All About Port Townsend: Those who love and live in Port Townsend. And those who love Port Townsend (and them!)
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What we started today…
.
In The Shallows
.
A spring Nijuin Renku
.
The Port Townsend Renku Club
Begun at Huber’s Inn.
.4/29/11
.
Christopher Herold, Carmi Soifer, Leticia Huber, Alison Hedlund
Jackie Barr, Karma Tenzing Wangchuk, Jay Haskins
.
1 spring
.
kite string—
I hold one end while
clouds hold the other
.
Christopher
.
2 spring
.
a tadpole swims
in the shallows
.
Carmi
.
3 spring
.
the three-year-old girl
beachcombs for treasures, laughing
under the open sky
.
Leticia
.
4 no season
.
what will she buy
with those sand dollars
.
Alison
.
5 summer
.
moon the May moon rises
and an ice cream truck jangles
into the evening
.
Jackie
.
6 summer
.
love
.
newlweds dare each other
to run outside naked
.
Tenzing
.
7 no season
.
love
.
getting the grandkids
to keep their clothes on
is always a challenge
.
Jay
.
Ready to begin…

Allison, Jackie, Tenzing, Jay, Christopher….
Opening to Myth
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A New Year’s Kasen Renku by the Port Townsend Renku Club
Begun Friday, January 28, 2011 at Doris Thurston’s house
.
poets
Christopher Herold, Jay Haskins, Bruce Kennedy, Doris Thurston, Alison Hedlund,
Jackie Barr, Karma Tenzing Wangchuk, Carmi Soifer
.
1 new year (Christopher)
.
first dream
my cat speaks fluently
in a foreign tongue
.
2 new year (Jay)
.
immigrants disembark
on New Year’s Day
.
3 no season (Doris)
.
the shaking of hands
as people come and go
all morning
.
4 no season (Alison)
.
a lag in conversation
while the hostess pours coffee
.
5 autumn moon (Jackie)
.
she stays up
to view the moon
from the west garden
.
6 autumn (Tenzing)
.
Master Rikyu rakes a leaf
into the teahouse
.
7 autumn (Carmi
opening to myth
a pumpkin rides in
from afar
.
8 no season (Christopher)
.
the clouds that changed shape
have now disappeared
.
9 love (Jay)
.
she smiles at how
the new party dress
shows off her curves
.
10 love (Doris)
.
oh my lover I will celebrate
every night and day with you
.
11 love (Alison)
.
glasses lifted
they toast the swell of her belly
with water, not wine
.
12 no season (Jackie)
.
his new parrot’s shadow
crunches crackers
.
13 winter moon (Tenzing)
.
cold kitchen
warmed by the glow
of the moon
.
14 winter (Carmi)
.
snow in the gorge
covers a trapper’s hut
.
15 no season (Bruce)
.
a pine
twisted by years of wind
hangs over the stream
.
16 no season (Christopher)
.
the lynch mob places a noose
around my brother’s neck
.
17 spring blossom (Jay)
.
white camellias
without their stems
decorate the table
.
18 spring (Doris)
.
spring sun streaking through
the wooden window frame
.
19 spring (Bruce)
.
the kids scream
as the huge bubble pulls free
of the wand
.
20 no season (Christopher)
.
another fart rises
in the hot tub
.
21 love (Jay)
.
Sally will not
introduce her boyfriend
to her parents
.
22 love (Doris)
.
she will find her own moment
to say I’m yours
.
23 love (Margaret)
.
overnight
the meadow between us
turns into a lake
.
24 summer (Alison)
.
the Morris Dancer
spins and shakes his bells
.
25 summer (Carmi)
.
an alarm goes off
rousing them
from their siesta
.
26 no season (Tenzing)
.
a quick cup of coffee
and a race to the bus stop
.
27 no season (Jackie)
.
as nets reel in
tons of fish pour
into the hold
.
28 no season (Jay)
.
Aunt Agatha crochets
a new bedspread
.
29 autumn moon (Letcia)
.
the moon
through her window
and all becomes silver
.
30 autumn (Christopher)
.
an accountant for the state fair
divvies up the profits
.
31 autumn (Margaret)
.
10,000 leaves
on deposit
at the compost pile
.
32 no season (Alison)
.
she tosses her lei
onto the hardening lava
.
33 no season (Carmi)
.
a circle of children
plays marbles
till called home
.
34 spring (Tenzing)
.
one little frog
with all its might
.
