Changing the Guard
by Michael Dylan Welch, Bill Pauly, Charles Trumbull, LeRoy Gorman, Guy Simser, and DeVar Dahl
First published in Haiku Canada Review 3:3, October 2009, page 28. Written in front of the Houses of Parliament in Ottawa, Ontario, on 7 August 2009, during the Haiku North America conference. See about 30 to 40 pictures I took of the changing of the guard, including several of the fallen soldier mentioned in this rengay’s last verse, with one photo shown at the end here. You can also see several pictures of us reading this rengay on the conference boat cruise.
the clock tower’s shadow
now and then across the square . . .
summer clouds Michael
we step over time
and each other’s shadows Bill
group picture
the photographer’s face
deep in shade Charles
reaching high noon
protest placards lose their shadows LeRoy
Changing the Guard
Parliament Hill sky
my shadow shrinking Guy
the fallen soldier
lies on her shadow DeVar