This collaborative haiku is slightly different from others I’ve initiated on this blog. Like the other haikus, this is a renga. A renga is a collaborative haiku with a two stanza (5-7-5 and 7-7) structure. This renga will be longer with many stanzas rather than just two, and submissions will be accepted on a “first come, first serve” basis rather than judged. In other words, the first person to submit a stanza will win the spot provided they meet the very basic guidelines below. In essence, we’ll be growing a haiku together stanza by stanza, a process that renga master Matsuo Basho (1644–1694) thought led to “newness.”
To submit stanzas, please provide your lines using the “leave a comment” option with this post. Please indicate which stanza you are submitting (e.g., lines 4,5 or lines 6,7,8) to limit confusion. You will be submitting stanzas (either the next 5-7-5 or next 7-7) not single lines. Soon as I see the next stanza has been submitted, I’ll post it. Keep an eye on the comments to see if a stanza is already spoken for. Some commonsense guidelines: 1) Profanity has its place though probably not in a brief haiku where syllables are precious. Any profanity will be scrutinized. 2) Please stay with the general subject matter (our solar system); that said, don’t be afraid to introduce a surprising new twist to the poem. All contributors will be acknowledged with initials in parentheses after their lines and with credit in the by-line of the final poem.
I thought a poem about wandering the solar system suited this type of meandering, surprising poetry best. Looking forward to traveling around the planets, moons, asteroids, dwarf planets, planetoids, and trans-Neptunian objects with you all.
Here is the 5-7-5 to start us off.

Voyager 1 approaches Jupiter (Credit: NASA)
Line 1 (5 syllables): I wander lonely
Line 2 (7 syllables): around the moon, gazing on
Line 3 (5 syllables): shadow-pooled craters. (TG)
Line 4 (7 syllables): I follow Voyager’s path
Line 5 (7 syllables): momentum taking me to (LH)
Line 6 (5 syllables): Jupiter: first glance
Line 7 (7 syllables): at the volatile, swirling
Line 8 (5 syllables): face of a giant. (TG)
Line 9 (7 syllables): Lo behold Galilean moons
Line 10 (7 syllables): Ganymede, a small marble
Line 11 (5 syllables): Next to Jupiter’s
Line 12 (7 syllables): Massive celestial body
Line 13 (5 syllables): Slips away from view. (LH)
Line 14 (7 syllables): Io rings her path in dust
Line 15 (7 syllables): with each volcanic facelift.
Line 16 (5 syllables): Her surface is a
Line 17 (7 syllables): baby, no old history,
Line 18 (5 syllables): like Ganymede’s lines. (JAG)
Line 19 (7 syllables): Yet a pair in age they could
Line 20 (7 syllables): Sure and absolutely be. (IB)
Line 21 (5 syllables): The voyage on to
Line 22 (7 syllables): Saturn is long and coldish
Line 23 (5 syllables): Closer with each mile. (IB)
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