8/14/2019 A journey that's home (extract from 100 verses for 3 Estates)

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A journey that's homePaul ConneallyT h e opening verse of a renga is tradit ional ly wri t ten by themaster: it sets th e scene, honours the host and we l co m e s th ecol lected group, the host's guests. spent many hours preparingfor the renga, reading an d re-reading the schema composed byAlec to l ink c losely and b e in the line of traditional Japaneserenga schema, but to also depa rt from tradit ion, to create amore locally focuss ed piece that would offer opportunitiesfor the com muni ty to re f lect the reali ty and aspi rat ions ofth e 3 Estates. O ur word-map of wh a t is and can be.

R e n g a can be a very tech nica l proc ess wi th a myriadof conventions. I dec ided tha t m y task was to provide aconnect ion with the t radit ion of renga while not lettingconvention ac t as a barr ier to people taking part . Th e vastmajority of part icipants had not writ ten much poetry atall, never mind engaging in what m ight appear at f irst to beesoteric art.Given this th e f inal poe m is remarkable , th eengagement in p r o ce s s even more so .

O ur s ch e m a p r o po s e d not the tradit ional seasona lopening but s imply : Today (p lace, w eathe r) ' . I wanted tobring to our star t a sense of welcom e, honour ing th e host- something that I tr ied to bring to each renga session,particularly in terms of place, even whe n th e schema didn'trequire i t. A s master there are ce rtain forma lit ies and rituals

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that help set the scene, t ransforming whatever spac e weare working in into som ething approac hing a sacred space;a sac red space that can be anywhere, anyw here peoplemeet to share in the process of composing. There are nop l a c e s that c an't be transforme d by this. I t doesn't require a'temple1 of culture: th e street, a pub, sho pping precinct, jail,country park, even your ow n f ron t room, w i ll be t ransformed- and will in turn transform those w ho meet in these spaces.Environment affects person. P erson affects environment.F or a short t ime in the process of renga we become one.

bright sunshinea shepherd gathers his flockinto the fold

In my mind shephe rds are caring. I t proved the right cho ice .G a v i n looked after us ac ross th e whole renga - a good host ,a good shepherd. Th e verse also gives us a real shepherd,real sheep and the fold. A s well as being Th e Fold, th es h o p p i n g precinct we we re writ ing in, i t is also a real sheepfold. Th roughout o ur renga you wil l f ind verses that invitemany interpreta tions, pathways, stories: su ch is the na tureof renga, a proce ss that at i ts heart steers us away from anyongoing narrative and yet offers so many possibi l it ies:

desire lines are drawnwherever we go

T h e engine fo r this non-l inear co nstruction is the link an d shiftof renga: the linking to the previo us verse a nd shifting awayfrom the one before. A lthough al l our partic ipants were usedto the narrative building styles that predominate westernliterature they were soon linking and shifting in a style that amaster haiku poet l i ke B a s h o would have applauded. F rombeginners c ame all kinds of link: direct linkage by word orcontent, an d that most prized of link: the 'scent link', anindirect empa thetic linkage, links that explore the 'qualities'of things, th e other worlds that appear within th e spacebetween verses. T h i s space is at least as important as theverses themselves. There is no rhythm without silence.

O ur renga is writ ten using th e process o f 'degac h i ' :e a c h partic ipant offering a verse at ea ch posit ion witht h e master making the selec tion f rom all thos e offered,sometimes combining elements from two or more offeredv e r s e s or pull ing som ething from the air into a verse. Later,A l e c , our distant master, would offer his take on verses ands o m e t i m e s they wo uld change again - this giving oneselfu p to the process, no t being too precious about an offeredv e r s e is central to the act of ma king renga, perhaps to theac t of making a ll col laborative art.

T h e 'degachi ' process leads to p eriods of intenseconversation led by the master when verses are beingproffered and c hosen and then s i lence as everyone w ri testheir next verse - si lence - sound - si lence- sound - si lence

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- sound a nd always running through th e day; laughter, joy.Y e s , i t shou ld be a joyo us ex per ience.

In The Fold at about the t ime the of f l icenc e ope ns agroup of local youths and their dogs gather. Cans of stronglager a n d splif fs. S o m e of the renga gather ing feel une asy -what wi l l thes e youths make of us? Soon it b e c o m e sobvious that they are l istening to u s. At the me ntion ofMurdoch they burst into the refrain from th e 'A - T e a m 'and here in th is conc rete prec inct w e have a l ink direct lyfrom Kings Norton to b locks of flats on the other s ide ofBirmingham, an A m er i c an TV ser ies f rom the 1970s and tothe 1770s revolut ionary Birmingham group of scientists andindustrialists Th e Lunar Soc iety ':

Boulton, Murdoch, Priestly andWattthe other sideof town

Such linkages and more abound throughout our renga, fo rwhatever w e bring to the renga each reader br ings jus t a smuch and finds their own new wor lds, their ow n pathwaysforward and backw ards in t ime, ac ross c u l tu res and th roughspace. Th e inter-renga passages written by Gavin and Alecbr ing another facet to the w hole, as doe s the shi f t in venueand season between each renga session culminating withpossibly the m ost upli ft ing renga sessio n I've ever h ad thepleasure of master ing in Keith Hoo's f ron t room:

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there's reallyno need to skimp withUtility Warehouse

I resist the temp tat ion to go through each renga day f indingspecial verses, wonderful moments and instead invite yo uto join us in The Fold, Hawkesley Square, C adbury Co l legegrounds, Millennium Green, Th e Masshouse Members Cluband Keith Hoo's hou se. Th e great Japa nese haiku and rengamaster Matsuo Basho said: "Every day is a ourney, and thejourne y i tsel f is home ".

T a k e a wa lk with us, explore the possibilities that 100Verses for 3 Estates of fers, tha t t he p eop le and p laces o f the3 Estates offer. . .

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