Stadium’s Thunder Gembun

Ears ringing with  "Y.M.C.A.," a sea of red-hatted supporters carry the stadium’s thunder out into the streets.

a soup kitchen line

under slate-gray clouds

pigeons pick crumbs

NeverEnding Story, October 28 2026

FYI: Democracy Now, October 26, 2026: Number of People on Food Stamps Falls by 13% After One Big Beautiful Bill

The number of people on food stamps in the U.S. has fallen by 13% from 41.6 million people in July 2025, before the One Big Beautiful Bill Act took effect, to 36.5 million in June 2026. Advocates say more people are seeking help from food banks or going hungry. Currently, 47 million people, including one in five children, are living in food-insecure households nationwide.

And this poem could be read as a prequel to my tanka below

a MAGA pin

on this old man's breast pocket ...

his patience 

stretched to the limit

by a breadline blocks ahead

NeverEnding Story, July 13 2023

FYI: MAGA stands for "Make America Great Again." And Democracy Now, June 28, 2023: Poverty 4th Leading Cause of Death in U.S. as Calls Grow for Third Reconstruction.

Added:

thud, thud, thud

of his butcher knife

cutting red meat --

on the wall-mounted tv

war after war blaring

Self-Discovery

Each poem I write begins with a jolt — words that strike like warning thunder. Writing with serious intent feels like stepping over a threshold: every line opens a door I’ve kept closed.

As I write, I remain a seeker, following the faintest glimmer of truth through the darkness. The stars now blur into distance; the only compass is the low, steady throb beneath my ribs.

I look up

after a night of writing

to the full moon …

each poem a silver trail

deeper into what’s hidden

Cattails, April 2026

Casino Entrance Senryu

Casino entrance

Laughing Buddha's feet darkened

from the touch of hands

Cattails, April 2026

"Encaged" West Bank Town Gembun

Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, CCCXXIV: "encaged"

stirred by Israel's "Elimination Project" and full closure of occupied West Bank

The West Bank town encaged with barbed wire ...  the red glow of a soldier's Marlboro against the borderless night sky

the dead

among the living

smoky rubble

NeverEnding Story, October 25 2026

FYI: Democracy Now, September 16, 2026: “The Elimination Project”: Israel’s Systematic Dismantling of Palestinian Life in West Bank: B’Tselem" (Israeli human rights group)

A major new report by the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem titled “The Elimination Project” accuses Israel of “dramatically intensifying its attacks on every aspect of Palestinian life in the West Bank.”

B’Tselem Executive Director ,Yuli Novak: Israel is dismantling the basic conditions needed for collective Palestinian existence in the West Bank. Our new report “The Elimination Project” shows how this mechanism works and how over the past three years, it has become more lethal, violent and explicit. Come with us to the West Bank to see for yourself. The Elimination Project in the West Bank operates through five domains of action that work together and reinforce each other: killing, violence, intimidation, movement restrictions, economic strangulation, social and political destruction, ethnic cleansing and territorial takeover. These are all parts of a system with one aim: to ensure Jewish supremacy and eliminate the Palestinian collective.

And Al Jazeera, October 23, 2026: Israel imposes full closure of occupied West Bank after Hebron shooting kills two soldiers

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel is preparing for a large-scale operation. Israel’s military says it killed two Palestinian suspects.

Israeli bulldozers demolished a three-storey building in Hebron, with families given five minutes to collect their belongings. 

The closure means nearly 1,000 checkpoints and gates across the West Bank will be closed, affecting millions of Palestinians.

Mustafa Barghouti, Secretary General of the Palestinian National Initiative, says incitement from far-right Israeli ministers is making the situation worse. 

He says the closure turns every city and village into “a small prison”, with checkpoints and gates blocking health care, the economy and education, and warns that collective punishment will lead to explosions.

Home Country and Old House Tanka

ten years later

back in my home country . . . 

by slanted moonlight

I drink to the old house

tucked warm within me

Editor's Choice Tanka, Cattails, April 2026

Editor's CommentaryThis poignant tanka takes one back in imagination to early roots, capturing a sense of memory and emotional connection to the past. The words, ‘back in my home country’, touch a chord within. The phrase, ‘by slanted moonlight’, is striking. It’s as if a narrow beam of light opens a window into the child’s memory. ‘I drink to the old house’ brings thoughts of absent family and friends, a nostalgic reflection of those who shared company is rediscovered. The last line, ‘tucked warm within me,’ suggests a loving picture of mother and child. There is a sense of nostalgia and tenderness in this writing.

