Renhai Studio Archives

A Collection of Renhai by members of The Renhai Studio

Duplicity #3

A Renhai by Gillena Cox (gc) & John Daleiden (jd)

the hooker
works her street corner —
a five o'clock shadow /jd

street sweepers' voices at dawn /gc
flatulence of "corpse flowers" /jd

she melts in his arms —
one teaspoon of sugar stirred
into the coffee /gc

Archive Id: 131
Gillena Cox: Trinidad and Tobago
John Daleiden: USA
Written:: March 23, 2009

Theme: Duplicity
Season: All Season
Kigo: n/a
Verse Form: Free
Process: Forward

Links 1/2: A worker of the night (a hooker) / an early morning worker — a street sweeper. The quietness of the early morning hours is broken / shattered by the voices of street sweepers talking loudly at dawn—the general quietness of the night is juxtaposed against the unnatural loudness at dawn of the street workers.

Links 2/3: A male masquerading as a female hooker (the five o'clock shadow) / the stinking corpse flower has male and female parts on each blossom. The hooker uses her outer beauty to attract customers as consumers for her sexualality. Generally, people regard a flower highly for its beautiful scent — the scent of the corpse flower is repugnant. In both situations the outer appearances seem to have one set of values and conditions, but the underlying reality is somewhat different — hence, duiplicity.

Links 3/1: Man/woman relationship: "she melts in his arms —" a metaphorical expression describing the woman's compliance in a mutual relationship — physically, of course she remains an independnt being; this first image is juxtaposed with the second image in this renhai verse, where sugar stirred into coffee physically combines with the liquid and becomes a new substance — sweetened coffee. Of course the man and woman relationship in verse 3 is linked to the hooker seeking a business encounter in verse 1.

Notes: In verse 1, "five o"clock shadow" refers to new beard growth late in the day on a man whose face was clean-shaven in the morning; the term comes from the traditional 9-to-5 workday hours. In this verse a man msquarading as a woman is "working a street corner" in the early evening.