The following is a renga rendered in 8 haiku:

The island exhales

Lines of traffic heading west

Locals grin and nod

Guard stands sit empty

Seagulls search for chips in vain

Stripers are coming

Whipping whistling winds

Striated sandy stretches

Whirling white foam fluffs

Empty osprey nest

Dark silhouette at dusk

Bittersweet season

Milkweed seeds scatter

Monarchs seek flower’s nectar

Time to journey home

Written in the sky

Shadows in the grassy dunes

Summer is over

Seagull cries echo

Laden cars crawl sadly west

Summer’s end again


Fire in the sky

A blaze of bright vivid hues

Summer sun now Fall

This poem was written by LBI Poets Studio members Bryce Reynolds, Aileen Reynolds, Rick Reynolds, Joanne Mitchell, Sue Cummings and Irene Bausmith, and edited by Sandy Kenny.

A renga is a poem composed of linked haiku. Haiku is an ancient Japanese poetic form. In its English version, it consists of three un-rhymed lines of five, seven and five syllables. It is written in the present tense, usually contains a natural image, and intends to capture the essence of a moment.

September 18, 2019