Selected Kyoka: Cybersex for Dummies Kyoka

alone at night
reading Cybersex for Dummies
in my bed ...
the ceiling fan makes
a rhythmic humming sound

Eucalypt Challenge, 10, November 2011

Selected Kyoka: Infestation Kyoka

infestation
reads the latest headline
bedbugs and I
living in a rooming house
become a midsummer dream

Eucalypt Challenge, 8, 2010

New Year Tanka

first sunlight
on the Snake Calendar
one by one
I peel my images
from the bathroom mirror

Eucalypt Challenge, #12, 2013

New Year Tanka

a little cock
stands on the granary
greeting the sun
I start the first poem
in the Year of the Dragon

Eucalypt Challenge 11, January 2012

New Year Tanka

in my New Year dream
a golden dragon hovers
above the sea...
I brood over having
a child of my own

Eucalypt Challenge 11, January 2012

Loneliness Tanka

alone at dusk
reading Sextweets for Dummies
in my bed...
the ceiling fan makes
a rhythmic humming sound

Eucalypt Challenge, #10, November 2011

Note: A sextweet, a post on Twitter, consists of a sexually explicit message.

Death Tanka

dust to dust...
all that remains
of his dream:
youtubed videos
in thumbnail view

Eucalypt Challenge (Coining a Word), #10, November 2011

Note: Youtube, used as a transitive verb, means to upload videos to YouTube.

New Year Tanka

New Year’s Eve
my half-finished poetry drafts
pile up --
I hone my skill and fold them
into origami rabbits

Eucalypt Challenge, #9

New Year Tanka

the first day
of the Year of the Rabbit:
the Chinese
stand in a snaking line
at every lottery store

Eucalypt Challenge, #9

Note: 2011 is the 4708th Chinese year, the Year of the Rabbit. According to Chinese astrology, people born in the Year of the Rabbit are the luckiest among "the twelve animals.”

Dream Tanka

infestation
reads the latest headline
bedbugs and I
living in a rooming house
become a midsummer dream

Eucalypt Challenge, #8

Dream Tanka

in dreams
the bat flutters aimlessly...
waking
to December roses
am I Chen-ou or Eric?

Eucalypt Challenge, #8