July 4th Reflection Tanka

not down in the gutter

nor high in the cirrus clouds ...

at thirty

holding a cubicle job

I stare at the fireworks-lit sky

NeverEnding Story, July 4 2025

FYI: I was reminded of the following remarks on the everyday man while writing this tanka

Every man dies. Not every man really lives. 

-- William Wallace

Be sure you put your feet in the right place, then stand firm. 

-- Abraham Lincoln 

Added:

this ever-growing

wall between who is and isn’t 

deemed worthy

of an American life ...

alone after July 4th fireworks

Silver-Haired Father Haiku

silver-haired father

now my child

foggy winter night

Cold Moon Journal, April 24 2025

First Blind Date Senryu

first blind date

a cherry tomato

in one bite

 

The Solitary Daisy, 50, 2025 

Bent Woman Haiku

churchyard shadows

a bent woman speaking

in tongues

Ink Sweat & Tears, April 17, 2025 

Summer Fly Haiku

I open the window

to let out a summer fly ...

the silence falls

Ink Sweat & Tears, April 17, 2025  

Loose Skin over Bone Tanka

Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, CXCVII: "loose skin over bone"

this dull-eyed baby 

with loose skin over bone ...

a Gazan boy

scrapes the bottom of a cracked pot 

for leftover grains

NeverEnding Story, June 29 2025

FYI: Defense for Children International - Palestine, June 24 2025: “Starving a Generation” report indicts Israel for weaponizing starvation as a tool of genocide

Defense for Children International - Palestine, in collaboration with Doctors Against Genocide, published a report today asserting Israeli authorities have deliberately weaponized starvation as a method of genocide, resulting in the preventable deaths and suffering of Palestinian children in Gaza that will carry negative impacts for generations to come.

“Starving a Generation: Israel’s Famine Campaign Targeting Palestinian Children in Gaza” documents 33 cases of child starvation collected by DCIP’s field researchers in the Gaza Strip between October 7, 2023, and May 21, 2025. In nine of these cases, the child died. These children, all of whom died of malnutrition, ranged between the ages of one week and 10 years old. Of the other 24 cases, documenting children still suffering from the effects of starvation, 14 are under one year of age, five are toddlers, and five are school age. Five of the children are suffering from chronic diseases. These cases represent only a small fraction of the true toll, as Israel’s continued bombardment, siege, and obstruction of aid have made comprehensive documentation impossible.

Added: Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, CXCVIII: "this pain that words can't carry"

in a heat haze

murderaftermurder

of crows hovering

over bodies amid ruins ...

this pain that words can't carry

FYI: "Israel's oldest daily now sanctioned by the Israeli government, Haaretz," June 27: 'It's a Killing Field': IDF Soldiers Ordered to Shoot Deliberately at Unarmed Gazans Waiting for Humanitarian Aid

IDF officers and soldiers told Haaretz they were ordered to fire at unarmed crowds near food distribution sites in Gaza, even when no threat was present. Hundreds of Palestinians have been killed, prompting the military prosecution to call for a review into possible war crimes.

June 28: U.S.-backed  Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, GHF Urges Probe Into Israeli Army Fire on Gaza Aid-seekers Following Haaretz Expose

Editorial, June 29: Israel Turned Gaza's Aid Centers Into Death Traps. The Killing Has to Stop

June 30: Senior Israeli Army Officers Admit 'Uncalculated' Fire on Gaza Aid Seekers After Haaretz Expose

Sultry Smell Tanka

the sultry smell

of grilled salmon and shrimp

our shoulders

close, closer to each other

and our wandering hearts, too

NeverEnding Story, June 28 2025

Added:

dappled trail 

a summer breeze humming

our sweet nothings 

Added:

after love

and her going back home

I take a shower

to wash away her trace

and another steamy night

Added:

pity? I murmur ...

these women in red

sail to my shore

even disembark, and yet

never reach my interior

Subway's Sway Haiku

breezy sunshine

my blind date and I slow-dance

to subway's sway

Ink Sweat & Tears, April 17, 2025 

Hospice Garden Haiku

hospice garden

the wishing fountain fills

with fallen leaves

Ink Sweat & Tears, April 17, 2025 

Salmon Sunset Haiku

end-of-day catch

our wicker basket full

of salmon sunset

Ink Sweat & Tears, April 17, 2025 

TV Debate Senryu

tv debate ...

telling one bark of a stray

from another

Ink Sweat & Tears, April 17, 2025 

Worker in Words Tanka

midnight hush ...