35 spring blossom (Jackie)
.
an overwhelming scent
of lily of the valley
perfumes the room
.
36 spring (Jay)
.
this sunny May day
raises everybody’s spirits
* * * * *
.
Blog post proudly presented by Huber’s INN Port Townsend… www.StayInHubersINN.com
…Your “Green” Bed and Breakfast in Port Townsend, Washington. We love serving all people coming to the scenic Opympic Peninsula. Tourists, neighbors, visitors, sports enthusiasts… Centrum patrons,, Ft. Worden friends, gourmets “foodies”, vegetarians, vegan eaters, hikers,sailors,divers, canoeists, fisher people, When it comes to fun , vacations and festivals, Port Townsend is The Leader… come and EnjoyPT!
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Posted 9 months, 1 week ago. Add a comment

Another enjoyable linking and shifting party was had in the always warm and welcoming atmosphere of Leticia and Robert Huber’s home. There were eight of us on hand for the session: Leticia, Jay, Jackie, Tenzing, Carmi, Sarah, Carol, and myself. We wrote five stanzas and Carmi managed to get two successive stanzas accepted into the poem. That’s only happened once before In our group. Jackie did it during our previous kasen renku, A Skein of Old Yarn.
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Our current work, A Butterfly Lands, now has twenty-five stanzas and we’ll be working on #26 when we next meet.
.
Below, I’ll paste a copy of what we have so far and after that I’ll attach the updated templates.
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If you see anything that looks amiss, please let me know so that I can make changes.
.
Our next meeting will take place at my house again unless one of you would like to offer up your digs for an afternoon of lively linking and shifting.
.
For this month’s meeting it looks as if a Friday afternoon, the 24th, will work for the majority of us.
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That’s a good thing since interested poets who haven’t been able to come on Thursdays now have an opportunity to get into the frey. Please let me know in advance if you’ll be able to come. .
.
Without further ado, the first 25 stanzas of A Butterfly Lands (a spring kasen renku)begun on April 22 at the Huber Inn.
Chris, as Sabaki, reads the “rules” and makes everyone comfortable and welcome to the work in progress…
Jay Haskins, Leticia Huber, Carmi Soifer, Jackie Barr, Carol O’Dell, Doris Thurston,Christopher Herold, Karma Tenzing Wangchuk, Jim Kacian
Jackie (first from left), Jay, Karma Tenzing, Christopher, Carmi, Carol, Sarah… Preparing the beginning…
Carmi and Carol collaborate and share thoughts…
.
.
1 spring (Jay)
.
a butterfly
lands on my sleeve
white picket fence
.
2 spring (Leticia)
.
tulips greet us
with open petals
.
3 n/s (Jackie)
.
entering town
the first thing seen
is the old stone castle
.
4 n/s (Carmi)
.
a nearby tugboat
passes on the river
.
5 autumn moon (Christopher)
.
pulled pork
and a moonbeam
to eat it by
.
6 autumn (Carmi)
.
flashlights catch
the tints of ripe apples
.
7 autumn (Doris)
.
leaves turn
and twist in the wind
then stick to the window
.
8 n/s (Christopher)
.
a scratched recording
by Chubby Checker
.
9 love (Jay)
.
playing scrabble
was not her idea
of a first date
.
10 love (Jackie)
.
he lets her win
again and again
.
11 love or n/s (Carol)
.
to complete this quilt
each person will need to make
16 triangles & 14 squares
.
12 n/s (Christopher)
.
a meteor burns out
in the stratosphere
.
13 summer moon (Carmi)
.
the kids
run through sprinklers
under a wet moon
.
14 summer (Doris)
.
a bird shadow
flickers on the wall
.
15 n/s (Jackie)
.
feathers fly
when politics are discussed
at the tea party
.
16 n/s (Tenzing)
.
the card read “Drink Me”
and she did
.
17 spring (Doris)
.
into the air
from the plum tree drifts
spring’s first fragrance
.
18 spring (Carmi)
.
we recite the Haggadah
start to finish
19 spring (Jim)
.
April showers
on a well-travelled road
now empy
.
20 n/s (Tenzing)
.
balloons all on the floor
the morning after
.
21 love (Carol)
.
it was so much fun
getting to know him
she hopes he’ll call again
.
22 love (Jay)
.
honeymooning in the Alps
he learns to yodel
.
23 n/s (Carmi)
.
the tympani’s sound
carries across the hall
from the auditorium
.
24 winter (Carmi)
.
ice forms in clumps
around the rush basket
.
