Renhai Studio Archives

A Collection of Renhai by members of The Renhai Studio

An Encounter

A Renhai by Vaughn Seward (vs) & Zhanna P. Rader (zh.r)

The boy runs ahead,
pulling me by a long string —
I soar up-up-up... /vs

A violet friend comes near - /vs
we dive and glide together. /zh.r

Circling each other,
getting dangerously close —
down... down-down... /zh.r

Archive Id: 126
Vaughn Seward: Canada
Zhanna P. Rader: USA
Written:: March 8-15, 2009

Theme: A Kite's View
Season: Spring
Kigo: Kite
Verse Form: 5-7-5, 7-7, 5-7-5 (Syllable)
Process: Forward

Links 1/2: Motion away / Motion toward.
Links 2/3: Dive / Down; Near / Close.
Links 3/1: Together / Separated; Down / Up.

Notes: This is from the perspective of a kite and was written for young readers.

It is interesting that different individuals have interpreted this renhai in different ways. For example, if the kite is taken as a woman that got infatuated with another man (purple kite) after she got to the top of the society thanks to her first man, then she sort of deserves what she got, i.e. falling down from that height. That encounter was wrong. :-)

Another interpretation is more on the serious side. It is the idea that society has been flirting with higher and higher levels of debt and living above its needs (the first verse depicts the early days of this society; the 2nd verse up to about the beginning of 2008)... and now, the experience of the downward spiral of the worldwide economic collapse of 2009!