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

Wednesday, April 16, 2025

Promised Land Tanka

Re-Homing in the Maple Land, XXXVIII

in this promised land
my immigrant life compressed
to hard working 
and light sleeping between jobs ... 
fresh morning in my broken world 



FYI: L5 alludes to the following lines:

...
it is a serious thing

just to be alive
on this fresh morning
in the broken world.
I beg of you...

Mary Oliver, "Invitation," Red Bird, 2009


Added: Re-Homing in the Maple Land, XXXIX

stringing 
and unstringing this old erhu ...
My Hometown
the song I come to sing
remains sung in my heart


Added: 

a riot of colors
in my neighbor's garden
at its edge
Foreclosure tilted 
in breezy sunshine


Added:

a long lineup
at the recycling station
in his cart
empty bottles and cans 
taller than this street kid


Added: Trump Empire, Inc., XXIII

shoulder to shoulder
protesters chant, Not Our King!
holding a giant banner,
Vladimir Putin walks
Donald Trump on a leash


Added:

in his $50,000 
three-bedroom ranch-style rental home
the Richest Man sneers
homeless men? Just drug zombies, 
needles and human feces on the street


FYI: Yahoo! Finance, April 4: Elon Musk sold his seven mansions for more than $100 million and now lives in a $50,000 three-bedroom ranch-style rental home in Boca Chica, Texas

The Independent, Dec. 13, 2024: Elon Musk calls homelessness a ‘lie’ and ‘propaganda’ — and Trump is listening

“Homeless is a misnomer. It implies that someone got a little bit behind on their mortgage, and if you just gave them a job, they’d be back on their feet,” he told former Fox News personality Tucker Carlson in October. “What you actually have are violent drug zombies with dead eyes, and needles and human feces on the street.”

The more money spent combating homelessness, “the worse it gets”, according to Musk.

And Los Angeles Times, April 20Lancaster mayor's remedy for homelessness: 'Free fentanyl' and 'a purge'