Chen-ou Liu's Translation Project: First English-Chinese Haiku and Tanka Blog

Saturday, July 12, 2025

Paper Lanterns Haiku

paper lanterns
dotting the inky sky ...
news of another war


German Translation

Papierlaternen
punktieren den tintenschwarzen Himmel ...
Bericht von noch einem Krieg

Friday, July 11, 2025

Toy Forest Tanka

Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, CC: "US-made bombs"

a toy forest
in his biscuit tin ...
the boy holds it tight
as US-made bombs drop
silencing the world below



FYI: The following entry could be read as its sequel

CLXXXI: "things hidden in ears"
inspired by Mosab Abu Toha's poem, "Things You May Find Hidden in My Ear"

doctor, you may find
these things hidden in my ears
a boy murmurs ...
buzzing of drones, roar of fighter jets
screams of Gazans, living and dead


And FYI: The Guardian, March 29, 2024:‘Ecocide in Gaza’: does scale of environmental destruction amount to a war crime? 

Satellite analysis revealed to the Guardian shows farms devastated and nearly half of the territory’s trees razed. Alongside mounting air and water pollution, experts says Israel’s onslaught on Gaza’s ecosystems has made the area unlivable


Added: Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, CCI: "US-made bombs"

this shifting maze
of green and red zones in Gaza...
life and death 
measured in footsteps
across one rubble-lined "street"


FYI: The Nation, July 9, 2025The Impossible Geography of Survival in Gaza
Israel has created “green zones” and “red zones” to distinguish between safe and dangerous areas. There’s little difference.


Added: Trump Empire, Inc, XLV

tariffs today
TACO tomorrow ... in heat
a stray chases its tail 

FYI: Trump Always Chickens Out (TACO), also known as the TACO Trade.

Thursday, July 10, 2025

Clown Tanka

street theatre improv:
in gathering dusk a clown
marches back and forth
jumps up and down, sways left and right
to cast off his shadow


German Translation

Stegreifstraßentheater:
in aufkommender Dämmerung stapft
ein Clown vor und zurück
springt auf und ab, schwingt nach links und rechts
um seinen Schatten loszuwerden 

Wednesday, July 9, 2025

Cocked Rifle Tanka

life is so good
why am I dying for this?
on the hilltop
of the West Bank settlement 
he mutters with a cocked rifle



Note: Ls 1&2 allude to the existential "question -- 'Existence is so good—why am I dying for this?'-- that reflects a sentiment often explored in Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace, particularly in the context of war and the characters' struggles with mortality and the meaning of life. It encapsulates the tension between the inherent value of life and the seemingly pointless sacrifice demanded by war. "


FYI: United Nations Press Release, March 18, 2025Israel ramps up settlement and annexation in West Bank with dire human rights consequences

Haaretz, May 28, 2025: Israeli Cabinet Approves Construction of 22 New Settlements, Some Deep in West Bank

And +972 Magazine, June 19, 2025: With Iran war as pretext, Israel suffocates the West Bank
After striking Tehran, the army closed hundreds of gates to seal Palestinians inside towns and strand them on roads — proof of annexation in all but name.


The following tanka about Israel's genocidal war in Gaza could work as real life foreshadowing of what will happen to the doubting solider on the hilltop of the West Bank settlement:

Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, LX: "suicide deaths"

the lingering smell
of blood-stained body parts
scattered everywhere
another soldier dies
by his own hand, and yet ...


Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, CXI: "two deaths, Palestinian and Israeli"

One War Story and Two Deaths

a head
severed from the body
grits its teeth ...
moonlight luster on the faces 
of young Israeli soldiers 

back from Gaza
Ezra couldn't stop the war
in his head ...
our father holds his shroud tight
as he is being buried



Added: Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, CXCIX: 'white coffin"

the white coffin
a gray-haired man balances 
on one hand ...
a child born after the war started
and buried  before it ends

Tuesday, July 8, 2025

Mountain Pass Haiku

mountain pass --
lost with my old dog
in a skylark's song


German Translation

Bergpaß. --
verloren mit meinem alten Hund
im Lied einer Feldlerche

Sunday, July 6, 2025

Green Beans Haiku

nothing between us
the snap, snapping
of green beans
                                     

Friday, July 4, 2025

July 4th Reflection Tanka

(AddedNo More Fairy Tales, VII
written in response to ABC News, July 9 2025: Texas flooding live updates: 95 dead in Kerr County, at least 110 dead in the state

in a heat haze
blah, blah, blah with fingers
pointing at others ...
beds, comforters, sneakers
and stuffed animals caked in mud


FYI: NBC News, July 9 2025: How a confluence of extreme weather, geography and timing created Texas' flood disaster

Texas leads the country in flood deaths. Steep hills, shallow soils and a fault zone have made Hill Country, also called "flash flood alley," one of the state's most dangerous regions.

And my haiku below could be read as its sequel:

aftermath of floods
the trail of this
unnamed grief



not down in the gutter
nor high in the cirrus clouds ...
at thirty
holding a cubicle job
I stare at the fireworks-lit sky



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:

the staccato 
of July 4th fireworks ...
what's left unsaid


Added:

this ever-growing
wall between who is and isn’t 
deemed worthy
of an American life ...
alone after July 4th fireworks


Added: Trump Empire, Inc, XLIV
written in response to Alligator Alcatraz: Trump's New Migrant "Holding Facility" in Florida
and for Jan. 21, 2029

caged in shadows
Trump and Trump-wannabes
wear jumpsuits
"Alligator Alcatraz: 
Make America Safe Again" [indeed!]


Added: This Brave New World, CXXIII

written in response to Elon Musk's July 5 X post: "Today, the America Party is formed to give you back your freedom"

[New]   America
          a
        rope 
      bridge
    straddles 
the  false  dawn


FYI: Time Magazine, July 6, 2025: Musk Announces New ‘America Party Is Formed,’ Cementing Split From Trump and Republicans

“By a factor of two to one, you want a new political party and you shall have it! When it comes to bankrupting our country with waste and graft, we live in a one-party system, not a democracy,” Musk said via his social media platform, X, on Saturday, a day after Trump signed the bill. “Today, the America Party is formed to give you back your freedom.”

The Tesla CEO had opened a poll on July 4, Independence Day, asking his more than 220 million followers if he should create the new political party. Over 65% of the more than 1.2 million respondents voted “yes.”


Added:

I'm  alone again 
and doomscrolling in bed ..
the summer gets cold
when the day grows old 
on full blast non-stop

Sunday, June 29, 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 28U.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

Saturday, June 28, 2025

Sultry Smell Tanka

the sultry smell
of grilled salmon and shrimp
our shoulders
close, closer to each other
and our wandering hearts, too



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