Adrift

the sound of leaves

crunching under my feet ...

laid off

the stop, go, stop

of this gig work life ...

rush hour traffic

last bus ride

office tower shadows drift

across my tired face

long time no see ...

plumes of breath between me

and my former boss

laid off again ...

I gaze at the winter skies

one cloud at a time

Frogpond, 48:1, Winter 2025

Editors' Comments: Nicholas Klacsanzky says the variation “has depth with tones of spirituality and different layers of meaning. And Jacob D. Salzer appreciate your honesty and crisp images, and your emotional vulnerability in this piece. 

Doll Drifting Haiku

moonlight

in wave after wave

a doll drifting

Frogpond, 48:1, Winter 2025

Sin Haiku

This Brave New World, CXXI

spiral razor wire

along the white church wall

Sin Is Everywhere

NeverEnding Story, April 2025

FYI: In Christian theology, "missing the mark" (or "hamartia" in Greek) is a metaphor for sin, signifying failing to meet God's standards or purpose.

And Matthew 24:12-13

12 Sin will be rampant everywhere, and the love of many will grow cold. 13 But the one who endures to the end will be saved. 

This haiku could be read as a prequel to the following:

no one for miles

the billboard declares

SIN IS EVERYWHERE

Raw Nervz Haiku, 7: 2, Summer 2001

LeRoy Gorman 

Added:

a flock of seagulls

between ocean and sky

the touch of breeze

Added:

the unspoken

gnaw into our regret

For Sale sign

Added:

her eyes' warmth 

through bulletproof glass

jail guard's stare

Wax Museum Senryu

the room

full of selfie sticks

wax museum 

Cafe Haiku, March 10, 2025

Tai Chi Master Haiku

city park at dawn

I jog from one tai chi master

to another

Cafe Haiku, March 10, 2025

Here and Now Haiku

Grand Canyon sunrise ...

learning to love

here and now

Cafe Haiku, March 10, 2025

The Prices We Pay

claim denial ...

this numbness outside

this anger inside

deny, delay, depose

etched on blood-stained shell casings

gathering dark

one less CEO ...

half awake to this Promised Land

grievance-shadowed

A haunting voice echoes in my mind, "I don't wish anyone harm, but when a CEO routinely brought in revenue of over $100 billion for a health insurance company with the highest claim-denial rate, double the industry average, it's hard to feel sad about his violent death. He spent his life making money by increasing the suffering of everyday Americans. Now, I just follow his lead of indifference."

Haiku Canada Review, 19:1, 2025

snowonsnow ... Haiku

snowonsnow ...

the night brightened

car by car

Haiku Canada Review, 19:1, 2025

A Season of Regret

snowed in

for three straight days

again, I check

the machine for the sound

of your voice

I dream 

that winter dream again ...

sadder than then

as I look out the window

at the sky, endless gray 

NeverEnding Story, March 29 2025

FYI: This set could be read as a prequel to my tanka below:

It's me

I just wanted to hear

from you ...

fifteen seconds of soft voice

after ten years of silence

Gusts, 35, Spring/Summer 2022

Added: Trump Empire, Inc., XV

Day and Night, Forever?

for Mark Twain who claimed, "Politicians and diapers must be changed often, and for the same reason."

step after step

one by one to the exit

DOGE cuts

red district town hall 

a crowd-fest 

of boos and jeers 

distant sirens

free-ranging dogs pee

on the Trump Mural

Liberation Day!

the news on mute, I change

my baby's diaper

bursts of spring snow

Tariffs are a tax cut,  a twist

to Trump's mouth

FYI: DOGE stands for the Department of Government Efficiency. And the Convicted Felon Donald Trump is set to roll out his massive tariff plan on April 2, which he has touted as "Liberation Day in America."

April 3: On Fox Business, former Republican Senator Pat Toomey warns Trump's tariffs will be “probably the largest tax increase on American consumers in the history of the country”

And Daily Beast, April 3: JD Vance Tells Paycheck-to-Paycheck Americans to Suck Up Tariffs Pain

JD Vance is telling Americans living paycheck to paycheck that the pain from President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs will all be worth it—at some point.

Added: Trump Empire, Inc., XVI

10% tariff on goods from the manless islands near Antarctica

the fight with one man

a sea of king penguins

trumpeting

FYI: USA Today, April 6: Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins on Sunday defended President Donald Trump's tariff rollout last week when asked why two uninhabited islands were hit with the fees, saying in a new interview "whatever."