25 winter (Leticia)
.
snuggled in their cave
the mother grizzly and her cubs
sleep away
.
* * * * *
.Lovely Renku party at Huber’s INN Port Townsend…
The next stanza, #26, should be a two-liner with no seasonal reference. Our balance of topics, subject matter, and grammar is looking pretty good right now, it seems to me, so, in writing your candidate stanzas remember not to use any imagery from the hokku and not to link in any way to the penultimate verse (#24). Although you need to link to #25 in some way, the emphasis in this part of the renku is still on radical shifting. Look at your mandalic universe to see what topics have not been covered as yet. If we’re going to include topics that ought not to be touched upon during the final six stanzas (disease, death, military), we have four more stanzas to consider any such.
Blog post proudly presented by Huber’s INN Port Townsend… www.StayInHubersINN.com
…Your “Green” Bed and Breakfast in Port Townsend, Washington. We love serving all people coming to the scenic Opympic Peninsula. Tourists, neighbors, visitors, sports enthusiasts… Centrum patrons,, Ft. Worden friends, gourmets “foodies”, vegetarians, vegan eaters, hikers,sailors,divers, canoeists, fisher people, When it comes to fun , vacations and festivals, Port Townsend is The Leader… come and EnjoyPT!
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Posted 1 year, 5 months ago. Add a comment
A S k e i n o f O l d Y a r n
An autumn kasen renku
by the Port Townsend Renku Club
begun on August 20, 2009 at the Huber Inn, completed April 22, 2010
Sabaki: Christopher Herold
Jay Haskins, Leticia Huber, Bethel,
Judi Komishane, Carmi Soifer, Jackie Bar,
Alison Hedlund, Carol O’Dell, Doris Thurston,
Tanya McDonald, Karma Tenzing Wangchuk, Margaret McGee
It just is…
1 autumn
.
morning light
dragonflies barely ripple
the lagoon
2 autumn moon
.
does this warmth
come from you, O moon?
3 autumn
the scarecrow’s
lost a button or two
off his coat
.
Tenzing
.
4 No Season
.
my neighbor weaves
a skein of old yarn
Carmi
.
5 winter
in his cold hut
the hermit prepares
rosehip tea
.
Bethel
.
6 winter
a rare visitor leaves
footprints in the snow
Jackie
.
7 No Season
.
just inside the door
lies an envelope
with a foreign stamp
Alison
.
8 No Season
.
bits of paper protrude
from the eagle’s nest
Jay
.
9 Love
.
her new bikini
causes his eyes to bug out
and his heart to flutter
Jackie
.
10 love
the scent of perfume
wafts from the dryer
Jackie
.
11 love
as I read my book
I hear her sing a lullaby
to our daughter
Carol
.
12 No Season
.
if clouds could speak
these would whisper
Jay
.
13 summer moon
.
summer moon
swallowed
by the mountain
.
Doris
.
14 summer
.
bats begin to swoop
all around the camp
.
Tanya
.
15 No Season
.
three girls
race for the white horse
on the carousel
.
Carol
.
16 No Season
.
somebody’s gone and left
the damn milk out to spoil.
.
Tenzing
.
17 Spring Blossom
.
cherry blossoms
tease my hand
into the branches
.
Doris
.
18 spring
.
the monthly poker game
still active during lent
.
Jay
.
19 spring
.
thistledown
has settled to the bottom
of the beer mug
.
Carmi
.
20 No Season
.
powerful gusts of wind
from the Columbia Gorge
.
Christopher
.
21 love
.
a paper airplane
with a love note on it
hits the teacher
.
Tenzing
.
22 love
traveling to the reunion
he hopes to see her
.
Carol
.
23 love
.
after fifty years
she still tries to change
his posture
.
Jay
.
24 winter
.
a snowman tilts
under the pale sun
.
Jackie
.
25 winter
.
there’s a brown bottle
inside my medicine cabinet
labeled “Winter Dreams”
.
Doris
.
26 No Season
.
the new kid is Aladdin
in the school play
.
Jay
.
27 No Season
.
suicide bomber
apprehended just in time
at the ticket booth
.
Christopher
.
28 No Season
.
from beyond the garden wall
a raven calls out it’s warning.
.
Doris
.
29 autumn moon
.
steam from our cider
blurs the gibbous moon
in the window
.
Carmi
.
30 autumn
.
she appears out of the fog
with a train of seaweed
.
Tenzing
.
31 autumn
.
dried fish
paid for with Chinese coins
found on the beach
.
