Renhai Studio Archives

A Collection of Renhai by members of The Renhai Studio

Making an Opening

A Renhai by Jerry McKenzie (jm) & Vaughn Seward (vs)

Victorian mansion —
each tap of the doorknocker
echoes within. /vs

A pileated woodpecker /jm&vs
attacks a suckering birch. /vs&jm

The Lenin ice-breaker —
cracking ice peals across
the frozen sea. /jm

Archive Id: 112
Jerry McKenzie: Canada
Vaughn Seward: Canada
Written:: December 11, 2008 - January 8, 2009

Theme: Repeated Knocking/Cracking Sound
Season: Winter
Kigo: Ice-breaker
Verse Form: 2-3-2, 3-3, 2-3-2 (Rhythm)
Process: Forward

Links 1/2: Door / Tree.
Links 2/3: Cracked or split open.
Links 3/1: Wanting to enter.

Notes: The pileated woodpecker is one of the largest woodpeckers in North America and is easily identified as being black with a red crest. They live in the vicinity of Jerry's farm year round and make a very loud non-rapid noise like the sound of someone using a hatched.

The Lenin is a Russian icebreaker that was launched in 1957. It is both the world's first nuclear powered surface ship and the first nuclear powered civilian vessel. It was put into operation in 1959, officially decommissioned in 1989, and converted to a museum ship in 2005.

Jerry's uncle Edward in the 1980's was the skipper of the Canadian tugboat Jock McViven near the mouth of the McKenzie River in the Canadian high arctic. He reported to have had contact with this nuclear powered ice-breaker. He was impressed by this ship in that he believed the crew consisted largely of women.