Ten Thousand Pixels Haiku

starry night
in ten thousand pixels
her sparkling eyes

Micropoetry, Nov. 13, 2013

What She Did/What I Said, A Haiku Sequence

I am not
into you anymore
the night we made love

crescent moon
the way her words
sound like a slap

divorce court
her shadow
cuts mine

lone winter star
counting the lies
she has told

slowly crawling
on top of me
my ex in the dream

NeverEnding Story, Nov. 18 2013

Zazen Haiku

zazen …
I’m blinded
by a ray of light

Micropoetry, Nov. 14, 2013

Sudden Stab Haiku

winter drizzle …
a sudden stab
of homesickness

Micropoetry, Nov. 14, 2013

A Haiku about My Old Dog

shadows
in and out of the room
my old dog

Micropoetry, Nov. 5, 2013

Icy Road Tanka

the road covered
in a thin film of ice …
a teenager
raises her middle finger
to the evening sky

Micropoetry, Nov.13, 2013

When Will the Spring Come Again?, A Tanka Sequence

anything
new under the sun?
my shadow
and I come back
where cherry blossom fell

as the moon appears
with the coming of stars
a part of her
unfolds toward me...
a midsummer night's dream?

the conversation
between my hands and her body
deepening
an autumn breeze covers us
with a quilt of crimson leaves

a trace of blood
on the icy floor
this moonless night
the gaze of memory
penetrates my heart

Skylark, 1:2, Winter 2013

Gambling Addict Haiku

holding his baby
up to the winter sky
gambling addict

Micropoetry, Nov. 3, 2013

Women of Many Faces, A Haiku Sequence

her bruised face...
folding
an origami swan

trace of blood
the woman
breaks into syllables

Nirbhaya's ashes
scattered in the Ganges River
the scent of sunrise
(Note: The gang rape victim in India was identified only by the Hindi word for fearless, 'Nirbhaya')

remembering
the jiggle of her right breast...
Pink Parade

Wailing Wall at twilight
black-hatted men face to face
with young women

the women shouting
no uterus no opinion!
hazy half moon

girly chatter…
thorns on the stalk
of a budding rose

NeverEnding Story, Nov. 5, 2013

A Haiku about John F. Kennedy

JFK in Dallas:
gunshots shattered an old man's
only memory

PoemHunter, Nov. 22, 2013

Note: "You leave no footprints. No one is watching you, but you're part of history."

--BILL LEE, who stood guard at the head of the coffin of President John F. Kennedy 50 years ago.

Hips Senryu

guided museum tour:
her hips sway
from side to side

Prune Juice, 11, November 2013

A Senryu about Poetry Workshop

poetry workshop:
I try out the critic's
reading glasses

Prune Juice, 11, November 2013

A Tanka about Anna Karenina

to be her age
again, surrounded
by that blue mist
my tanka acts like
Anna Karenina

Micropoetry, Nov. 1, 2013

Butterfly's Dream Haiku

I think therefore I am entering a butterfly's dream

3rd Prize, 18th Kusamakura Internatio​nal Haiku Competitio​n


Japanese Translation:

と言う訳でわたくし
唯今蝶の夢の中に
侵入中のよう

Muskmelon Tanka

she cuts
a muskmelon in half…
I write
rewrite, and revise
my haiku of longing

Micropoetry, Oct. 31 2013

Fuji Apple Tanka

Fuji apple
in afternoon sunlight
on my plate
a bite is
a bite is a bite

Micropoetry, Oct. 30, 2013

Day and Night

secrets breathed
punctuate
the blackness of day

gathered in the dark
many poems on a page
made from the scalp
of a lonely night


Honorable Mention, 2013 Ultra Short Poem Competition
held by  The Ontario Poetry Society

A Drunken Poem

loneliness
grabs me
by the balls
my mind
begins to tremble
a poem
is thrown out
of my shadow


Honorable Mention, 2013 Ultra Short Poem Competition
held by  The Ontario Poetry Society

"Im-mi-grant " Haiku

im-mi-grant . . .
the way English tastes
on my tongue

2nd Prize, 7th Kokako Haiku Competition

Included in Kumamoto University's textbook containing international haiku in English for teaching university-level English-language education

Note: Below is the judge's comment: This one is a contrasting type of haiku, no less valid, as it references the writer's inner experience. The word "tastes," a metaphor, is an exemplar for how to use this trope in a haiku, that is, not far-fetched or complicated. With the writer we feel the buzz and hum of the tongue as it produces the unfamiliar phonemes, syllable by syllable.

