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

Tuesday, September 1, 2026

Transient Glow Tanka

response to Thomas Mann: A writer is somebody for whom writing is more difficult than it is for other people


a transient glow
before another sunrise
the cursor blinking
while I'm alone with a mind
and its windows are closed



FYI: Ls 1&2 refer to a "false dawn," a transient light that precedes the rising of the sun by about an hour.


Added: 

My fingers click-clacking — hail against the window.

what's left unsaid
between words and lines ...
alone at false dawn


Added: response to Richard Bach: A professional writer is an amateur who didn’t QUIT. 😎 

robins chirp
to a faint glow in the sky —
carving out
showy verbs and fatty nouns
I hold the poem's bare bones