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

Friday, September 25, 2015

I know that the Earthquake is old news but..., A Haibun

That afternoon I was rocked into a deep sleep. In my dream I saw Mother holding me tightly and tearfully whispering a lullaby, "My child! ... Fear not, and sleep well."

amidst debris
scattered through the fields ...
a child's pink book

A reporter keyed in the headline,"7.9 Earthquake trembled through Sichuan, China." Official figures (as of June 4) ...

one howl, then many ...
the starless night
even darker

An operator pushed a button; numbers and images spread over the front page. Newsprint slid through color printers. Somewhere in the back pages, the China earthquake story waited with the news from other developing countries.

browsing Facebook...
her waist-length hair
and dimpled smile

A Hundred Gourds, 4:4, September 2015