My Nights Are Longer Than Your Days, A Tanka Sequence

we speak
in monosyllables
all through tea ...
my name misspelled
throughout our divorce papers

lone star
in the window
I hear
the sigh of
this widowed night

in a dream
my ex's dimpled smile ...
awake
I raise the blind
to winter rain

at the cold moon
my old dog swallows
its voice ...
another glass of wine
to this noisy silence

Ribbons, 9:2, Fall 2013

White-Hot Flame Tanka

I recite, snowflakes
falling upon snowflakes
upon snowflakes…
inside her breast, intensity
burns like a white-hot flame

Ribbons, 9:2, Fall 2013

Lunar New Year Haiku

Lunar New Year
I become a Chinese
once again

Chinese Translation

農曆新年
再一次我又成為
中國人

Ardea, #3, 2013

White Doves Haiku

two white doves
flying wing-to-wing
my dog and I

Chinese Translation

白鴿
比翼雙飛
老狗與我

Ardea, #3, 2013

A Bittersweet Year of Travel, A Haiku Sequence

Calgary Stampede
her harsh words pile up
along my spine

Antwerp fortress
a raven's caw darkens
the autumn sky

its shadow
overlaps with mine
Minerva Statue

Newstead Abbey
under the starless sky
echoes of an old tale

listening to the sunshine
through the windows
Sagrada Familia

Manneken Pis
between tree-lined streets
winter drizzle

Bruges in Spring
a chair and I, a tourist
in the empty room

insects trilling
Musical Instrument Museum
in spring sunlight

summer in Brussels
Famous Beer Inspector
on their T-shirts

CN Tower
penetrating the moon
under and alone

NeverEnding Story, Oct. 20, 2013

A Strand of Hair Haiku

alone again
a strand of her hair
on the pillow

Acorn, 31, October 2013

Peace and Love Tanka

Peace and Love
in the retirement home
sung loudly
by a white man
to a black woman

PoemHunter, October 18, 2013

Skin against Skin Haiku

ebbing tide
the rawness of skin
against skin

Modern Haiku, 44:3, Autumn 2013

Revolver Haiku

the sun glints on his revolver a falling leaf

Modern Haiku, 44:3, Autumn 2013

Reprinted in Charlotte Digregorio's Writer's Blog, July 26 2023 

Factory Girl Tanka

a factory girl
pressing her face against
the window...
by gray tenement housing
unknown red flowers in bloom

Urban Tanka Featured Section, Atlas Poetica

Chinglish Tanka

Your Chinglish
still hangs in the air ...
I savor
each syllable
of my monologue


German Translation

Dein Chinglisch
hängt noch in der Luft ...
Ich genieße
jede Silbe
meines Monologs

Chrysanthemum 14, October 2013

Morning Glories Haiku

morning glories
within the clutch of my thoughts
no one dwells


German Translation

Trichterwinden
im Schaltkreis meiner Gedanken
verweilt niemand

Chrysanthemum, 14, October 2013

Cold Moon Haiku

the cold moon...
I want to touch her
into words


Italian Translation

luna invernale...
cercando di toccarla
con le parole


French Translation by Eric Schulthess

Lune d'hiver 
Je cherche à la toucher 
Avec des mots

Selected Haiku, 2013 International Matsuo Basho Award Contest

Anthologized in AKISAME: The International Matsuo Basho Award Anthology (published by The Italian Haiku Association, IHA)

Kites Haiku

kites tangle
in summer twilight
father and son


German Translation

Drachen verheddern sich
im Sommerzwielicht
Vater und Sohn

Chrysanthemum, 14, October 2013

Migrating Geese Haiku

migrating geese ...
this night
has grown old


German Translation

Wildgänsezug ...
diese Nacht
alt geworden

Chrysanthemum, 14, October 2013

Waiting for a Sign, A Haiku Sequence

an erection
I wake up with
Jesus on the wall

the youth pastor talks
of a geography of heart
the cross and shadows

Jesus Heals...
a fleck of sunlight
striking his face

a falling red leaf...
Jesus loves you
the weight of his words

NeverEnding Story, Oct. 8 2013

Allusion Debate Tanka

allusion debate:
I tear off his rhetoric
and sew it together
with a long piece
of my monologue

Haiku Canada Review, 7:2, October 2013

Caged Eagle Tanka

this caged eagle
in 10 cubic meters
of freedom
speaks to me with its eyes:
It's time to go back home

Haiku Canada Review, 7:2, October 2013

Fireworks Haiku

July First fireworks
the smell of solitude
lingering

Haiku Canada Review, 7:2, October 2013