Winter Renga
by the Birmingham Exchange Teen Spark Young Writers Group
Contributions by George, Jude, Isabel, Emma, James, Hattie, Toby, Alyanna, Radha, Emily, Emma, Sofiyyah and Nicholas.
Renga is a Japanese poem in the form of a tanka (or series of tanka), with the first three lines composed by one person and the second two by another.
Pine trees green and lush
A fire crackles, warm love
Rosy cheeks and hugs
Yellow snow is bad
I am just wishing for sun
I have no heating
The wind is cold, very cold
Frost bites the air, a fierce breeze
Clawing, bitter frost
Biting shivers at my spine
Cold death coming near
Trees are bare of flesh
Stark naked but they stand proud
Freckled in snowflakes
Harsh and heavy, take me home
Frost bitten and flushed cheeks
Twined in blankets of
frost, but also the arms of
a mother so warm
Winter cuts deeply
The hungry frost gnaws and bites
Like a blizzard’s sword
Icy air drowning you
Winter wind clawing blindly
Boots slip on cold curb
No soft falls in December
Hard for the clumsy
Snow falling outside
Cold, desolate, empty, dark
Radiator broke
Wind hushes and laughs softly
Biting round exposed red cheeks
Winter is the best
I really like snowball fights
Winter is the best
Frozen in the ice
One final rose still in bloom
Petals falling down
Hats fly away and hopes, too
Winter wind a cold lesson
White and frosty air
Feels less magical, no snow
Is it summer yet?
Winter, what a time
Remove snow with salt not burn
everyone around the fire