Added:

a dollhouse

in the rain-streaked window

of a thrift store

a girl holds her mother's hand

tight ... and tighter 

Added:

frost flowers

on my son's study room window

paper planes gather dust

Thoughts of Home Haiku

holding on, holding off

thoughts of home ...

and yet southbound geese 

tsuri-dōrō, 25, Jan/Feb 2025

Garbage Mountain Tanka

the sound of summer

one flock after another

of seagulls

gathering, parting

as the garbage mountain shimmers

TSA Members' Anthology, 2025

Adrift

the sound of leaves

crunching under my feet ...

laid off

the stop, go, stop

of this gig work life ...

rush hour traffic

last bus ride

office tower shadows drift

across my tired face

long time no see ...

plumes of breath between me

and my former boss

laid off again ...

I gaze at the winter skies

one cloud at a time

Frogpond, 48:1, Winter 2025

Wave after Wave Haiku

moonlight

in wave after wave

a doll drifting

Frogpond, 48:1, Winter 2025

50, 000 Deaths Tanka

(FYI: EuroNews, March 31: Bodies of 15 aid workers discovered in southern Gaza mass grave

And Haaretz, April 1: UN Recovers 15 Aid Workers' Bodies in Gaza, Say Some Found Bound and Shot

Rescue teams say some victims had their hands tied and were shot at close range, suggesting they were executed.

please bury me

with no casket, no prayers

face down, away

from this shrapnel-filled world:

the note in an aid worker's hand

NeverEnding Story, May 5 2024

And Haaretz, April 3: Israeli Strike on Gaza City School Leaves 27 Dead, at Least 70 Wounded

a girl convulsing 

on the bloodstained classroom floor

smell of Gaza's  air

NeverEnding Story, June 28 2024

slanted moonlight

on a half-collapsed school wall

chalk poppies bloom

NeverEnding Story, August 3 2024

FYI: "The Palestinian poppy (Anemone coronaria) is a non-official but more recognizable national symbol of Palestine)

Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, CLXX: "Gazans are Humans?"

too much to ask YOU 

to see Gazans as humans? 

50, 000 deaths

silenced, forgotten, buried

under the weight of daily life

NeverEnding Story, March 24 2025

FYI: Israel's oldest daily now sanctioned by the Israeli government, Haaretz, March 24: 50,000 Palestinians Have Been Killed in Gaza: This Is How It Happened, Day by Day

And Haaretz, March 24: Announcement That Death Toll Surpassed 50,000 Didn't Faze Anyone, Not Even in Gaza

Even Gazans aren't preoccupied by the number of dead these days. They're busy with questions of day-to-day survival: Will Israeli attacks become as widespread as they were before the cease-fire? Will all of Gaza be reoccupied? And who will die today or tomorrow?

Added: Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, CLXXI: "crowded shelter"

crowded shelter

layer within layer 

of hushed silence

FYI: Haaretz, March 27: In One of the Gaza War's Most Horrifying Nights, the Israeli Army Killed Nearly 300 Women and Children

the IDF and the Shin Bet focused this time on civilian and political targets and less on the military wing of Hamas.

Man in Black Haiku

store windows barred shut

footsteps of a man in black

echoing mine

NeverEnding Story, March 23 2025

FYI: For more examples, see "To the Lighthouse: Haiku Noir"

Added:

in a blue suit

the "Great One" walked onto the ice 

near the US team’s bench

with a thumbs up ...

Gretzky statue smeared with poop 

FYI: Maclean's, March 5: Goodbye to Gretzky

The cracks in Gretzky’s patriotism have been showing for years. In 2009, he was promoted to companion of the Order of Canada—the nation’s highest civilian honour—but he wouldn’t come home to accept it. “It’s just embarrassing,” Christopher McCreery, an expert on the Canadian honours system, said in 2018, after nearly a decade had passed and The Great One still claimed the honour. 

Added: Trump Empire, Inc., XI

Land of the Crazed --> USA

Canada <-- Home of the Brave

giant road sign

at the corner of the border

as flocks of geese fly north

FYI: This could be read as a prequel to the following:

in Toronto sunshine

with the scent of early spring

and freedom

two Americans meet and part:

one draft dodger, one Trump evader

NeverEnding Story, March 17 2025

Added: Trump Empire, Inc., XII

Uber ride home

a Trumpinator bobblehead

rattles on the dashboard

(FYI: Trumpinator bobblehead is a figurine of Donald Trump as the Terminator) 

Added: Trump Empire, Inc., XIII

fast-hitting snowstorm

as Trump enacts another round

of tariffs ...

to stay or to go, I muse

[yet this longing for Never Land]

Added: Trump Empire, Inc., XIV

inspired by The Atlantic, March 24: The Trump Administration "Accidentally" Texted Me Its War "Plans" 

supersized

FistStarsandStripesFire 👊 🇺🇸 🔥...

