Birthday Dinner Haiku

in memory of my hard-working father 

birthday dinner

Father's mud-caked work boots

on the welcome mat

NeverEnding Story, September 29 2022

Flare of Anger Senryu

rain to sleet ...

a flare of anger

inside me

Failed Haiku, 7:77, May 2022

Soldier's Wet Dream Senryu

summer bedlinen

all that remains

of a soldier's wet dream

Failed Haiku, 7:77, May 2022

Summer's End Senryu

the beach

crowded with footprints

summer's end

Failed Haiku, 7:77, May 2022

Gavel-On-The-Desk Gesture Tanka

reading between the lives and writing between the lines, XXVII

God, my country

just hard work, no handouts ...

in the spotlight

the mayor punctuates his words

with a gavel-on-the-desk gesture

NeverEnding Story, September 19, 2022

FYI: For more, see my "To the Lighthouse" post, Character/Persona Tanka

Trauma Dumping Tanka

this church group

once again trauma dumping 

on each other ...

the closeness between their bodies

the distance   between their hearts

NeverEnding Story, September 24 2022

Added: 

the sound of fury

a row of houses dragged out

to sea by the storm

FYI: USA Today, September 24: 'I'm seeing homes in the ocean': Fiona makes devastating landfall in Atlantic Canada

...The Canadian Hurricane Centre called Fiona a "historic storm for eastern Canada" and a "potential landmark weather event" in a region where hurricanes are relatively rare...

Added: reading between the lives and writing between the lines, XXIX

a big stuffed monkey

stapled to the railings

of a bridge

to the oldest Black town ...

my wife holds my hand tighter

Added: Game Show 2024, VII

written in response to Insider, Sep. 24: Donald Trump shares Truth Social photo proclaiming him as second only to Jesus

in dim light

I'm the second greatest 

second greatest ...

he mumbles, staring at Jesus

on the wall of his psych room

FYI: Trump has made these grand proclamations himself. In August 2019, Trump told reporters in reference to trade with China: "I am the chosen one." He also shared tweets describing him as the "King of Israel" and "the second coming of God." ...Insider, Sep. 24

Added:

Women, Life, Freedom

painted in red letters 

across topless women's' chests ...

Iranian Embassy

in the gathering dark

FYI: Today we stand with the brave citizens and the brave women of Iran who right now are demonstrating to secure their basic rights...

-- President Joe Biden, UN General Assembly Speech

FYI: CBC News, September 26: Iran accuses U.S. of trying to exploit unrest over death of Mahsa Amini and Democracy Now, September 27: “Women! Life! Freedom!” Iranian Women Lead Nationwide Protests After Death of Mahsa Amini

Over the past two weeks:

76 people killed 

More than 1,200 people arrested (at least 20 journalists arrested covering the protests)

Gathering Dark Haiku

gathering dark ...

the last ravens slide

into it

Shamrock, 48, 2022

Black Woman and Policeman Tanka

a policeman

throws a black woman

into the mud

shouting, she held a knife!

(found only in his mind)

NeverEnding Story, September 19 2022

FYI: For more, see my "To the Lighthouse" post, Character/Persona Tanka

Penhouse Tanka

alone 

by the penthouse window

my friend repeats 

this is America

why settle for pretty good? 

NeverEnding Story, September 19 2022

FYI: For more, see my "To the Lighthouse" post, Character/Persona Tanka

Freedom Tanka

I've the right

to swing my fist, but this freedom

stops at the tip

of my love rival's nose ...

I shout before the mirror

NeverEnding Story, September 19 2022

FYI: For more, see my "To the Lighthouse" post, Character/Persona Tanka

Imperial leftovers: Seeing Is Believing

written in response to The New Yorker, September 10: The monarchy presents itself as a “mysterious and magical inheritor of an endless past.” Would Britain be better off without it?"

a double-rainbow

breaking through gray clouds

over Buckingham ...

on its gold and black rails

notice of the Queen's death

Oh god I hate this

as the "King" signs his name 

with a leaking pen ...

