Renga Linked Poem

Renga Begun over 700 years ago in Japan Purpose to encourage collaborative composition of poems Poets worked in pairs or small groups taking turns composing alternating three-line and two-line stanzas Themes include nature, seasons, and love

Format First stanza written in hokku (5-7-5) Second stanza written by another person, has two lines of 7 syllables each Stanzas only link to the one before it The poem always starts and ends with a hokku No punctuation or capitalization

Spring preparing black earth tenderly tucking seedlings in springtime bedding bird songs greet the morning sun slumbering beasts awake now birds build tiny nests in blossoming trees of pink chicks will hatch and peep