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

Saturday, February 28, 2015

Pigtail Ribbon Haiku

her pigtail ribbon
pulled in the schoolyard...
taste of winter rain

Modern Haiku, 46:1, Winter/Spring2015

Friday, February 27, 2015

The (Lost) Love Song of Eric Liu, A Tanka Sequence

she whispers,
what does a poet do?
running her fingers
through my chest hair...
I moan, makes love to the world

the moon
soaking with wet light
our tangled clothes
on the sand ...
one star, then many

she left me
for a woman in red
at the beach
I hear mermaids
singing each to each

Atlas Poetica, 20, January 2015

Thursday, February 26, 2015

Campaign Tanka

Yes Means Yes,
the campaign heating up —
three winters ago
her screams of No!
muffled by a fleshy hand

Atlas Poetica, 20, January 2015

Dewdrops and Eyelashes Tanka

spring dewdrops
on a blade of grass . . .
curved eyelashes
slow the tears rolling down
her youthful face

Atlas Poetica, 20, January 2015

Wednesday, February 25, 2015

Divorce Court Tanka

on the way
to the divorce court
at twilight
her pit bull frowns at me
I frown right back

Atlas Poetica, 20, January 2015

Tuesday, February 24, 2015

Immigrant Life Tanka

an airplane
crossing the winter sky . . .
my immigrant life
cleaved
into before and after

Atlas Poetica, 20, January 2015

Monday, February 23, 2015

Fleshy Mouth Tanka

Dear writers
the world is hungry
for amusement . . .
the word profit slips
from his fleshy mouth

Atlas Poetica, 20, January 2015

Sunday, February 22, 2015

Crows & Academics Tanka

crows on the fence
squawking like academics
at a conference
my Lego-brick words
collapse on the page

Atlas Poetica, 20, January 2015

Blind Date Tanka

with a smile
I say with confidence
I’m a poet . . .
the face of my blind date
rearranges itself

Atlas Poetica, 20, January 2015

Saturday, February 21, 2015

Outboard Vagina Tanka

for Hilary Mantel

walking along
the line of doctors and nurses
Margaret Thatcher
whirls her handbag around
like an outboard vagina

Atlas Poetica, 20, January 2015

Note: this is a found tanka based on the Spiegel interview with Hilary Mantel (author of The Assassination of Margaret Thatcher), titled "What’s Happening in Britain at the Moment Is Really Ugly"

Friday, February 20, 2015

War Tanka

the TV beams
one war after another
into my room . . .
silent night, holy night
drifting through my mind

Atlas Poetica, 20, January 2015

Thursday, February 19, 2015

New Year of the Goat Haiku

black coffee
on New Year's morning
spangles of sunlight


tinywords, 15.1,19 February 2015

Lingering Smell Tanka

lingering smell
of this snowy loneliness ...
my night without you
punctuated by the sounds
of ice cracking against glass

 
Atlas Poetica, 20, January 2015

Wednesday, February 18, 2015

King of The Road Tanka

for Roger Miller

the motorcyclist
riding down the main street
arms and legs
in an O shape . . .
howling, King of the Road

Atlas Poetica, 20, January 2015

Winter Fog Tanka

winter fog
enveloping him . . .
my old neighbor
who once strolled with his wife
strolling with a dog

Atlas Poetica, 20, January 2015

Tuesday, February 17, 2015

Shadow Tanka

accompanying me
for fifty years
my shadow rants and raves
about everything
except saying goodbye

Atlas Poetica, 20, January 2015

Monday, February 16, 2015

Twilight Tanka

Mom and Dad,
a few feet of twilight
between them
long shadows and I
in the winter wind

Atlas Poetica, 20, January 2015

Sunday, February 15, 2015

Whiskey Breath Tanka

her whiskey breath
poured over me the story
of her first love . . .
sober now, face to face
with my shadowy past

Atlas Poetica, 20, January 2015

Saturday, February 14, 2015

Dual Survival Tanka

on the far side
of the couch from her
in cold silence
I watch the finale
of Dual Survival

Revision, Atlas Poetica, 20, January 2015

Friday, February 13, 2015

Foreign Tongue Tanka

black coffee
and Chinese fried dough ..
in my mouth
a foreign tongue
licking these lips

PoemHunter, February 1, 2015

Milk and Dough Tanka

that morning
we shared soybean milk
and Chinese fried dough ...
facing the attic window
tonight, I drink wu-long tea

PoemHunter, February 1, 2015

Wednesday, February 11, 2015

Gravestone Tanka

a ghost, I stand
behind this new gravestone
engraved with my name...
a boy reciting my poem
apart, and yet a part

NeverEnding Story, January 28, 2015

Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Chronicle of a Death Unfolds, A Haiku Sequence

half moon rising ...
each day she slips
further away

hospital window
the light of the dying day
on her face

cancer ward
at the end of the hallway
blinking EXIT

winter moonlight
on the indented pillow --
her hospice room

the way
she tapped my shoulder ...
pattering rain

NeverEnding Story, January 23, 2015

Monday, February 9, 2015

Tax Day Haiku

Tax Day morning
the feeling of dampness
clings to my bones

Frogpond, 37:3, Autumn 2014

Sunday, February 8, 2015

Dump Site Tanka

Roma boys
rummage through the dump site
for scrap metal
riverside fireworks
light the summer sky


Runner-Up, British Haiku Society Tanka Anthology Competition, 2014

Foreclosed Homes Haiku

two foreclosed homes
facing each other  ...
a cold moon

Modern Haiku, 45:2, Summer 2014

Saturday, February 7, 2015

Old Fireplace Haiku

old fireplace...
the geometry
of her touch

Modern Haiku, 45:2, Summer 2014

Friday, February 6, 2015

Confession of a Photography Addict, A Haibun

Mary invites me over to her place for an interview. She has her strands dyed every color of the rainbow, and looks much younger than she is. On the wall facing the window, she tacks up a giant photo of herself, composed of many smaller pictures. After taking a sip of iced tea, she start talking in an unusually deep, husky voice, "I've spent ten years on a shrink's couch, but I still hear him through the wall whispering to me. Every day when I get up and look in the bedroom mirror, I see that man staring back at me. I want him carved off my face..."

Father's Day
blanked out on her calendar
morning chill

Hedgerow, 14, Jan. 30, 2015

Tuesday, February 3, 2015

Beginning of the End ?, A Haiku Sequence

winter light
I send my ex the link
to List of Winners

first snowflakes ...
the pillow still smells
of my ex

New Year’s Eve
the hazy curtain
between my worlds

NeverEnding Story, January 3, 2015

Monday, February 2, 2015

Shadow Tanka

my shadow
accidentally
walking across
the white neighbor’s driveway …
he yells, Go back where you’re from

Gnarled Oak, 2, Jan 19, 2015

Sunday, February 1, 2015

More Than Ever, This Land of "Freedom of Expression," A Tanka Prose

If you don't stand for something you will fall for anything. Malcolm X

Men and women, the young and old, line up in the early-morning darkness at a newsstand, waiting to buy the first issue of Charlie Hebdo since the terrorist attacks. On its new cover, the bearded Prophet sheds a single tear and holds up a sign saying,  “I am Charlie.” Above the cartoon on a green background is the headline, “All is forgiven.”

side by side
#Muslim and #JeSuisCharlie
on my screen
Never Forget scrawled in red
on a Paris mosque

Snow Haiku

how many Eskimo
words for snow?
the shape of memory

NeverEnding Story, January 13, 2015