Dream Tanka

entranced
by Icarus' dream
I stand
flapping my arms
at the roof's edge


published in Pirene's Fountain, Vol. 4, Issue 9, April 2011

Snow Haiku

walking alone
under the moonlit sky
few flake...then many


Published in Word Salad Online, Volume XVII, No. I, Spring 2011

Loneliness Tanka

a raccoon
stuck in the knot-hole
of an oak
dies a few days after –
I'm alone in this attic


published in Pirene's Fountain, Vol. 4, Issue 9, April 2011

Star Haiku

one for you
one for me, another for you…
a skyful of stars


Published in Word Salad Online, Volume XVII, No. I, Spring 2011

Old Photos of the Future: A Tanka Prose

At dusk I sit in front of my computer reflecting upon the bright, promising smiles of my childhood, youth, and early thirties. I scan them one by one.

in the photos
we have ceased to be
the same…
I am his outcome
he, my memory

The setting sun sinks slowly on my glasses, and in the deep of the computer screen a gloomy and bemused face is mirrored.


published in Pirene's Fountain, Vol. 4, Issue 9, April 2011

A Haiku about Religion

stone Buddha
the scent of chrysanthemums
lingers


Published in Word Salad Online, Volume XVII, No. I, Spring 2011

Frog Haiku

old pond...
a frog gazes
at the floating moon


Published in Word Salad Online, Volume XVII, No. I, Spring 2011

Star Haiku

moonless night
alone, one shooting star
then many


published in Pirene's Fountain, Vol. 4, Issue 9, April 2011

Relationship Tanka

Baby
It's Cold Outside
on the radio...
I shiver as I recall
that look on your face


published in Pirene's Fountain, Vol. 4, Issue 9, April 2011

Nostalgia Tanka

my dog
seems to know the length
of its leash
I've no clue
how to measure nostalgia


published in the Tanka Corner Section of Lyrical Passion Poetry E-Zine

Moon Tanka

my powwow solo
makes the attic as big
as the whole world...
hanging low in the sky
the mid-autumn moon


published in the Tanka Corner Section of Lyrical Passion Poetry E-Zine

Moon Tanka

all that noise
through the paper-thin wall
in my motel room
I start counting
summer stars in the window


published in the Tanka Corner Section of Lyrical Passion Poetry E-Zine

A Tanka about Racism

standing like a pole
on the street corner
he shouts...
a string of Chinese f-words
at the white sports cars


published in the Tanka Corner Section of Lyrical Passion Poetry E-Zine

Moon Haiku

harvest night
my shadow and I share
the moon


Published in Word Salad Online, Volume XVII, No. I, Spring 2011

Solitude Haiku

dying embers...
reciting Neruda
to myself


published in Simply Haiku, 9:1, Spring 2011

A Haiku about Writing

rewriting haiku...
the veins on my right hand
bulge


published in the Jan/Feb 2011 issue of Sketchbook

Good Friday Senryu

Good Friday night
under a table the boy
eating Easter eggs


published on World Kigo Database (Good Friday)

Moon Haiku

moonlit alley
my shadow quivers
in winter gusts


published in Simply Haiku, 9:1, Spring 2011

Moon Haiku

the moon rises
to a dog's long howl...
scent of mooncakes


published in Simply Haiku, 9:1, Spring 2011

Dream Haiku

the Siren sings
to me from the other shore…
midsummer dream


published in Simply Haiku, 9:1, Spring 2011

Snow Haiku

between shadows
on the moonlit snowbank
words lost


published in Simply Haiku, 9:1, Spring 2011

Our Dreams

for my mother

waking from the song
Mother hummed years ago
autumn dawn

I remember the night before I emigrated to Canada. My mother was helping me to pack my luggage, and she began to tell me about the dream she had the night before.