I, a worker in words

straddle the line

between the abstract, death

and the concrete, aging body

NeverEnding Story, June 21 2025

Added:

the brick shack

with boarded windows

facing a graveyard

in gathering dusk

a torn-up chapbook: I AM

FYI: For more about death poems, see "To the Lighthouse: Jisei, Japanese Death Poems" And  you can get a free PDF copy of the book here  and here is the link to Janine Beichman's detailed review of the book, "Yoel Hoffmann as Japanologist: Japanese Death Poems."

BombafterBomb and MurderafterMurder Tanka

Trump Empire, Inc, XXXIX

bombafterbomb

silencing everything below ...

D.C.'s skies explode 

with murderaftermurder

of shape-shifting crows

NeverEnding Story, June 22 2025

FYI: The Guardian, June 22: No matter what Trump says, the US has gone to war

Trump has fallen slap bang into the trap laid for him by Netanyahu. His reckless gamble makes a nuclear weapon for Iran more, not less, likely.

And Sky News, June 22: For Trump, the performative presidency just got real - in this war the 'in' may be easier than the 'out'

This tanka could be read as a prequel to mine bewlo:

the butcher

throwing more meat

into his grinder 

the wall-mounted TV blasts

war after war ...

Ribbons, 20:1, Winter 2024

In "contrast" with the following tanka:

There's no gap or break

In the rank of those marching

Under the hill:

An endless line of dying men,

Moving on and on and on ...

Buddhist monk-poet Saigyo (1118–1190 AD)

Added: Trump Empire, Inc, XL

written in response to The Onion's Editorial: Members of Congress—now, more than ever, our nation desperately needs your cowardice.

winding through

the hallways of the Capitol

the thunderous snoring 

resounds with chants of USA!

outside in the gathering dark

FYI: Rolling Stone, June 22: ‘The Onion’ Mocks Congress’ ‘Cowardice’ in ‘New York Times’ Full Page Editorial

We teeter on the brink of collapse into an authoritarian state. That is why, today, The Onion calls upon our lawmakers to sit back and do absolutely nothing.

Members of Congress—now, more than ever, our nation desperately needs your cowardice.

Now is not the time for bravery or valor! This is the time for protecting your own hide and lining your pocket. Now is not the time for listening to your idiotic constituents drone on about what’s happening to their precious democracy. This is the time for getting down on all fours and groveling.”

Added: Trump Empire, Inc, XLI

the Midnight Hammer strikes

the core of the Shia Crescent ...

in this village

every one carries around 

a heart that's been broken

FYI: Haaretz, June 23: Netanyahu's Bet on Drama-loving Trump Has Paid Off With Iran

Netanyahu's post-October 7 mood is one of having nothing to lose. He had displayed unusual determination in hoping that a successful attack on Iran would blur the failure of that day. He waved aside the customary reservations from the military, which did not want to launch the attack without the U.S. taking part in it.

Netanyahu gambled that drama-loving Trump would find it impossible to stay out of the center of attention, certainly if the Israeli attack were successful. He assumed that Trump would not heed his intelligence community, which had publicly estimated that there is no Iranian decision to push forward to a bomb.

Added: Trump Empire, Inc, XLII

written in response to NBC News, June 24: Trump Slams Israel and Iran For Violating Ceasefire

in scorching heart

the Convicted Felon shouts, 

they don't know 

what the fuck they're doing ...

one stray outbarks the rest

Added: Trump Empire, Inc, XLIII

bellowing 

Convicted Felon Trump 

as the flame 

of Lady Liberty in heat haze...

this land of white noise

FYI: L5 alludes to White Noise, a 1985 National Book Award-winning novel written by Don DeLillo. In his novel, the "symbol of 'white noise' represents the pervasive, often meaningless, and overwhelming background hum of modern life, particularly the barrage of information and consumerism that characterizes contemporary society. It embodies a sense of dread and anxiety stemming from the fear of death, the artificiality of modern existence, and the difficulty of discerning truth from simulation."

