Lopsided Moon Haiku

lopsided moon ...

eyes fixed on my wife

straddling me

NeverEnding Story, June 6 2026

FYI: This haiku could be read as a sequel and a prequel to the following ones respectively:

butterflies mating

my wife's hand made to fit

inside my palm

Haiku Foundation's Per Diem, March 14 2023

And 

beads of sweat

between my wife's breasts

yet this impulse ...

NeverEnding Story, January 14, 2020

Added:

slanted moonlight

slow, slow curving of her breast

into my dream

Added:

a box of letters

in dusty attic light

I recover

my young self once caught

in someone's love bonfire

Added:

a queue for gas

out of the blue call answered

by tree swallow song

FYI: A small and striking songbird, the tree swallow is renowned for its acrobatic flight and dazzling plumage. It features glossy, iridescent blue-green upperparts that gleam in the sunlight.

Added:

a white raven

back and forth, back and forth 

distant sirens

FYI: White ravens are exceptionally rare in the wild—occurring in roughly 1 in 30,000 birds. North America's two main hotspots for these sightings include:

1 Vancouver Island, British Columbia: The coastal area around Qualicum Beach and Parksville is widely considered the unofficial "White Raven Capital". 

2 Anchorage, Alaska: White ravens are occasional, viral sensations in Anchorage.

Green Bill Haiku

March snowstorm

the prime minister drones on

through the Green Bill

Sense & Sensibility, March 2026

First Light Haiku

first light of the year

in my dead father’s footsteps…

a dream, and alive

5-7-5 Haiku Journal, January 30 2026

Work Haiku

work, work and work

etched across my office pane ...

sunlight tinged gray

Asahi Haikuist Network, February 6 2026

False Dawn Haiku

false dawn

a Tai Chi apprentice

twisting the breeze

ESUJ-H, January, 2026

War News on Mute Haiku

war news on mute

our pot of tea steeps

dark and darker

Sense & Sensibility, January 2026

Parting Words Tanka

so much of life

grows clearer with the years —

her parting words

yet grit like sand in my mouth

whenever I repeat them

NeverEnding Story, May 31 2026

Added: 

newly divorced

I stare at a blue moon

through the skylight—

still her side of our bed

holds the hollow shape

Added:

an alley stray

howling at the blue moon

nostalgia

like a drunken shadow

that dogs my immigrant past

Added:

blue moon rippling …

on the Pacific shore

I wonder:

the life I left behind,

the life I struggle with

Added: 

words fall short 

of what the heart can tell —

yet on my tongue

that first hidden love's name

leaps into the spring air

Silhouetted Figure

At the edge of night, memories flare like lanterns drifting on a river.

hospice window

morning mist

ghosting the blossoms

Frogpond, 49:1, 2026

Years in Exile Haiku

in sky and sea

whites and blues adrift ...

years in exile

Frogpond, 49:1, 2026

Zen Workshop Senryu

Zen workshop

a young man's backpack

filled with books

tsuri-dōrō, 31, Jan/Feb. 2026 

Passing Thought Haiku

loon's call

a passing thought

of my ex

tsuri-dōrō, 31, Jan/Feb. 2026 

Empty Basketball Court Haiku

empty basketball court

the faint sound of a swaying net

in smoky twilight

NeverEnding Story, May 26 2026

FYI: The haiku employs ghost imagery: rather than depicting action directly, it evokes what remains after the action has vanished.

Ghost imagery captures the instant after action disappears, emphasizing what lingers rather than what occurred. It evokes absence through residual cues—sound, motion, light, and atmosphere—forcing the reader to perceive the aftermath instead of the event itself. 

For more examples, see "To the Lighthouse: Ghost Imagery"

Added:

her side of the bed

a hollow still visible

in moonlit dust

Added:

moonlit playground

swing chains sway in the echo

of far laughter

Added:

winter fishing pier

the slow knock of loose ropes

against pilings

Added:

empty bus stop 

the flutter of a ticket

in streetlamp light

Added:

vacant alley court

the backboard shining

in police lights

Added:

closed dog park

one tennis ball rolling back

through bloodied leaves

Added:

carnival grounds

ticket stubs against the fence

in misty rain

Stock Ticker Tanka

Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, CCXCVI: "stock ticker "

a bruised girl’s hand

clutches a slice of bread

in pixels—

a stock ticker flashes past

Lockheed Martin up red-hot

NeverEnding Story May 25 2026

FYI: "Israel's oldest daily, Haaretz," which was was sanctioned by the Israeli government on Nov. 24, 2024

May 24 2026: Israel's Destruction of Gaza Mapped Using Digital Archive of Wartime Footage

Built from geolocated videos, photographs and social media posts, the website – called Genocide Live – compiles footage of Israeli airstrikes, military manoeuvres, and destruction from across Gaza, the West Bank and the wider regional war, including in Lebanon, Syria, Iran and Qatar.

May 25 2026: Humanitarian Conditions in Gaza Deteriorating Again, Aid Groups Warn

The groups report a resurgence in malnutrition among Gazan children, as well as deaths resulting from a failure to provide medical evacuations, collapsing sewage systems, a spike in pest infestations and a serious shortage of medical equipment, among other problems.

And Kavout, Stock Analysis: Is Global Conflict Driving a New Era for Defense Stocks

Key Takeaways

Global defense spending, now at an estimated $3 trillion, is surging due to escalating geopolitical tensions, creating a robust tailwind for defense contractors and drone technology firms.

