Ann Anderson Jennifer Toney

One of the most important and unique characteristics of haiku is its ability to provide the reader not only with an image, yet senses of sound, scent, and sensation. In Thunderstorms the authors wanted to not only describe the settings and actions taking place, yet wanted the reader feel as though they were in that moment seeing the lightning, feeling the breeze, smelling the rain etc. This is the first Kasen Renga created by the authors, and hopes that in this work you can feel the rain. Thunderstorms          spring thunderstorm red sky the smell of rain        unusual quiet unmoving air        no more stars gray anticipation I watch darkness approaching        stirring thunderheads building force        looming overhead I search for the moon and find nothing        closing my eyes        breathing as the sky breaks               • first lightning electric white        late arrivals run to their homes        under newspaper tents so fast the water collects in the grass        a slap of thunder jolts        my lungs hitch one stray cat slinks behind dripping bushes        girls shriek        careful hair pasted down               • moments pause moonlight from behind the curtain        a light spray        glistens on shivering skin wind pushed young trees bend        skin prickles        hands find each other fallen blossoms grounded after the rain        impatient beds arise from death        to soak in new life               • black underwear showing through white shorts        barefoot        slippery grass tickles my toes under raining trees rivers flow down the streets        layers churning        the passing storm building in the east across the sky piercing veins flash though the night        into my room        the smell of rain               • flowing curtains dancing wildly after the storm        faint rumbling        distant sounds of the passing sky frightened children hand in hand returned to their beds        a patch of stars        on a quilt of clouds full and white the moon appears an evenings encore        late hour        shadows of leaves lull me to sleep               • rolling over I cover myself cotton cool and crisp        outside my window        sounds of waking birds clean rain the robin’s bath refilled        morning shades        blue to purple to pink . . . arising sun the air think and damp the buds . . . break        evenings rain        we awake with new life • • • Author’s Links Sarah Scheck 1-3, 5-16, 19 Jennifer Toney 4, 17,18, 20-36 This collaboration of Kasen Renga Haiku was inspired by and created during the Global Haiku class at Millikin University.