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

Sunday, May 31, 2026

Parting Words Tanka

so much of life
grows clearer with the years —
her parting words
yet grit like sand in my mouth
whenever I repeat them



Added: 

newly divorced
I stare at a blue moon
through the skylight—
still her side of our bed
holds the hollow shape


Added:

an alley stray
howling at the blue moon
nostalgia
like a drunken shadow
that dogs my immigrant past


Added:

blue moon rippling …
on the Pacific shore
I wonder:
the life I left behind,
the life I struggle with


Added: 

words fall short 
of what the heart can tell —
yet on my tongue
that first hidden love's name
leaps into the spring air