Chen-ou Liu's Translation Project: First English-Chinese Haiku and Tanka Blog

Friday, November 30, 2012

Butterfly's Dream Haiku

the beginning
of all beginnings
a butterfly’s dream


New Bones: Selected Gendai Haiku
written for “Eric Liu,” haiku editor of The NeverEnding Story

Monday, November 26, 2012

Thursday, November 22, 2012

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

An Old Story: A Tanka Sequence

falling snow
is a singing bird...
the silence
between the two of us
on the long way home

morning mist...
driving alone to work
I struggle
to remember
what we argued about

her last note reads
what remains of us
are the shards
of broken memories

a sickle moon glowing

what shall I do
with my cold body
left in the dark...
running my fingers through
tangled memories of her

those lips I kissed…
now, my dog and I
lie side by side
in the attic room
brightened by a Bic lighter


Atlas Poetica, 13,Autumn 2012

Monday, November 19, 2012

Breakfast Together: A Tanka Prose

eating donuts…
suddenly, she asks me
how to fill
the empty spaces
that her husband left behind

One hundred days ago, he was alive and well, constantly telling me, “Take your eyes off the computer screen. Get up and do some exercise.” I responded, “I love doing brain exercise with words and imagery.”

He turned thirty last month; enviably young to me. But now, I feel criminally old.

Atlas Poetica, 13,Autumn 2012

Sunday, November 18, 2012

The Sunflower Girl: A Tanka Prose

She burst into my room, “I want to taste this summer petal by petal as if it were my last.” I cannot remember the color of her dress as she stood with sunlight pouring through the window and looked as if she were on fire.

snowflakes drift
this Easter Sunday...
the space
between her dates
cut into black stone

Atlas Poetica, 13,Autumn 2012

Saturday, November 17, 2012

Nine Winters Haiku

nine winters...
writing moon haiku
has become my home


Haiku Canada Sheet, October 2012

Thursday, November 15, 2012

Dog Haiku

cherry blossoms
fall into separate dreams
my dog and I


Haiku Canada Sheet, October 2012

A Haiku about Writing

rewriting haiku . . .
my mouse spins
its silver wheel

Haiku Canada Sheet, October 2012

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Spring Mist Haiku

no email                                   
the spring moon enters
the mist 


Haiku Canada Sheet, October 2012

Monday, November 12, 2012

Lunar New Year

lunar new year
I greet my Canadian friends
in Mandarin


Haiku Canada Sheet, October 2012

Sunday, November 11, 2012

Puddle Haiku

the cold moon
filling every puddle . . .
long way home


Haiku Canada Sheet, October 2012

Saturday, November 10, 2012

Winter Dawn Haiku

winter dawn
what has my ex
been doing?


Haiku Canada Sheet, October 2012

Traffic Haiku

snowflakes fall
through a heated argument
sounds of traffic


Haiku Canada Sheet, October 2012

Friday, November 9, 2012

Darkness Haiku

my attic window
fills up with winter sunset
the taste of darkness


Haiku Canada Sheet, October 2012

Donation Box

Boxing Day night
the guards fish a boy out of
a donation box


Haiku Canada Sheet, October 2012

Thursday, November 8, 2012

Tea Haiku

winter solstice
the sound of drinking
green tea from home 


Spanish Translation by Jesús Morillas Ariño

Solsticio de invierno
el sonido de estar bebiendo
té verde desde casa


Haiku Canada Sheet, October 2012

Soul Haiku

snow on snow
is one haiku a day
enough for my soul?


Haiku Canada Sheet, October 2012

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Crocodile Haiku

our yawns...
a crocodile eats
the setting sun


Haiku Canada Review, 6:2, Summer/Fall 2012

Bedroom Senryu

Easter morning
a boy mimics Mom and Dad's
bedroom noises


Haiku Canada Review, 6:2, Summer/Fall 2012

Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Monday, November 5, 2012

Silence Haiku

the sound of silence...
my dog and I
the falling snowflakes


Acorn, 29, October 2012

Editor's Comment: You have artfully captured the particular silence, which for me is a nostalgic, comfortable silence,experienced in the presence of a dog.  The snowfall adds a lovely touch to the scene. 

Sunday, November 4, 2012

Migration Haiku/Tanka

Haiku:

eyes closed...
the migrant prays to God
in his adopted tongue


Tanka:

with eyes closed
rugged hands holding a Bible
against his chest
the migrant prays to God
in his adopted tongue


Haiku News , 1:41, Oct. 23, 2012

Saturday, November 3, 2012

A Haiku about Words

a whisper in the dark
words will be just words...
Paris in the rain
(for Woody Allen)


Croatian Translation by Diogen Editorial Team

šapat u mraku
riječi će ostati samo riječi…
Paris na kiši


Our Overseas Haiku Poets," Diogen, September 2012

First Stone Haiku

autumn dusk...
I cast the first stone
at my shadow


Croatian Translation by Diogen Editorial Team

jesenji sumrak…
bacam prvi kamen
na svoju sjenu


Our Overseas Haiku Poets," Diogen, September 2012

Friday, November 2, 2012

Deer Haiku

my dog and I
… a deer
holding the moon


Croatian Translation by Diogen Editorial Team

moj pas i ja
… jelen
drži mjesec


Our Overseas Haiku Poets," Diogen, September 2012

Countryside Church Haiku

countryside church
an old clock measuring
the silence


Croatian Translation by Diogen Editorial Team

seoska crkva
stari sat mjeri
tišinu


Our Overseas Haiku Poets," Diogen, September 2012

Thursday, November 1, 2012

First Homecoming Haiku

first homecoming
an excavated statue
with a misplaced head


Croatian Translation by Diogen Editorial Team

prvi povratak kući
iskopani kip
zagubljene glave


Our Overseas Haiku Poets, Diogen,  September 2012

Pacific Haiku

riverbank in moonlight
will my shadow flow
into the Pacific?


Croatian Translation by Diogen Editorial Team

obala rijeke na mjesečini
hoće li moja sjena utječi
u Pacific?


Our Overseas Haiku Poets," Diogen,  September 2012