Jackie
.
32 No Season
my uncle collects tolls
on the turnpike
.
Jay
.
33 No Season
.fields fly by
as our car
heads into town
.
Judi
.
34 spring
the first calf comes
with the equinox
Margaret
.
35 spring
violets and hyacinth
bring blue down
from the sky
Doris
.
36 spring
.
at the end of the long day
art students soak their brushes
Christopher
.
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♥To-day, maybe LIFE will remind you that you only grow up (really) when you have a child… : )
Question: Would you enjoy celebrating the generosity of parenthood?…
Beauty everywhere everytime…
Your arms compared with the morning sun
When you held me
Dad
.
Your eyes
Kept me safe
With their serenity
Or with their spark
.
Your smile
Confirmed my reason
To be born
Dad
.
My harbor
My shelter
My friend
.
Dad
.
For my Dad (and yours)
By Leticia Huber
June, 18th, 2010
Port Townsend, WA
Blog post proudly presented by Huber’s INN Port Townsend… www.StayInHubersINN.com
…Your “Green” Bed and Breakfast in Port Townsend, Washington. We love serving all people, coming to the scenic Opympic Peninsula. Tourists, neighbors, visitors, or Winter Olympiads enthusiasts… Centrum patrons,, Ft. Worden friends, gourmets “foodies”, vegetarians, vegan eaters, hikers,sailors,divers, canoers,fisher people, When it comes to fun , vacations and festivals, we are Port Townsend is The Leader… come and EnjoyPT!
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Poetess Marjorie has been seeing poet Tenzing read his HaiKu poems at the Lehani’s Café Poetry readings for months – regretful to always forget the Haiku poem she wrote to honor his poetry…

Poetess Margery reading her poetry at Lehani's, in Port Townsend...

“No more!”, said Marjorie to herself…and last Friday, brought her poem!!!
That Friday…Tenzing didn’t come!!!
Ha-ha-ha! “The jokes of The Universe”, our group thought.
Then Marjorie’s husband invited me to surprise and honor Tenzing by publishing Marjorie’s HaiKu poem right here in “The Peeps” -for him and YOU to share!!!
Spot on Clarity
Wise words roll off Tenzing’s tongue
Oh music of life
By Marjorie
Blog post proudly presented by Huber’s INN Port Townsend… www.StayInHubersINN.com
…Your “Green” Bed and Breakfast in Port Townsend, Washington. We love serving all people, coming to the scenic Opympic Peninsula. Tourists, neighbors, visitors, or Winter Olympiads enthusiasts… Centrum patrons,, Ft. Worden friends, gourmets “foodies”, vegetarians, vegan eaters, hikers,sailors,divers, canoers,fisher people, When it comes to fun , vacations and festivals, we are Port Townsend is The Leader… come and EnjoyPT!
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Posted 1 year, 8 months ago. Add a comment

( Whether for Ü to think of her (or for her to think of Ü)…
Plain “full circle”… : D
You
Who shared
Your
Womb
Just
Out of tender curiosity
To see those
Eyes sparkling
Into your eyes
Transfixed in amazement
It was true
Life could come
Right within you
And Through you
To hold your finger
With its little hand
To see
A haven of shelter
In your smile
To trust
Your love
With
Their
Whole body
And
Life
They declare themselves
Yours
When they are born
They take for granted
You are theirs
As well
All is perfect
In your arms
When you look
And are so smiling
All is more than perfect
At your breast
Sweet with life
Sustaining
Baby
Ah
The joy
Ah
The adventure
And
Baby trusts
And so do you
After all
It’s
Only
A baby
Yet
It
Came through
You
For you
For the sake of you
Blessed mother
Who realizes her blessing
You
Who shared
Your
Womb
Just out of
Tender curiosity
To see those eyes
Sparkling
Into your eyes
By Leticia Huber
In appreciation of Gustavo Huber (who choose me for his mom! : )
Port Townsend, WA
05/09/2010
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Posted 1 year, 9 months ago. Add a comment
“ENAMORADA”
Por Anita Sáinz
- Nov. 9 de 1939-
Yo me dejé llevar por tu mirada
Tu mirada atrayente y seductora
Que despertó mi alma adormecida
Cautivada por tí, por tu mirada
Bésame por favor
No digas nada
Guarda el secreto de mi amor
Y llévame contigo enamorada
Anita…
♥Abril 25, 1914 – Marzo 25, 2008♥
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Posted 1 year, 9 months ago. 2 comments