by Donna [later Claire] Gallagher, Pat Gallagher, and Michael Dylan Welch
First published in Woodnotes #20, Spring 1994, page 7. Written 18 November 1993, at the Gallagher home in Sunnyvale, California. This was the first three-person rengay ever written.
a rain of leaves
before the first drops
mackerel clouds Claire
solstice sunrise
frost on the willow Pat
fingers knotted
behind my head
above me, the bristlecone pine Michael
fire-scarred madrone
open to the heartwood Claire
the dog’s whine
apple blossoms sprinkled
on the rusty lawn chair Pat
the redwood burl
shades a trillium Michael