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

Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Anything New under the Spring Sun?

a tanka sequence for the author of Ecclesiastes

I'm upstairs writing
my dog downstairs sleeping
silence
separates the worlds
between us

finally
I scratch an all-day itch
into a few words . . .
back-breaking wet snow
continues piling up

cliches in my poem
audible but muted...
a new round
of midnight peace talks
between the Muse and me

left behind
by Calliope, the thief
of my heart and mind:
winter moonlight
on a scribbled line

the Muse asks,
Does a grain of poetry
suffice
to season our day?

sand slipping through my fingers

another day
starts with cliched imagery
the Muse is gone
but her eyes that stared at me
remain in my glass of wine

wishing
I could bottle these feelings
for Calliope . . .
a few more words nibble
the edges of my night

this starless night
the Muse at loggerheads
with my shadow...
at daybreak, the first line
rage against the light

my muse listens
to the hum and strike
of my words...
that same old look
on her Tudor court face

these clichéd words
hauled out of their mansion
herded onto buses
crammed into the camp
        it's a dream, and yet...

first spring day...
distant sirens sharpen
the silence
I share with my old dog
and Calliope

book launch over
the Muse holding a scythe
walks me home...
this dream I have
on the first night of spring

I'm pregnant
with the 13th tanka ...
in twilight
my muse's ghost up the road
and around the bend


NeverEnding Story, March 27, 2013

Monday, April 29, 2013

Sunday, April 28, 2013

Stained Glass Butterfly Haiku

Version I

Jesus shouted, "Eli Eli lama sabachthani?" which is, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"

It is finished ...
a stained glass butterfly
circles in my mind

Version II

Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.”

It is finished ...
a stained glass butterfly
circles in my mind


Note: L1 refers to Jesus’ last words on the cross.

Saturday, April 27, 2013

Smell Haiku

drip, drip, drip of the tap...
the faint smell
of a motel room


PoemHunter, April 6, 2013

A Shadowy Life, A Tanka Prose

moon tanka again!
lingering in the cold air
can words alone
transform our misery
into common unhappiness?

parrot-phrasing
to write is to speak
the unspeakable...
the critic's high-pitched voice
piercing my foggy mind

the old poet
cuts a piece of prose
into five lines...
waking in winter light
to shadows on the wall

A poet's life is lived
in the shadow of the Muse
my pen in mid-air...
will there be anything
new under this spring sun?

my dream
hanging at the edge
of twilight
the Buddha statue
adjusts its shadow

alone tonight
on my 40th birthday...
the high school yearbook
left on a dusty shelf
whispering endless tales

Kokako, #18, April, 2013

Thursday, April 25, 2013

The Road Less Traveled, A Tanka Prose

In 1693, parting from his favorite disciple Kyoroku, Basho said, “Didn't the retired Emperor Go-Toba say of Saigyo's poetry that it contained truth tinged with sorrow? Take strength from his words and follow unswervingly the narrow thread of the Way of poetry.”

a sliver of moon...
I cling to the thin line
of labor
to capture loneliness
in love poetry

NeverEnding Story, April 5, 2013

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Temple Bell Tanka

the temple bell
echoes in the distance
a lump in my throat
a few lines
scrawled and blotted


Tanka Journal, 42, 2013

Monday, April 22, 2013

Birdsong Tanka

bird songs
drift through the window
as day breaks
my butterfly dream
against the attic wall


Tanka Journal, 42, 2013

Sunday, April 21, 2013

Loneliness Tanka

loneliness
runs through my body
like the thread
through Mother's needle --
my poems stitched with its color


Tanka Journal, 42, 2013

Bilingual Dictionary Tanka

with my dog-eared
bilingual dictionary
I ponder
the difference between
all these shades of blue


Tanka Journal, 42, 2013

Friday, April 19, 2013

A Tanka about Childhood Memories

once again
childhood memories
share my bed...
counting the stars, I measure
the weight of this night 


