Dialogues in the Renga Style
By Mike Garofalo
25 Steps and Beyond: Collected Works
Dialogues in the Renga Style
By Mike Garofalo
Two-faced Janus tried
to close two doors—
Opened a portal outside time
King Tides crashed on jetty rocks
Tide-tables timed to the spot
Marching by door after door
flowing forsythias—
gazing beyond garden gates
Picking tomatoes from the vines
Deep red ripening right on time
Lover's kissing in the dark
breathing fast and hard—
creaking wood floor
Hot summer sun stings
Sweat drips on the floor
The morning moon disappeared
in the sun—
tomatoes canned and stored
Autumn born, insects die,
loveless children sit and cry
Skeletons hanging on
October's doors—
Halloween midnight lore
Leafless maples draped in snow
An empty path all closed.
Janus blinked, the clock chimed,
he missed the chance—
Yuletide logs burnt to ash
Ending, he left, closed the doors
To wander alone evermore
Past and Future Opened Doors
[I have a propensity for using rhymes,
so I'm outside the norm for Renga.
Readers are forewarned!]
A Quacking Cacophony
The honking geese—
a quacking cacophony
flapping overhead.
I listened till noon time;
a rapt, intent, focused mind.
Coming home
long necked geese—
Canadian-Americans.
Wintering in the Willamette
Valley's pleasant clime.
A warm rest for
coots, geese, and ducks—
wet rice fields
May moon's dull dim light;
Loving the warmer nights.
The white geese
ascend from the far fields—
fleeing popping shotguns.
Hunting season for doves;
Bang-Bang-Bang— dead doves.
Flocks of alabaster geese
in the light gray fog—
this way and that way above.
December heather blossoms,
white and red spread around.
25 Steps and Beyond: Collected Works
Poetry Research by Mike Garofalo
At the Edges of the West, Volume 2
Highway 99 and Interstate 5
At the Edges of the West, Volume 1
Highway 101 and Hwy 1
Renga Poetry Research
English Language Renga Poems
Dialogues in Renga Style
By Mike Garofalo
Research, Studies, Notes
Bibliography, Links, Docs
First Poet: 575 or 757
Second Poet: 77
Key Words to include: Moon, Blossoms, Love, Seasonal Terms
12 Stanzas format is either Shishan or Junicho style
18 Stanzas
format is in the Han-Kasen style
36 Stanzas format is in Kasen style
6 Stanzas format is Rengay (Garry Gay) style.
There can be many rules for collaborative Renga poems:
How many times do you reference spring and summer?
Did Key Words appear
when expected?
When can you use gritty, coarse, and rough language?
Is rhyme allowed in English language Renga?
Who begins with the first haiku stanza?
Are you beginning by responding to a completed Renga?
Are you beginning with a blank page?
How many poets are participating?
Is is possible to write a good Renga by yourself?
Where ARE the twists, the turns, the voltas?
Most English language Renga and translations of Japanese
Renga that
I have read are in free verse or blank verse
style with a precise and tight syllable
sound construction.
Bare Bones School of Renga. By Jane Reichhold. 12 Lessons.
Renga Guide: A History of Japanese Linked Poetry
Structure and Conventions of Renga
Renga. Poets.Org
Rengay Garry Gay and Michael Dylan Welch
Collaborative Poetry - Wikipedia
Mora (Linguistics) - Wikipedia
Renga Variations. By Jane Reichhold.
Bare Bones School of Haiku. By Jane Reichhold.
Renga poetry is a genre of Japanese collaborative poetry in
which alternating stanzas of Ku ( 5-7-5) and
mora (7-7)
per line are linked in succession by multiple poets.
[I have a propensity for using rhymes,
so I'm outside the norm for Renga.
Readers are forewarned!]
Collaborative Opportunities
I want to write a Renga poem with another person.
Do you want to write with me?
Best to send Mike email.
Phone: 530-528-3546 (but he seldom checks)
Michael Peter Garofalo (1946-) grew up in East Los Angeles, was educated in Catholic Schools, lived with two other brothers, graduated (B.A., M.S.) from local universities, married Blanche Karen Eubanks, served in the US Air Force, worked in and managed many City and Los Angeles County Public Libraries, raised two children, socialized, traveled, and learned. Retired as the Regional Administrator, East Region, Los Angeles County Public Library in 1998. We moved to a rural 5 acre property in Red Bluff, in the North Sacramento Valley, CA. Webmaster since 1999. Worked part-time for the Corning School District (Technology and Media Services Manager); and as a yoga, Taijiquan, and fitness club instructor until 2016. Traveled extensively in Northern California, Oregon, and Washington. We both retired, and we moved to Vancouver, WA, in 2017. Currently in 2025: reading, writing, gardening, harmonica playing, home chores, yurt camping, exercise, traveling in the Northwest, web publishing, family events, poetry research, photography, Northwest research, Nature mysticism, walking, sports events, and other projects.
25 Steps and Beyond; Collected Works
This document was last edited, revised,
reformatted, added to, relinked,
changed, improved, or modified
by Mike Garofalo
on March 2, 2025.