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

Thursday, February 28, 2013

Prairie Haiku

English Original

prairie...
between heaven and earth
an eagle


Chinese Translation

一片大草原…
飛翔於天地之間
一隻老鷹

PoemHunter Feb. 21, 2013

Temple Haiku

a crow cawing...
the temple's shadow
stretches


Haiku Canada Review, 7:1, February 2013

Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Pickled Egg Haiku

memories drifting...
another winter Sunday
in a pickled egg


Haiku Canada Review, 7:1, February 2013

Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Monday, February 25, 2013

The NeverEnding Story between Calliope and Me: A Tanka Sequence

for Michael Ende

first light touching
the empty side of my bed . . .
on my headstone
A poet's life is lived
in the shadow of the Muse


my neighbor's cat
chasing a big mouse
across the room
I wait for bread crumbs
from the Muse's table

this humid day
the Muse dressed in a burqa
comes toward me
the sounds in my head
roar and fight like monsters

at high noon
my critic and the Muse
man-womaning...
I turn to Orlando,
the book my ex loves most

this summer night
my Muse's sexual rage
thundering
through many pages...
I write about loneliness

my ex and Muse
brimming over with love
for each other...
awake, autumn sunlight
on my coffee-stained desk

the Muse comes
as a mournful solace
despite passing
of the final deadline
I write rage against the light

nothing new
stuttering off the tongue
of my old Muse . . .
I look out the window
at leaves swirling in midair

my dying Muse
her whole life runs through my mind...
on the way home
I see nothing but
snowflakes and shadows


Haiku Canada Review, 7:1, February 2013

Saturday, February 23, 2013

Memory Haiku

hazy day moon 
alone, awake with the weight
of memory


Revision PoemHunter Feb. 17, 2013

Fujisan Haiku

morning birdsong...
I practice pronouncing
"Fujisan"


Special Recognition/Lauréates, 2012 Fujisan Haiku Contest

Thursday, February 21, 2013

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Birthday Night Tanka

birthday night...
lying in bed with my dog
on one side
                    autumn moonlight
                    on the other


Ribbons, 8:3, Winter 2012

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Border Tanka

raining nights
in bloody 1846...
a Mexican yells out
We didn’t cross the border
The border crossed us

Ribbons, 8:3, Winter 2012

Monday, February 18, 2013

Journey through the Land of Melting Clocks: A Haiku Sequence

anything new
under the Barcelona sun
Casa Milà

a line of tapas
where does her love begin
and my desire end?

the full moon
at La Sagrada Família
unfinished me

Occupy Madrid
returning
to my mother tongue

Seville Cathedral
above a sea of heads
chirping swallow

Dante in Thought
is it possible to take
refuge in poetry

Dalí painting
on my water-stained wall
hometown memories


Modern Haiku, 44:1, winter/spring 2013

Friday, February 15, 2013

A Haiku about the Pacific

a full moon
between mother and me
the Pacific


Modern Haiku, 44:1, winter/spring 2013

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Kaddish Haiku

in my sleep
a crow croaks Kaddish
... winter day moon

 (for Harvey Shapiro)

PoemHunter Feb. 2, 2013

Note: Harvey Shapiro (January 27,1924 - January 7,2013) was an admired American poet and former editor of The New York Times, who suggested that Martin Luther King should write his famous "Letter from Birmingham Jail."

Monday, February 11, 2013

Sunday, February 10, 2013

Sunday, February 3, 2013

Dry Snpwflakes Tanka

dry flakes of snow
swirling in gusty winds...
I remember
the weight of plum blossoms
on my youthful shoulders

Published in Simply Haiku, 10:2, winter 2013