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

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