I recall his "my luck" laughter

in the leaked "tampon" phone call

the adulterer

who once talked dirty on the phone

now Liege Lord --

a woman yelling Not My King

surrounded by policemen

"Prince" Andrew

walks behind the Queen's coffin

down the Royal Mile --

a shout from the packed crowd

you’re a sick old man

boos heard clearly

over the crowd of well-wishers 

greeting the "King" --

on the Cardiff Castle walls

Abolish the Monarchy

a meteor

streaks across the sky

over London --

the Queen once claimed

I've to be seen to be believed

royal members

take turns to watch over

the Queen's coffin ...

"Prince" Andrew in uniform

as mourners file past, bowing

at last the end

of ten days of mourning ...

as the sun sets

in the shadow of Big Ben

an old man and his wife

new royal

favorites and suchlike 

jostle for spots 

on Buckingham Palace's balcony ...

kids in a bakery window

NeverEnding Story, September 18 2022

FYI: Child Poverty and Action Group, UK: ... There were 3.9 million children living in poverty in the UK in 2020-21. That's 27 per cent of children, or eight in a classroom of 30...

FYI: MoneyWise, September 18: The Crown Estate — estimated at over $34B in assets — now belongs to King Charles III. But he won't have to pay the UK's 40% inheritance tax. 

Queen Elizabeth II's death involves a transfer of her personal wealth of roughly $500 million to her first son, Charles. That means he doesn’t have to send roughly $200 million of Queen Elizabeth’s $500 million estate to the tax collector.

And FYI: The New Yorker, September 10: "The Fantasy Behind Queen Elizabeth II’s Reign: The monarchy presents itself as a “mysterious and magical inheritor of an endless past.” Would Britain be better off without it?"

The job of the monarchy is “to provide a kind of space and style, a kind of mystique, a kind of secular religion, if you like, in which people can feel some sort of kinship and community with each other.

-- Simon Schama, Historian of British History

Added: reading between the lives and writing between the lines, XXVIII

written on the day of the Queen's Funeral

inside   Westminster Abbey

outside Westminster Abbey

two-minute silence

FYI: This haiku is a "politically neutral" sequel to my 9-tanka sequence, Imperial leftovers: Seeing Is Believing 

Added:

Fallout

written in response to Judith Butler's remark: “One way of posing the question of who ‘we’ are... is by asking whose lives are considered valuable, whose lives are mourned, and whose lives are considered un-grievable.

long live the king

rest in peace, your majesty

written on the loaves ...

many food banks closed 

for the Queen's funeral 

our beloved Queen

forever in our thoughts

scrawled in black ink

on the top of the boulder

in Holocaust Memorial Garden 

FYI: Yahoo News UK, September September 19: "Profoundly inappropriate:" Tributes left for Queen at Holocaust memorial spark backlash. 

Added: 

The Cost

a sequel to Imperial leftovers: Seeing Is Believing 

after the Queen's death

biographers queue up

to release books ...

royal fans and foes

air-quote at each other

royal squabbles

over the "tell-all" story

by Harry and Meghan --

the clicking of cameras

becomes loud and louder

FYI: Deadline, September 25: Royal Authors Queue Up To Release Books, Promising To Reveal Truth Of Conflict Between Prince Harry, Meghan Markle And Buckingham Palace and Bloomberg, September 24: Reality Is Coming for Britain’s Royals: Their luxurious remove from ordinary Britons won’t play well with an increasingly stressed public.

