A tanrenga poem is the shortest of renga forms. It usually starts with one poet writing a haiku or haiku like stanza that can ‘stand alone’ in typical hokku fashion. This is then linked to by a process of link and shift with two lines by another poet although a single poet can link to their own original verse should they feel so moved. The final poem is for all intents and purposes very similar to a tanka poem. As with many things it’s not as much fun to do it on your own. The two lines are usually after the original three line stanza but can, as here, be added in front of it. The first verse here is written by Paul Conneally and is:

a morning with stone
the impermanence of words
and summer flowers

This is then linked to by Gavin Wade with:

the marker pen slips
across the bathroom tiles

Gavin decides to place his verse before the original verse. This is unconventional but happens periodically in and across Conneally and Wade’s many years of artistic and literary collaboration. They break the rules and can with confidence because they know them. The final tanrenga reads:

the marker pen slips
across the bathroom tiles
a morning with stone
the impermanence of words
and summer flowers

In this poem the line ‘a morning with stone’ acts as a pivot:

the marker pen slips
across the bathroom tiles
a morning with stone

a morning with stone
the impermanence of words
and summer flowers

Wade and Conneally’s book ‘Is This The Way The Universe Works?’ Is a collection of 555 and 77 tanrenga verses brought together in one collection and that reads front to back and back to front. It is published by Set Margins.