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

Monday, April 11, 2022

Snowbanks between Neighbours Tanka

Three Hundred and Thirtieth Entry,  Coronavirus Poetry Diary

snowflake on snowflake
on snowbanks between neighbours
how fleeting 
and how endless
a lockdown day can feel



Added: Three Hundred and Thirty-First Entry

ten years later
we meet by chance on a bus
this omicron winter
there are no more masks left
for us to hide behind


Added: Three Hundred and Thirty-Second Entry

spring blizzard
in the world of one color
sound of covid cough

FYI: A covid cough sounds like someone's hacking up a lung. It carries a consistent, rough tone because it doesn't contain mucus. For more, listen to Carleton University's Ingenious Talks: Detecting COVID-19 Through Cough Sounds