three emojis

and MAGAmoronsinsuits

love company in the spotlight

FYI: The Canadian Press, March 26: The Atlantic releases the entire Signal chat showing Hegseth's detailed attack plans against Houthis

The Independent, March 26: ‘It’s really not a big deal’: Trump responds to latest round texts published in Signal text scandal

And CNN, March 26: The politics of the Yemen chat scandal is obscuring key foreign policy shifts

Easy as 1-2-3 When Humor Bombs

Trump Empire, Inc., IX

written in response to Bob Newhart's claim: "Humor’s a weapon if you want to make it one"

MAGA bar brawl between Trump jokes a thunderous echo-fart

floodafterfloodoftariffstaxcutMARA

King Trump's Castro-length shit-words

raising chickens for eggs

since wave after wave of DOGE cuts

I fart so often

NeverEnding Story, March 22 2025

FYI: The noun shit-word has been obsolete since its recorded usage only in the Middle English period (1150—1500) (shit-word entry, Oxford English Dictionary). Now, it's revived by King Trump.

DOGE stands for the "Department of Government Efficiency", and MARA for "Make America Rich Again."

And eggs contain sulfur, which can contribute to the sulfurous smell of gas.  😂)

Added: Trump Empire, Inc., X

wall-mounted TV

blasting Putin demands to keep

captured territories

as we buy stinky tofu ...

one adds, "including the White House"

FYI: Stinky tofu, also known as "chou doufu" in Chinese, is a fermented bean curd dish popular in China and Taiwan, known for its strong, pungent odor and unique flavor. 

The Fate of a Struggling Poet

candlelight dinner

a love haiku

gifted to my blind date

these ums and ahs

she splits every bill

down to the cent

On the eve of Lottery Day, half asleep ... and yet half awake, I hear her laugh in my laughter. 

The first rays of sunlight slant through my bedroom window. It's a serious thing: just to be alive on this fresh morning in the dream-shattered world.

Failed Haiku, 108, 2025

Four-Year-Old Self Kyoka

my wife repeats,

aim your pee-pee 

into the toilet ...

my son stops to smile at me

smiling at my four-year-old self

Failed Haiku, 108, 2025

Pre-Dawn Bombings Tanka

Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, CLXVII: "pre-dawn bombings"

written in response to The Canadian Press, March 18: Israel's surprise bombardment plunged Palestinians back into 'hell'

By midday, over 400 people had been killed. It was one of the deadliest days of the 17-month war, following two months of ceasefire.

pre-dawn bombings

light the sky with orange flares 

shatter the stillness 

set fire to a sprawling tent camp ...

sounds of Death in a child's eyes

NeverEnding Story, March 192025

FYI: FYI: "Israel's oldest daily, now sanctioned by Netanyahu, the WarCriminal , Haaretz," Editorial, March 19: Israel, Not Hamas, Is Derailing the Gaza Cease-fire and Preventing the Hostages' Return

The Irish News, March 18: Netanyahu says strikes across Gaza that killed hundreds ‘only the beginning’ And Al Jazeera, March 19: Israel’s renewed strikes on Gaza have killed 183 children

Haaretz, March 20:

The IDF announced it has begun a ground offensive in northern Gaza. The White House said that President Trump "fully supports" Israel's recent actions in Gaza. Over 710 Gazans have been killed and 900 wounded in Israeli strikes in the last 48 hours, the spokesperson of a hospital in central Gaza told Al Arabiya News.

And Haaretz, Analysis, March 21:  Israel Is Preparing to Occupy Gaza, Reinstate Military Rule and Fully Control the Palestinian Population

Israel appears to be creating a smokescreen around the government and army's true intentions. While awaiting updates on talks with Hamas, preparations are underway for a major operation to occupy Gaza

Added: Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, CLXVIII: "bomb after bomb"

some sleep, some prepare 

for another Ramadan fast ...

bomb after bomb 

silencing all things under the roofs 

and inside makeshift tents

Added: Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, CLXIX: "inverted red triangle"

police phalanx on campus ...

with his face painted

with the inverted red triangle

he shouts, I need no mask; I speak

from my difference

FYI: Red triangle (Palestinian symbol), Wikipedia: Since the Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip, an inverted red triangle has been used by pro-Palestinian protesters.[1] The red triangle as a Palestinian symbol dates back to the 1917 Arab Revolt, after which it was also used in the Palestinian flag...

Old Love Letters Senryu

old love letters

in her catch-all drawer

winter light

Failed Haiku, 108, 2025