My mother stood holding me in her arms helplessly, unable to see anything ahead of her, for she was enveloped by darkness. With the passage of time, a pain rose from her feet and gradually up to her shoulders and arms. At the moment when she reached the point of almost despair, suddenly, a spot of bright space appeared by her side. She used her last ounce of strength to put me down while I remained sound asleep. As soon as I was laid on the ground, the earth unexpectedly began to tilt. My place of rest was now a slope. While careening down, I suddenly grew up, and within few minutes was no larger than a speck of dust.

nine autumns past...
between mother and me
the Pacific

published in Simply Haiku, 9:1, Spring 2011

Turn on the Light

I open up the eyes
of the fading past
trapped between the four walls
of my rented room


published in the April 2011 issue of Four and Twenty

Snow Haiku

silence punctuated
by falling snowflakes…
another dawn


published in the Jan/Feb 2011 issue of Sketchbook

Shadow Haiku

out in the cold
my shadow walks
with me


published in the Jan/Feb 2011 issue of Sketchbook

Autumn Tanka

autumn night...
I bait a crescent moon
with my mind
angling in silence
for her flower heart


published in Simply Haiku, 9:1, Spring 2011

Dream Tanka

the caged eagle
just those few cubic feet
of freedom...
I see in its eyes
a skyful of my dreams


published in Simply Haiku, 9:1, Spring 2011

Relationship Tanka

I show Father
my cover poem from Ribbons --
his eyes
gazing into the space
between TV channels


published in Simply Haiku, 9:1, Spring 2011

New Year Haiku

first dawn
the rabbit in my dream
opens its eyes


published in Acorn, #26

Snow Haiku

melting snow...
I put my name
on her to-do list


featured THIS WEEK (April 12 -- 17) on Shreve Memorial Library's Electronic Poetry Network.

A Tanka about Longing

mother waits
for me across the ocean
I dream
of her under the same moon
but age with this distance


featured THIS WEEK (April 12 -- 17) on Shreve Memorial Library's Electronic Poetry Network.

Autumn Tanka

running in and out
of the low hung autumn mist
I am, I am not
the dark passenger
behind the wheel


featured THIS WEEK (April 12 -- 17) on Shreve Memorial Library's Electronic Poetry Network.

Spring Haiku

spring break
my old dog and I sitting
face to face


featured THIS WEEK (April 12 -- 17) on Shreve Memorial Library's Electronic Poetry Network.

A Haiku about Politics

winter rain
protesters are met with a shower
of blanks


published on Haiku News (April 14, 2011)

Cherry Haiku

pondering haiku...
cherry blossoms scatter
in the morning sun


published in the Jan/Feb 2011 issue of Sketchbook

Beach Haiku

breezy beach
I see the world for two
in a sandcastle


published in the Jan/Feb 2011 issue of Sketchbook

A Haiku about Longing

mother and I
stand on Pacific coasts --
the same bright moon


published in the Mother's Day Poems section of the March / April, 2010 issue of Sketchbook and forthcoming in New Resonance 7: Emerging Voices in English-Language Haiku edited by Jim Kacian and Dee Evetts

A Senryu about Dreaming

seeing Fitzcarraldo...
I go around for hours wearing
the actor's face


published in the Autumn 2010 issue of Simply Haiku and forthcoming in New Resonance 7: Emerging Voices in English-Language Haiku edited by Jim Kacian and Dee Evetts

A Senryu about Identity

the bat
flitting here and there . . .
Chen-ou or Eric



Japanese Translation by Hidenori Hiruta

コウモリ
あちこちすいすい飛んでいる．．．
チェン・オウまたはエリック

forthcoming in Akita and New Resonance 7: Emerging Voices in English-Language Haiku edited by Jim Kacian and Dee Evetts

Autumn Tanka

autumn moonlight
caresses my face...
is it wrong
to remain faceless
in the crowd?


published in the Jan/Feb 2011 issue of Sketchbook

A Tanka about Writing

cliche-only
settlement blocks carving up
my mind...
it's time to have peace talks
with the ancients


published in the Jan/Feb 2011 issue of Sketchbook

Snow Tanka

English Original:

awakened
from my butterfly dream
snowflakes
lighten
into dawn


German Translation by Dietmar Tauchner:

erwacht
aus meinem Schmetterlingstraum
Schneeflocken
leuchten
in die Morgendämmerung


published in Chrysanthemum, 9

Winter Haiku

English Original:

winter dusk...
talking to my shadow
face to face


German Translation by Dietmar Tauchner:

