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

Tuesday, September 2, 2025

Bodies on Bodies Haiku

Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, CCXXII: "UN-declared famine and a food aid truck"
written in response to the International Association of Genocide Scholars' resolution: Israel Is committing genocide in Gaza

mud-stained bodies
on sweat-drenched on bodies
on a food aid truck



For more details, see "Special Feature: Selected Poems for Reflections on the International Association of Genocide Scholars' Resolution: Israel Is Committing Genocide in Gaza"


Added: Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, CCXXIII: "mind view"

Gazan girl's mind view:
mostly smoke and ruins
yet her lifeworld
still bears death and rebirth
on the wings of a dream


Added: Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, CCXXIV: "The Voice of Hind Rajab"
inspired by The Voice of Hind Rajab, a Gaza film that earned over twenty minutes of standing ovation after its premiere at the Venice Film Festival

trapped in a car
among six dead relatives
Hind struggles for hours ...
chants of Free Palestine echo 
through the theater and our hearts


FYI: Palestinian-Canadian actress Saja Kilani read a statement on behalf of the cast and crew:

"Hind's story carries the weight of an entire people... Her voice is one amongst 19,000 children who lost their lives in Gaza in the last two years alone… Let Hind Rajab's voice echo in every theatre, let it remind you of the silence the world has built around Gaza."