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

Friday, December 5, 2025

Trade War News Haiku

trade war news
a spiderweb on the eaves
sagging with raindrops

Prize Winner, 27th Haiku International Association/HIA Haiku Contest


Judge's Commentary: The first line is clearly topical, a concern of the moment, while what follows is natural, observed. The spider’s web is, I imagine, on the eaves outside the poet’s house, where the heavy raindrops gather and threaten to destroy it. The web is the spider’s lair and means of existence, yet one that may soon give way. Our lives too are delicately wrought, and may be easily disrupted. In the meantime we can admire the light refracted in the glittering raindrops, before they fall. I note the syllable count of 3-7-5.