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

Monday, July 20, 2026

Between Heaven and Earth

I'm soul-tired
before this wooden Jesus ...
Time is frozen
in St. Peter's Church
with frost flowers on the windows

What is Time?

alone and calm
before a leafy riot
of garden plants ...
my old friend and Time
are of the same race

If no one asks me, I know; if I need to explain it to one who asks, I don't know.

a mile-long lineup
of trucks at the checkpoint
in smoky sunset
inch by inch Time crawls through
the Kerem Shalom Crossing

What then is Time? In the present, the past presses forward; the future leans back toward me. I stand between them—no nearer to an answer than frost on glass.