
gripped by the story

on the teacher’s desk
goldfish swim round and round
a mountain

again the snow remembers
how to melt

way down the dale
an old cherry orchard
starts to blush

shyly Grandma reveals
her new spring outfit.

a nijuuin renga in Summer
BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead
28 June, 2003

Participants

Paul Conneally (master)
Alec Finlay (host)
Ian Gonzarow
Ruth Sheldon
Elizabeth Barry
Laurie Purvis
Caroline Fenwick
Eileen Ridley
Ian Horn
Adam Fish