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

Monday, April 6, 2026

Easter Lily Haiku

Easter lily
a curl at each edge
deepens



Added:

Jesus Wept

war news on mute ...
the sound
of Easter rain

church spire's tip 
piercing through half-sleep
a child's scream

I cry 
no reason, and yet
(this silence)


FYI: The title,  "Jesus Wept" (John 11:35),  is widely recognized as the shortest verse in the English Bible (King James Version and many others).

And this is a sequence to my tanka set below:

What Will Come Next?

in Easter sunshine
a billboard atop the church
proclaims:
Mary, called Magdalene
host to seven devils

Jesus is Risen
drifts from the whitewashed church
on the corner
a middle-aged black man
wears a crown of thorns



Added:

After Easter

slate-gray sky
white, trumpet-shaped blooms
curl inward

church door closed
a fallen petal
cups the last light