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

Wednesday, April 10, 2024

Two Worlds Collide

Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, XLVI: "human pain"

the war will end
the war won't end, the war will end ...
one petal left
as a fighter jet splits the sky
silencing everything below

blocked by police cars
Israel supporters and foes 
shouting, cursing...
I wonder if human pain
has distinct identity



Added: written on the first day of Eid,  Eid, also known as Eid-al-Fitr, marking the end of Ramadan

row after row
shoulder to shoulder Gazans
pray in the tent city


Added: This Brave New World, CXIII
written  in response to Alex Garland's "near-future America" movie, Civil War

chipped Abrams tanks
on a Walmart parking lot
littered with debris 
Here Tomorrow, Gone Today
the sound of  Civil War 


FYI: FYI: From the official trailer of Civil War:

A white-haired journalist says to young one:

They shoot journalists on sight in the capital. Every instinct in me says this is death.

The Reporter: There's some kind of misunderstadning here.

The armed fighter: What?

The Reporter: We're Americans, OK.

The Armed Fighter: OK, what kind of American are you? [a long silence between them]. You don't know?

And CBC, April 12: Jarring, visceral and all too plausible, Alex Garland's Civil War is a must-see


Added:

why? what if...
I continue to mumble
in slanted light
the roshi taps his temple
saying, this is your prison


Added:

around corners
the thud-thud-thud ...
in dim street light
a disheveled woman runs fast,
faster into her worst fear


AddedAgainst the Drowning Noise of Other Words, XLVII: "an eye for an eye"

fireballs rolling 
across Tel Aviv's night sky ...
my Sufi friend
laments, an eye for an eye
will make the whole world blind


AddedAgainst the Drowning Noise of Other Words, XLVIII: "shadow war"
inspired by Iran's attack on Israel

the pitbull
circled by Siamese cats
in a back alley
this years-long shadow war
between two old neighbors


FYI: The Siamese cat is known to be the most aggressive of all cat breeds.


AddedGame Show, 2024, XLII
written in response to CNN, April 15: Jury selection begins in Trump's historic hush money trial

men's room brawl
this shit-stained moment
for a hush money joke