Cancerland Tanka

in Cancerland

I walk this winding road

often delayed

and turned in circles ...

the farther I go the more I stiffen

Gusts, 41, Spring/Summer 2025

Roadside Wreath Tanka

the roadside wreath

in a drift of snowflakes

how fleeting

my memories of her

who pirouetted, pirouetted

Gusts, 41, Spring/Summer 2025 

Coffee and Poetry Tanka

seaside bow-windows

radiating the canopies

of sunlight ...

a cup of coffee and poetry

nothing more and nothing less

Gusts, 41, Spring/Summer 2025

Abused Body and Mind Haiku

her abused body

inside

the inside of her mind

The Bamboo Hut, 2025

Haze Senryu

right place, wrong time?

this five-glass-of-wine haze

of jet lag

NeverEnding Story, June 14, 2025

FYI: This is a response senryu to the following:

jet lag

a street cat stretches

into the night     

Failed Haiku, 6:61, 2021

Hazel Hall

The Last Year of My Father's Life

A haiku sequence for my father who was born in mainland China, lived most of his adult life in Taiwan, died and was buried there in 2022

a slice of my life 

in father's foggy mind

birthday sunset

father silver-haired

now my child

foggy winter night

ventilator hiss

Father's face blurry

and blurrier...

this faded photo ...

the story father told us

as mother grinned

this weight

of the words half spoken

a stone on Father's grave

NeverEnding Story, June 16 2025

FYI: For more about my father's story, see my tanka prose below:

A Chain Smoker of Few Words

My father, who was born in mainland China, quit his studies to defend his country against the Japanese invasion. Later, he fought his fellow countrymen for the sake of unifying war-torn China. Retreating to Taiwan along with the defeated Chinese Nationalist Army, he was separated from his family in China for four decades. He spent most of his adult life in Taiwan, worked hard to support his new family, died and was buried there without ever again seeing any of his family members from China.

this dream loop:

riding on my shoulders

into the Taiwan Strait

Father cries out, Mama

wait for me, I'm coming home

Contemporary Haibun Online, 19:3, 2023

Added:

for ten days

onslaught after onslaught

of writer's block ...

I look out the window

at the moon, its fullness

Added:

white sand

slips through my fingers

a flash 

of morning sunlight

in each grain

Added:

one brown patch

after another, another

on the lawn ...

we speak less day by day

as the end of spring approaches

Border of Life Tanka

Trump Empire, Inc, XXXVI

blood still dripping

from this rusty barbed wire ...

an old man murmurs 

to his only son who stands 

beyond the border of life 

NeverEnding Story, June 15 2025

FYI: Newsweek, June 13: Pope Leo's First US Bishop Takes Action Against Trump Migrant Crackdown

The first U.S. bishop appointed by Pope Leo XIV has called for priests, deacons and parish leaders to accompany migrants to court and stand in solidarity with them.

Rev. Michael Pham, who was named bishop of San Diego, California, by Pope Leo in May, wrote a letter about the action on Wednesday, along with Rev. Felipe Pulido and Rev. Ramón Bejarano, both appointed by the previous pontiff, Pope Francis.

"On the morning of June 20th, which is International Refugee Day, a group of priests and faith leaders are planning to visit the federal court building to stand in solidarity with migrants who are making their court appearances," they wrote...

The Convicted Felon Donald Trump already federalized four thousand members of the California National Guard without the state’s consent, and ordered seven hundred marines to L.A. He also threatened to deploy the military to demonstrations in other cities. The Washington Post, Jun 11 claimed that escalation would be “the most extensive use of military force on American soil in modern history.”

Yet amid the ongoing protests in Los Angeles and a dozen other cities in response to the Administration’s immigration raids, the Convicted Felon hosted his own military parade to celebrate his seventy-ninth birthday.

Added: Trump Empire, Inc, XXXVII

"Happy" Birthday to the Wannabe Dictator, Donald Trump

tank after tank

rolling through the capital ...

crows on a wire

in gathering dark

the entrance to Mar-a-Lago

No Parking Any Time  😎

Added: Trump Empire, Inc, XXXVIII

No Kings protest:

chant after chant of fried truth

eggflation

scrambled justice, poached rights,

cracked democracy...Trump, Fuck Off

(FYI: The Nation, June 16: The No Kings! Movement Trumped Trump

Thomas Paine from Common Sense, the 1776 rejection of King George III and the British monarchy, which declared, “O ye that love mankind! Ye that dare oppose, not only the tyranny, but the tyrant, stand forth!”

More than 5 million everydayAmericans stood forth, as patriots, and trumped Trump.

In America, the law is King!)

To conclude today's Special Feature post, I would like to share with you the following protest song:

People Rise Up  by Seth Bernard

People rise up people come together

We never give up we never surrender

To the forces that would keep us down

Our hearts are found

We’re mother bound

Keep on keep on lovers we’ve got what it takes

To shake off the shame and stay awake

Feel the feels and heal the deal

Take it all the way

Stay real

People rise up people come together

One foot in front of the other

Walk on walk on our hearts can crush this

Stand for peace

Work for justice

Keep a weary eye on the powers that be

Keep taking back our democracy

Keep your eyes up keep your mind sharp

The light in our eyes moving

Through the dark