Cleveland Collaborative Renga- part 2!

the Cleveland Collaborative Renga!
We have now finished the opening six verses (the "jo"), and now we're in the main part (the "ha").
(to see the opening stanzas, click here, to continue to part 3, click here).

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Public Square:
privatized
and empty

      cars roll past the monument,
      bronze soldiers from long ago

          statues of soldiers--
          their cast iron eyes downcast--
          retreat from my love. 

              the abandoned Siamese
              blue eyes dim in winter light

                   ghosts of the city
                   shadows beneath parked cars
                   silent, waiting, watching

                        eidolons of burnt rivers
                        histories of bone and ash

ancient children dance
rose blown wind rings water songs
insubstantial Moon

      our paths always circle back
      how well our feet know these roads

           Euclid Avenue 
           red, green, blue line, trolley stops 
           time leaves us baggage.

                tactical assault backpacks
                to carry childhood sorrows

                     blue sky morning
                     your pink hair-rollers
                     on the floor 

                          eleven roses -- heart pierced
                          by thorns of the absent stem

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Renga are poems which alternate three line verses in haiku format (5-7-5) with two line verses (7-7).  

Each verse links to the previous verse, but not to verses before that.

Join the fun!
To add a stanza, continue to part 3!

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Background info:

• Let's do renku 
• Do you know... renku?
• Let's do renku (2)
• Collaborative Renga: start