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

Monday, August 24, 2026

First Summer Rain Tanka

a child's hand 
outside the car window
to touch
the first summer rain ...
bumper to bumper to Exit



Added:

a midnight moon
glints in the skylight
turning once more
I listen to her breathing
as the night stretches on


Added:

packing
and unpacking my suitcases
for three hours —
this life without my love
yet still within my love


Added:

we all move on
then the story carries us —
still I stand still
at the bend of her street
hearing her door close


Added:

home from vacation
it takes three moonless nights
for my heart and mind
to adjust to living
in a room of my echoes