Obama Poster Tanka

on the barroom wall
faded Obama poster
altered to say Nope ...
accompanied
by a Confederate flag

Atlas Poetica, #23, 2015

Whisky Truth Tanka

I say firmly,
It’s not you, it’s me ...
the mixed smells
of  whisky truth
and manly lie

Atlas Poetica, #23, 2015

Cornfields of Night Tanka

on the way
to the place I share
with migrants . . .
loneliness covered with steel
moving through cornfields of night

Atlas Poetica, #23, 2015

Boobs Not Bombs Tanka

boobs not bombs
painted in blood red
on their chests . . .
a line of young men
busy taking photos

Atlas Poetica, #23, 2015

Blonde Tutor Tanka

sitting across
from my blonde tutor
with a dimpled smile
I undress English
layer by layer

Atlas Poetica, #23, 2015

Sex Worker Tanka

cold wind
from passing trailer trucks --
the sex worker
looks at her reflection
in a roadside puddle

Atlas Poetica, 23, 2015

A Tanka about Writing

her words linger,
writing does not put food
on the table ...
another winter
colder than the last

Skylark 3:2, Winter 2015

Midlight Tanka

at midnight
my thoughts and hand moving
across the page:
I tanka-barricade
the door to loneliness

Skylark 3:2, Winter 2015

Sound of Silence Tanka

bombarded
by the sound of silence
I look out the window
at a paper bag
trapped in a wind vortex

NeverEnding Story, October 20 2015

Rippling Surface Haiku

reciting haiku ...
the rippling surface
of an old pond

NeverEnding Story, October 26, 2015

The Winter of My Discontent, A Haiku Sequence

unemployed ...
I graze on a meadow
of winter clouds

Now Hiring
flaps in the winter wind ...
last rays of sunlight

long way to work ...
the winter sun devours
my shadow

Chrysanthemum, 18, Oct. 2015

Winter Mist Haiku

winter mist ...
the poem I wrote for you
illegible now

German Translation

Winternebel ...
das Gedicht, das ich für dich schrieb,
jetzt unleserlich 

Chrysanthemum, 18, Oct. 2015

Story Time Haiku

grandpa's story time ...
a spring breeze weaving the leaves
of an oak tree

Chrysanthemum, 18, Oct. 2015

Smell of Sunshine Haiku

plump with juice
her freshly picked grapes...
the smell of sunshine

Whispers, Oct. 2015

Wailing Siren Haiku

wailing siren ...
an old man on the beach
in winter mist

Whispers, Oct. 2015

One-Legged Veteran Haiku

winter twilight
the one-legged veteran faces
with a resolving door

Whispers, Oct. 2015

Hand-Me-Down Dream Haiku

hand-me-down dream
twilight laughter drifting
from the orphanage

Whispers, Oct. 2015

Single File Haiku

migrants in single file ...
strawberry fields stretch
one after another

Whispers, October. 2015

My First Canada Day, A Haibun

Sitting in my ESL teacher's living room with its wall-to-wall Persian rugs, I am enveloped by family stories and jokes. Although half the time I can only guess what's going on, I put a smile on my face and keep saying Yes, No, and I see in the right places. All of a sudden, a shriek breaks our laughter. My teacher's sons rush to the door. Slowly, we file out of the house toward the manicured front yard.

rainbow flowers

blooming in the night sky

my immigrant dream

Haiku Canada Review, 9:2, October 2015

Note: ESL stands for English as a Second Language

First Snowflakes Haiku

the critic talking
I make room
for first snowflakes

Haiku Canada Review, 9:2, October 2015

Dried Maple Leaves Haiku

the crunch
of dried maple leaves...
pink slips

Haiku Canada Review, 9:2, October 2015

Mahjong Tiles Haiku

the clattering
of mahjong tiles ...
summer rain

Modern Haiku, 46:3, Autumn 2015

A Sting to the Heart, A Tanka Set

the Pacific
between my hometown and me ...
after the rain
a rainbow appears
arching a passageway

twelfth year
to see maple leaves
change color ...
memories fill my body
like flesh and blood

NeverEnding Story, September 24, 2015

Wildfire Tanka

like wildfire
#ThisIsACoup
trending
on this sultry night
a Greek pensioner's smile

Ribbons, 11:3, Fall 2015

Rainbow Tanka

our laughter flows
from one street block
to another ...
mother's garden hose
spouting a rainbow

Ribbons, 11:3, Fall 2015

Night Train Haiku

faraway whistle
of the night train . . .
mother's lullaby

Frogpond, 38:3, Autumn 2015

Laughter Haiku

snow-covered alley . . .
I turn right into
the laughter of kids

Acorn, 35, 2015

Like a Shooting Star, A Haiku Sequence

distant laughter
his hospital window
frames the harvest moon

sunlight through icicles
his dimpled smile
stops our talk of cancer

out of the church
a white coffin
between bird calls

NeverEnding Story, September 19, 2015

All of Yesterday in Me?, A Haiku Set

this moonless night ...
the same room, the same face
in the attic window

same old, same old ...
maple leaves turning
red and gold

NeverEnding Story, September 14, 2015

Note: The title is taken from the following quote: How can I begin anything new with all of yesterday inside me. . .how can I exist as the vessel of yesterday’s slaughter? -- Leonard Cohen, Beautiful Losers

Longing Haiku

snowed in ...
( this longing
deep inside )

Honorable Mention, 2015 World Haiku Competition

Note:  Below is excerpted from the judge's comment: ... "an imaginative use of parentheses during a time of heavy snow."

To be alive is to have scars, A Haibun

Another day begins in this attic apartment. A patch of sunlight on the floor and coffee mug rings still visible on the desk. Books are stacked from floor to ceiling. Loneliness so crowds this room that its walls are worn thin on the edge of bursting.

snow starts to fall ...

I stare at a pile

of dirty dishes

Cattails, September 2015

Layoff Senryu

first day after layoff:
my Chinese take-away
without a fortune cookie

Cattails, September 2015

ESL Class Senryu

first ESL class:
the acrobatics
of my tongue

Cattails, September 2015

Note: ESL stands for English as a Second Language

Park Ginko Senryu

everyone walks
in the same direction
park ginko

Cattails, September 2015

Note:  "Ginko is a Japanese term for 'haiku walk' ... a walk where the haiku poet makes sketches or take photographs and writes haiku as a part of his or her journey through a special place or at a special time."  -- Ron Moss

White Magnolia Blossoms Tanka

she is late
for our farewell meeting
at twilight
white magnolia blossoms
shroud my loneliness

Cattails, September 2015

Deafening Silence Tanka

the croak of a frog
then the answering call
of others ...
between the two of us
deafening silence

Cattails, September 2015

Arrow of Words Tanka

this sultry night
flirts with loneliness ...
no wine left,
I shoot down the moon
with an arrow of words

Revision Cattails, September 2015