Childhood River and Stars Haiku

strolling alone the childhood river runs with stars

Wales Haiku Journal, Summer 2022

Dream Space Haiku

dream space

between our beach chairs

rippling sunset

Wales Haiku Journal, Summer 2022

Endless Blue Haiku

endless blue ...

lifting off the water

a heron drips light

Wales Haiku Journal, Summer 2022

Now Liege Lord Tanka

This Brave New World, LIV

the adulterer

who once talked dirty on the phone

now Liege Lord ...

a man shouting Not My King

surrounded by policemen

NeverEnding Story, September 14 2022

Note: L2 refers to “Tampongate,” sometimes misogynistically called “Camillagate,” ... a secretly recorded conversation between Charles and Camilla in 1989, in which the Prince of Wales joked that he’d like to be Camilla’s tampon. See a transcript of the exchange, as provided by the Mirror. -- HuffPost, May 13, 2020: Prince Charles And Camilla's Infamous 'Tampongate' Chat Won't Make "The Crown:"It's the one scene the Netflix hit won't cover.

FYI: ABC News, September 14: As the UK mourns the Queen, police treatment of Not My King protesters is sparking freedom of speech fears. 

Added: This Brave New World, LV

Oh god I hate this

as the "King" signs his name 

with a leaking pen ...

I recall his "my luck" laughter

in the leaked "tampon" phone call

FYI: The Guardian, September 13: ‘Oh god I hate this’: King Charles expresses frustration over leaking pen:

“Oh god I hate this (pen)!” Charles said, standing up and handing the pen to his wife, Camilla, Queen Consort.

“Oh look, it’s going everywhere,” Camilla said as her husband wiped his fingers.

“I can’t bear this bloody thing … every stinking time,” Charles said as he walked away.

Below is an excerpt from the transcript of the 1989 exchange Prince Charles and his mistress, Camilla, infamously known as "Tampongate:"  

CAMILLA: Mmm, so do I. I need you all the week. All the time.

CHARLES: Oh, God. I’ll just live inside your trousers or something. It would be much easier!

CAMILLA (laughing): What are you going to turn into, a pair of knickers? (Both laugh). Oh, you’re going to come back as a pair of knickers.

CHARLES: Or, God forbid, a Tampax. Just my luck! (Laughs)

CAMILLA: You are a complete idiot! (Laughs) Oh, what a wonderful idea.

Added: Game Show 2024, VI

written in response to Ted Cruz's Sep. 9 remark: Republicans are "lying" or "idiotic" if they dismiss Trump for 2024

a collapsed fence

among morning glory vines

Trump 2024

FYI: CNN, "The Point," September 9: Ted Cruz nails something fundamental about Donald Trump and 2024. And The Independent, September 15: Trump threatens ‘big problems’ for US if he’s indicted in stolen documents scandal

Speaking on the conservative broadcaster Hugh Hewitt’s radio show, Mr Trump said an indictment would not deter him from running for president because he would have “no prohibition against running”.

“But I think if it happened, I think you'd have problems in this country the likes of which perhaps, we've never seen before. I don't think the people of the United States would stand for it,” he added.

Added: reading between the lives and writing between the lines, XXVII

God, my country

just hard work, no handouts ...

in the spotlight

the mayor punctuates his words

with a gavel-on-the-desk gesture

May Snow Haiku

silence between us the phone lines sagging with May snow 

Brass Bell, June 2022 

Misty Lake Haiku

misty lake     drifting between loon calls

    

Brass Bell, June 2022 

9/11, Then and Now

sleepless again ...

the lingering thoughts

of “if only” 

Sunday breakfast

between us a glass-top table

and the silence

NeverEnding Story, September 11 2022

Slice of Mooncake and Pinot Noir Tanka

written both for the Chinese Moon Festival

and in response to Haruki Murakami's remark: All I do is keep on running in my own cozy, homemade void, my own nostalgic silence. 

alone again

in this Land of Maple Leaf

with a slice of mooncake

I drink Pinot Noir, dwelling 

in nostalgic silence

NeverEnding Story, September 10 2022

FYI: Michelin Guide, August 28, 2019: "How To Pair Wine With Mooncakes" 

Tree House Haiku

tree house

a ladder leading

to the moon 

Stardust Haiku, 66, June 2022