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

Tuesday, September 8, 2026

Rooftop View of My Life

night shift done
in 7-Eleven lights
a stray and I part

Tar sticks to my sneakers. Below, the grid of this city is a circuit board of silver, yellow, and red LEDs. A siren wails from afar, then is swallowed by the concrete canyons. Up here, a place of my own: the city noise thins to a hum.

clothesline
a damp sheet snaps
at my cheek