Low Winter Moon Haiku

one week sober

the low winter moon

paler

Cattails, April 2026

Dream and Reality Tanka

a yellow leaf

under the wiper blade

this migrant life

back and forth, back and forth

between dream and reality

NeverEnding Story, October 22 2026

Added:

a side-glance

at the beggar whose accent

is like mine ....

I recall the months spent

putting back pieces of me

Added:

books of poetry

stacked from floor to ceiling —

alone

together with past voices

to explore my future self

Added:

back home again

from a wellness center

alone, the neighbor

deadheading garden tulips

the colors of sunrise

Added:

winter stars

look closer yet far away

face to face

I see something hidden

behind my sick wife's eyes

Added:

alone

on this little island

in the lake:

water-blue, bird-singing

green-leafed wor(l)d of my own

Bulbs Tanka

morning rain ends

as I gaze out the window

green-musing

the bulbs awake

one bloom at a time

 

Romanian Translation by Editor Steliana Cristina Voicu

ploaia de dimineață se termină

în timp ce privesc pe fereastră

meditând asupra verdelui

bulbii se trezesc

câte o floare pe rând

 

Enchanted Garden, 15, 2026

Border Fence Haiku

fromrivertoriverborderfencespringthaw

Haiku Avenue, 11, 2026

Water Lilies Haiku

          o

   r

               g

f                   a maze of water lilies 

Haiku Avenue, 11, 2026

Words and Lines Gembun

My fingers click-clacking — hail against the window.

what's left unsaid

between words and lines ...

alone at false dawn

NeverEnding Story, October 18, 2026

Added: Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, CCCXXIII: "smoky fog"

The smoky fog shrouds where a centuries-old Gazan mosque stood

afterwards

anything matters?

news on mute

FYI: Out of approximately 1,275 pre-war mosques in the Gaza Strip, 1,050 have been completely destroyed and 191 have been partially damaged (totaling 1,241 affected mosques). And according to  both Geneva Conventions, Protocols I and II and the Rome Statute, Article 8, bombing religious sites is considered a war crime.

And EurAsia, October 19, 2026: Global polls find Israel is the least popular country on Earth, disliked by 67% of people

Comprehensive global polls show Israel is now the most unpopular country on Earth, following its thoroughly documented genocide against the Palestinian people in Gaza.

The organization the Alliance of Democracies conducts a comprehensive study every year called the Democracy Perception Index.

The comprehensive study found that Israel is the most disliked country on Earth — with an even lower approval rating than North Korea and Afghanistan.

The United States, the main sponsor of Israel, is the fifth-most hated country.

Fingertip Haiku

 pink    

    blossom        

       rain

 fingertip

    of my        

        toddler

Haiku Avenue, 11, 2026

Childhood Haiku

winding road home

my childhood

left in the rearview

NeverEnding Story, October 16 2026

Added:

moon and stars

not one that moves ...

midnight silence

Added:

morning stroll

a butterfly rides the tail

of my old dog

Added:

sunlit field trip

a school of pond koi

slipping in and out

Added:

train tracks

fading in the twilight fog ...

words half-spoken

Added:

rain on the roof

my child’s shoes by the door

no longer fit

Gold Mountain Diner Haiku

Gold Mountain Diner

lit by the spring sunset glow 

a file of miners

Haiku Avenue, 11, 2026

River Trail Haiku

sunlit river trail

a Buddhist nun in red robes

stops for blossoms, too

Haiku Avenue, 11, 2026

Bouncing Ponytail Haiku

sunlight flickering

a girl’s ponytail bouncing

through pink blossom rain

Haiku Avenue, 11, 2026

Spring Thaw Haiku

first day of spring thaw

I stroll behind my old dog

into skylark song

Haiku Avenue, 11, 2026

River Thaw Haiku

a silver-haired man

jumps into the river thaw

the spring he once knew

Haiku Avenue, 11, 2026

Deadline Eve Gembun

Rain pitter-pattering on the roof all night.

deadline eve

the cursor blinks blinking

after I write

NeverEnding Story, October 10 2026

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

My fingers click-clacking — hail against the window.

what's left unsaid

between words and lines ...

alone at false dawn

NeverEnding Story, September 1 2026

At 6 a.m., a film of cold grease has formed over my untouched coffee.

I add three words

revise them then kill the line ...

paper-white dawn

NeverEnding Story, September 23, 2026 

Added:

first autumn chill

the ladder to my tree house

two rungs missing

FYI: This is a sequel to my haiku below:

tree house

a ladder leading

to the moon 

Stardust Haiku, 66, June 2022

Added:

further in

and further in ...

moonlit fog

Added:

a begging bowl

outside the temple gate

rows of shoes

Breadline Haiku

new snow on old snow on the breadline before passers and past passers

Haiku Avenue, 10, 2026