A Tanka about Multiple Sclerosis

thirty-nine
and a baby again ...
I see
myself in the eyes
of this MS patient

Haiku Novine; VerseWrights, March, 2014

Note: MS stands for Multiple Sclerosis.

Muse Tanka

my muse drones
on and on
in a monotone voice
snowflakes drifting
on this hazy spring day

VerseWrights, March, 2014

white Flight Tanka

white flight, white fright ...
my Chinese roommate
practices "l" and "r"
before the window
as the moonlight slips in

Haiku Novine
VerseWrights, March, 2014

Mud of My Mind Tanka

I scribble down
today's first line, "past never past ..."
memories
rising like bubbles
from the mud of my mind

Revision, VerseWrights, March, 2014

Strange Face Tanka

this strange face
in the bathroom mirror...
she and I
just seventeen when we saw
our faces in Sun Moon Lake

VerseWrights, March, 2014

Dark Sea of Night Tanka

she whispered
I am in love and love
what vanished...
my thoughts of her floating
in the dark sea of night

Haiku Novine
VerseWrights, March, 2014

A Tanka about Migrants

we were all
someone and something once ...
this migrant
sees himself in me
seeing myself in him

Haiku Novine
VerseWrights, March, 2014

Pacific Tanka

the Pacific
divides our life, our world …
mother and I
see different moons
in the winter sky

VerseWrights, March, 2014

Moonlit Shadow Tanka

once again
an egg misses
my head
Chink! Chink! dents
my moonlit shadow

Haiku Novine
VerseWrights, March, 2014

Daydream Haiku

winter wind
gusting through my daydream
the taste of black coffee

Serbian Translation by Đurđa Vukelić Rožić

zimski vjetar
puše kroz moje sanjarenje
okus crne kave

Third Prize, 2013 Diogen Winter Haiku Contest

Last Note Tanka

his last note reads
a great weight placed
upon my mind...
shards of glass
in a pool of moonlight

VerseWrights, March, 2014

Wet Snow Haiku

wet snow on blood on wet snow ...

Haiku Novine
VerseWrights, March, 2014

Breasts Haiku

rain striking rain...
the firmness of her breasts

Haiku Novine
VerseWrights, March, 2014

A Tanka about Burg Square

on his T-shirt
to hell with water
give me Belgian beer ...
hugging in Burg Square
we drink summer moonlight

A Handful of Stones, March 19, 2014

A Haiku about One Thousand and One Nights

summer moonlight
on One Thousand and One Nights
mother's smell

Haiku Novine
VerseWrights, March, 2014

Autumn Twilight Haiku

autumn twilight
a crow's cry filling the spaces
between his words

VerseWrights, March, 2014

Silence Haiku

smell of silence...
a whirlwind of snowflakes
on our way home

VerseWrights, March, 2014

Narcissus Flowers Haiku

alone with my dog
among narcissus flowers...
the night I proposed

Haiku Novine
VerseWrights, March, 2014

A Haiku about Virgin of the Milk

Virgin of the Milk...
she touches her right breast
where the lump came out

Haiku Novice
VerseWrights, March, 2014

black-robed nuns Haiku

sunset glow
behind black-robed nuns
a homeless girl

VerseWrights, March, 2014

Ocean Haiku

mother and I
under the harvest moon
an ocean apart

VerseWrights, March, 2014

Zen Garden Haiku

Zen garden...
retracing my footsteps
to No Exit

VerseWrights, March, 2014

Offshoring Jobs Haiku

offshoring jobs...
the last glow of sunset
at the horizon

French Translation by Serge Tome

délocalisation des emplois ...
la dernière lueur du soleil couchant
à l'horizon

A Handful of Stones, March 8, 2014

Pacific Shore Haiku

the Pacific shore ...
between each wash of the moon
hometown memories

Wah, 1:1, April 2014

Fireplace Haiku

fireplace flames . . .
Grandpa's stories

color our faces

Revision, Frogpond, 37:1, Winter 2014

Bones Haiku

winter solstice
I suck the bones
of a carp

The Heron's Nest, 16:1, March 2014

A Haiku about a Migrant

snow on snow ...
an African migrant
frozen in thought

Whispers, Feb. 26, 2014

Butterflies Haiku

a white butterfly
on a black butterfly...
the weight of silence

Whispers, Feb. 26, 2014

Rock Music Haiku

rock music fills
the silence between us
smell of winter

Whispers, Feb. 26, 2014

Mooncakes Haiku

a trail of scent
paving my way home
Chinese mooncakes

Whispers, Feb. 26, 2014

Eclipse Haiku

lunar eclipse
can my words map the contour
of a void?

Whispers, Feb. 26, 2014

Reflection Haiku

winter
rain
drops
my
reflection

Modern Haiku, 45:1, Winter/Spring 2014

Report Card Haiku

winter drizzle ...
a first-grade report card
at the curb

Modern Haiku, 45:1, Winter/Spring 2014

Lonely Face Tanka

a year ago
or yesterday we parted?
staring
in the mirror
I see her lonely face

Micropoetry, Feb. 24, 2014

White Mist Tanka

December
the cruelest month
white mist
looms over me slowly
gets denser daily

Micropoetry, Feb. 23, 2014

Shadows Haiku

 for Paul Simon

Rhythm of the Saints ...
dancing naked with shadows
in my attic

Micropoetry, Feb. 27, 2014

Haunting Ghost

for Peter De Vries who claims that Nostalgia isn't what it used to be. 

in the attic
nostalgia is growing old
to keep
or not to keep her
the big question

upon knowing
I am going to send her
to a rest home
nostalgia stops talking
and starts a hunger strike

I shoot
nostalgia dead
my muse
condemned to the void
between the lines

this white night
an apparition
of nostalgia
corkscrews
my attic ceiling

NeverEnding Story, Feb. 23, 2014