Tanka Journal, 42, 2013

Thursday, April 18, 2013

White Rabbit Tanka

sunlit dewdrops
like a string of pearls
on the grass
my White Rabbit jumps
into the azure sky


Gusts, 17, Spring/Summer 2013

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

A Haiku about Bone Hitting Bone

their faces with soot
a moonlit sea of bone
hitting bone


Chinese Translation by Chen-ou Liu

他們的臉沾滿煤灰
在月光映照下的大海
骨頭撞擊骨頭

Romanian Translation by Eduard Tara

fetele lor cu funingine
o mare sub clar de lună
lovind os deos

Second Sharpening The Green Pencil Anthology, 2013

A Tanka about Sins

I confess my sins
like squeezing out the last bit
of toothpaste...
in the back of my mind
her cold smile lingers


Gusts, 17, Spring/Summer 2013

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

A Tanka about Bully

sissy, sissy!
the taunts clinging like
his sweaty T-shirt
he and his shadow
limp toward home


Gusts, 17, Spring/Summer 2013

Monday, April 15, 2013

The Inconvenient Indian, A Haibun

for Thomas King

Three limo-loads of corporate lawyers and accountants are heading to the airport... a Haida elder stands at the ocean's edge with the cedars at his back and the azure sky on his shoulders.

Easter morning
First Nations youth  dance and chant
Idle No More...


Note: "Idle No More" is an ongoing protest movement originating among the Aboriginal/First Nations peoples in Canada.

Sunday, April 14, 2013

drunk on reading
The Neverending Story
shapes of this spring night

PoemHunter, April 1, 2013

Note: The Neverending Story (German: Die unendliche Geschichte) is a German fantasy novel by Michael Ende, first published in 1979. The standard English translation, by Ralph Manheim, was first published in 1983. The novel was later adapted into several films. - an excerpt from the Wikipedia entry, "The Neverending Story."

Saturday, April 13, 2013

Shifting Shadows Haiku

New Year's Eve
at the bus stop
shifting shadows


Chinese Translation by Chen-ou Liu

除夕夜
在巴士車站
飄移的影子


Romanian Translation by Eduard Tara

Ajun de An Nou
în statie
umbre iritate


Second Sharpening The Green Pencil Anthology, 2013

Friday, April 12, 2013

Beijing Skyline Tanka

Golden Arches
dot the Beijing skyline—
a man whispering
Jesus Love You to passersby
with Happy Meal boxes

Atlas Poetica, #14, March 2013

A-Bomb Tanka

August 6
at 8:15 AM . . .
the shadow
of a girl heat-imprinted
on the temple’s stone steps


Atlas Poetica, #14, March 2013

Saturday, April 6, 2013

Blizzard Haiku

blizzard on the way
my immigrant past
withering


First Place (Shintai), World Haiku Review, March 2013

Editor's Comment: Serious topic rendered in a “natural” and dispassionate manner, speaking volumes about the author’s chequered life.

Thursday, April 4, 2013

"Mission Accomplished" Tanka

Written for the Iraq War's 10th Anniversary

Iraqi children
glued to a small TV:
he stands firmly
under a banner which reads

Mission Accomplished

NeverEnding Story, March 19th, 2013

Note: 4,488 soldiers died in the Iraq War, and there is no official record of violent civilian deaths following the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

Moss Tanka

her parting words
like moss around the tree
in my heart...
slanted moonlight
on frost-hardened earth


Paper Wasp 19:1, Autumn 2013

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

A Tanka about Prayer Wheels

an old man hauls
a basket of food
past the row
of prayer wheels...
two eagles soar in circles


Paper Wasp 19:1, Autumn 2013

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

A Haiku about Obituaries

obituaries...
winter moon drifting
in smoke rings

Paper Wasp 19:1, Autumn 2013

Paper Lantern Tanka

out to sea
a paper lantern floats...
the waters
lapping against
my heart and mind


Paper Wasp 19:1, Autumn 2013