Lockheed Martin (LMT) offers investors a stable, blue-chip play on this trend, benefiting from strong demand for its established platforms and a substantial backlog, despite its premium valuation.

Added: Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, CCXCVII: "Eid al-Adha"

Eid al-Adha

shrouded in smoky dust

armless Gazan child

FYI: Eid al-Adha (May 26–30) is the Feast of Sacrifice, the largest of the two main Islamic festivals celebrated worldwide. It is traditionally marked by clean clothes, festive meals, and charity.

Added:

her only son's photo

as he was

Memorial Day

Added:

in breezy sunshine

tulip bulbs tucked in the earth

last autumn

begin to murmur awake ...

will our hope for peace take root?

FYI: Vision of Humanity: Highest number of countries engaged in conflict since World War II

Added:

the edge

of this dappled trail

shadow and me

Added:

gazing out

at this borderless spring sky 

thoughts pass through

Added:

kitchen secret

in the slanted moonlight

onions unpeeled

Added:

half-sleep, half-wake 

my hand across the bed

finds a hollow

Added:

sultry beach night

my body finds the spot

where hers once lay

Added:

solar eclipse

a church bell’s echo slips

into the dark

Blank Page Tanka

I mutter

nothing much to write about …

the blank screen

looks into me deeper

than my unfinished life

NeverEnding Story, May 24 2026

FYI: My gembun below could be read as its prequel:

A cursor blinks in the white of my screen.

darkness pools around stars

words I never said

words I never sent

NeverEnding Story, March 11 2026

And my tanka below could be read as its sequel:

coffee ring on ring ...

I type five lines, five lines

then delete all

start again as robins sing

sing up the morning sun

NeverEnding Story, January 30 2026

Spring Thaw Haiku

the shadow

of a viagra billboard

spring thaw

hedgerow, 151, 2026

Dawn's Light Haiku

awake to dawn's light

another strand of white hair

on my wife's pillow

5-7-5 Haiku Journal, December 20 2025

Click, Clicking Sound Haiku

the click, clicking sound

of my neighbor's garden gate

foreclosure tilted

5-7-5 Haiku Journal, December 17 2025

Stratus Clouds Haiku

stratus clouds ...

leaf after leaf drifts into

the sound of gray

Trash Panda, 10, 2025

Wind-Spun Petals Haiku

wind-spun petals

go back where you came from

brayed down the block

NeverEnding Story, May 19 2026

FYI: This haiku is a prequel to mine below:

the zigzag path 

of a yellow maple leaf ...

to stay or to go?

Mamba, 18, 2025

Added:

shouted after a boy

go back where you came from...

the chilly wind

punching a paper bag

against the schoolyard fence

Added:

shouted after a boy

go back where you came from...

the chilly wind

punching a paper bag

against the schoolyard fence

Added: 

fireball-lit skies

"ceasefire" for 45 days

inked on paper

FYI: BBC News, May 18 2026: Death toll from Israeli strikes on Lebanon passes 3,000, officials say

Added:

blossom-spun wind

against the chain-link fence

store foreclosure

Added:

rooftop pool

I float in the light

of stars

Added:

a row of beach chairs

in every pair of glasses

drifting clouds

FYI:  This haiku could be read as a prequel to mine below:

dream space

between our beach chairs

rippling sunset

Wales Haiku Journal, Summer 2022

Desert Mindscape Tanka

riding hard

with heels against the horse’s flanks

I race alone

across a desert mindscape —

Samarra’s walls in twilight

NeverEnding Story, May 17 2026

FYI: The transition in L 4 from a physical horse race to a "desert mindscape" is the emotional anchor of this tanka. It redefines everything the reader just read, transforming an adventure into a battle with loneliness or memory, and L5  invokes the famous literary tale "The Appointment in Samarra" (where a man rides hard to escape Death, only to meet Death at his destination), it infuses the tanka with a powerful sense of inescapable destiny.

The long dash leading into "Samarra’s walls in twilight" acts like a camera panning out. Readers can see the frantic, internal race, and then suddenly, the vast, quiet, ancient walls appear in the fading light. The tanka ends with a haunting image of imminent death.

This tanka was inspired by TomDispatch, February 22, 2026: America’s Date With Destiny: An Appointment in Samarra

Some tales can cross cultures, continents, and even centuries to arrive in our own era with their timeless truths pretty much intact. That’s particularly so for the immortal story of “an appointment in Samarra.” It first appeared in the fifth century in the Babylonian Talmud, that ancient repository of Jewish rabbinical wisdom. Then it crossed over into Islamic literature for reiterations in a thirteenth-century Persian version and a fifteenth-century Egyptian text, before popping up on the London stage in Act III of William Somerset Maugham’s 1933 play Sheppy.

In Maugham’s retelling, the tale is rich in irony. Once long ago, he wrote, there was a merchant in Baghdad who sent his servant to shop in the market. But the servant soon returned home in a panic and told his master about a woman in the crowd there who stared at him angrily. “It was Death that jostled me,” the servant announced, pleading with his master for a horse to flee to the town of Samarra. There, said the servant, “Death will not find me.”

“That was not a threatening gesture,” said Death. “It was only a start of surprise. I was astonished to see him in Baghdad, for I had an appointment with him tonight in Samarra.”

More than anything else, that ancient tale testifies to the eternal human folly of trying to outrun fate. 

And my tanka below could be read as a counter poem:

in the moonlit dark

Death and I stare, unmoving

with thoughts miles apart ...

silence stretches between us

and who will blink first

Fireflies’ Light, 33, April 2026