Winterabenddämmerung ...
ich spreche mit meinem Schatten
von Angesicht zu Angesicht


published in Chrysanthemum, 9

Moon Haiku

English Original:

midsummer night
a homeless man kisses the moon
in a puddle


German Translation by Dietmar Tauchner

Mittsommernacht
ein Obdachloser küsst den Mond
in einer Pfütze


published in Chrysanthemum, 9

Flower Haiku

winter dawn...
the last photo of her
amid azaleas


published in the March/April 2011 "flower(s) / bouquet" Haiku Thread of Sketchbook

Flower Haiku

forget- me-nots . . .
the first blooms in her garden
with a For Sale sign


published in the March/April 2011 "flower(s) / bouquet" Haiku Thread of Sketchbook
(Editor's Choice)

Flower Haiku

autumn twilight
an old dog sits by the grave
overgrown with ivy


published in the March/April 2011 "flower(s) / bouquet" Haiku Thread of Sketchbook
(Editor's Choice)

A kyoka about Urban Life

a fire broke out...
neighbor argues with neighbor
over who will pay
in the end, they call
each other by first names


published in the Jan/Feb 2011 issue of Sketchbook

A Kyoka about Politics

page after page
the evidence of a waste
of money...
the PM smiles at reporters
filling the air with words


published in the Jan/Feb 2011 issue of Sketchbook

A Tanka about Writing

plum petals
falling upon plum petals...
I squeeze
another English poem
out of my Chinese mind


published in Gusts 13

A Tanka about Loneliness

twilight shadow...
my voice lost in the cries
of wild geese
flying against the wind
in a gray sky


published in Gusts, 13

A Haiku about Earthquake

a dog rescued
from drifting ocean debris --
the sun rising


Published on World Kigo Database (earthquake)

A Haiku about Religion

spring skies…
a young Afghan couple
stoned to death


published on Haiku News (April 6, 2011)

A Tanka about Racism

a blue-eyed boy
pokes his head out
the school bus window
yelling at me, Chink...
I feel the winter sky


published in Gusts, 13

A Tanka about Religion

as morning dawns
and evening fades, Your name...
I want to shout
over what He whispers
into my heart and mind


published in the Jan/Feb 2011 issue of Sketchbook

A Tanka

flames
enveloped Lâm Văn Tức
Saigon, 1963...
a Tunisian set himself
on fire, an Egyptian...


published in the Jan/Feb 2011 issue of Sketchbook

(Note: The tanka is written for the courageous peoples for who are fighting against autocratic governments.

Lâm Văn Tức (1897 – 11 June 1963), a Vietnamese Mahayana Buddhist monk, set himself on fire performing a ritual suicide in protest against the persecution of Buddhists by the US-backed corrupt South Vietnamese government. The photo of his self-immolation was circulated widely and brought close attention to the larger structural and ideological causes of the Vietnam War.

Tunisian unrest began in December, 2010 after Mohamed Bouazizi, a 26-year-old unemployed university graduate who sold fruit and vegetables on the street without a permit, set himself on fire in a suicide attempt after police confiscated his grocery cart. Copycat self-immolations have followed in at least four other North African states.

A Tanka about Racism

U.S. wages a fight
against Asian carp invasion --
headline news
from Canadian Maclean's:
U of T Is "Too Asian"

(Note: Maclean's is Canada's only national weekly current affairs magazine. U of T stands for the University of Toronto)


published in the Jan/Feb 2011 issue of Sketchbook

Flower Haiku

where do you live?
everywhere
plum blossoms drifting


published in March/April 2011 "flower(s) / bouquet" Haiku Thread of Sketchbook

Flower Haiku

cherry blossoms...
splattered with droppings
by a pigeon


published in March/April 2011 "flower(s) / bouquet" Haiku Thread of Sketchbook