July First Tanka

the Maple Leaf

billows on July First …

the added hyphen

weighted with ancestral names

before Canadian

NeverEnding Story, July 1 2026

Re-Homing?

During his much-anticipated debut appearance on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, the Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, bantered with the host throughout most of the interview. Answering trivial questions Americans might have for Canadians, he got canned laughter and applause as he tried to set Canada apart from the U.S. His host prompted, "But I don't know everything I should know about Canada. Imagine I come from a country that think mostly about themselves. I hear really good things about Canada, then sell me."

The Prime Minister's response was typical at first. "Canada is the best country in the world, has beautiful mountains, rivers, lakes, ...Oh, and Canada has three coasts: east, west and the Arctic." Then he paused for a moment with his media-trained smile and continued to emphasize Canadian uniqueness. "The thing is, everyone focuses on the land, but really, Canada is about the people. It’s a range of people from every possible background who come together and -- a little different from the melting pot in the United States where everyone gets to be American -- we try to celebrate differences, and people keep their cultures and keep their languages."

I turn off the TV and go to bed, but I cannot sleep and stare through a hole in the attic roof at a dreamless sky. The Prime Minister's photogenic smile and lofty words keep hovering my mind, recalling his 2015 campaign slogan: "My friends, sunny way, sunny way! Real change is on the way."

stuck in traffic

as lines of protesters chant

"no more immigrants" ...

I wonder if beside my name

the hidden asterisk re-emerges

during lunch break

I drink another cup of coffee

dark and bitter ...

behind my back coworkers mimic

"you're flawed not a fraud"

streaks of crimson

swallowed by the night sky ...

the cries of snow geese

again rewilding

my immigrant heart

contemporary haibun online, 20:3, 2024

FYI: Chinese Mandarin speakers often have a tough time learning l's and r's later in life.

CN Tower and Immigrant Past Tanka

CN Tower

hidden in fog and rain ...

all that remains

of my immigrant past

now just a blur 

Revision, Cold Moon Journal September 6, 2023

FYI: The CN Tower  in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, stands as the tenth-tallest free-standing structure on land, and it remains the tallest free-standing structure in the Western Hemisphere, and is the third-tallest tower.

That's It

Canada Day

through wildfire smoke

the squawk of gulls

fireworks over ...

the distance between stars

and our silence 

NeverEnding Story, July 1 2023

FYI: CNBC, Climate, June 30: Four North American cities now near worst air quality in the world

Key Points:

1 New York; Washington, D.C.; Montreal; and Toronto have some of the worst air quality in the world, according to an AQI tracking service.

2 Canadian wildfires have sent smoky air around much of North America over the last few weeks.

3 The effect of the wildfires has been significantly worsened by climate change, researchers have found.

Added: reading between the lives and writing between the lines, LXX

firework-lit sky

my veteran friend sleeps 

with a gun

Added: reading between the lives and writing between the lines, LXXI

our football team

lines up for O' Canada

in the center

a Black player looks up

at the sky, endless blue

Added: This Brave New World, XCII

a rowdy white man

held face down on the airport floor

by policemen

he screams, you’re treating me

like a fucking black person

These Endless Climate "Talks" Tanka

No More Fairy Tales, III

written to this "ridiculously photogenic" Talker, Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada, the fourth most polluting country per capita in 2022, a country of gas-guzzling car enthusiasts.

COP 1, 2, 3 ...

these endless climate talks 

like crows' caw-caw-caw --

between Canada's plan and action

this Nunavut-sized gap

NeverEnding Story, November 6 2022

FYI: Top 5 most polluting countries per capita in 2022: Qatar, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Canada, and the United States of America. And Latest Canada’s Changing Climate Report, 2019

Canada is warming on average at a rate twice as fast as the rest of the world, a new scientific report indicates...Canada's Arctic has seen the deepest impact and will continue to warm at more than double the global rate.

And The Tyee, May 23, 2019: Canada’s Cars Are World’s Worst Gas Guzzlers

A recent report by the International Energy Agency shows that Canada’s vehicles have the highest average fuel consumption and carbon dioxide emissions per kilometre driven. They are also the largest and the second heaviest in the world...

And CBC News, Nov. 14: Canada gets low marks for its efforts to tackle climate change in the new Climate Change Performance Index presented at COP27, scoring 58th out of 63 countries evaluated.

But the federal government says they’re starting to make changes to improve the country’s standing.

And CBC News, Nov. 16: The Arctic community, Tuktoyaktuk, Northwest Territories, Canada, falling into the ocean 

The Arctic hamlet of Tuktoyaktuk, N.W.T., is collapsing into the ocean as it loses up to a metre of coastline each year. The people who live there are in a race against time to preserve their way of life — and their community — before it is washed away.

Powerful storm waves and thawing permafrost causing erosion are collapsing Tuk’s coastline by about one metre each year.

The hamlet of about 1,000 people, mostly Inuvialuit, are in a race against time to preserve their way of life — and their community — before it is washed away.

In about 50 years time, “the health care centre, the college and even half of the cemetery will be gone,” said Whalen, unless there’s physical intervention.

And For my poetic responses to COP26, see my "Special Feature" post, "Haiku and Tanka Selected for the COP26 Summit)

Hongkongers Forever and Canada Day Tanka

This Brave New World, XLVI

written on Canada Day, July 1 also marking 25 years since Hong Kong was handed back from British to Chinese rule in 1997

the one-way flights

of Hongkongers forever ...

"freedom" protesters

snake-marching through downtown

on Canada Day

NeverEnding Story, July 1 2022 

FYI: A series of protests and blockades in Canada against Covid-19 vaccine mandates and restrictions, called the "Freedom Convoy" by organizers, began in early 2022. Now, residents of downtown Ottawa are bracing for the Canada Day protest by "Freedom Convoy" supporters.

And this tanka is a sequel to my haibun below:

I am a Canadian

"I will not sit down. I will not shut up. I will not comply. I want my country back. The True North strong and free ..." sticking his head out of the window, a trucker chants while driving down the street to Parliament Hill. 

Between the intersection transformed into a mosh pit and Parliament buildings plastered with "no more vax pass," "fake news," and “the Great Resist” signs, a white man holds up a giant maple flag. He calls out to a convey of trucks streaming down the street, "Freedom, Canada United."

Under the slate-grey sky, downtown Ottawa echoes loudly with chants and slogans steeped in the language of the American Revolution. The GoFundMe page for freedom convoy truckers is showered with right-wing American donations.

Golden Arches 

in the storefront window

a homeless teen

a high-rise shadow

on the cardboard shelter

omicron winter

Cattails, April 2022

Added: This Brave New World, XLVII

written on Canada Day

"freedom" protesters

wrapped in Canadian flags ...

a stray dog

scrawling its graffit-wee

on a sidewalk maple tree

FYI: The New York Times, July 1: Did the ‘Freedom Convoy’ Change the Meaning of Canada’s Flag? On Canada Day, some citizens were wary of raising the national flag, now also associated with weeks of protests against pandemic mandates.

...a sea of red-and-white Canadian flags rippling in the winter wind during this year’s protests against the federal government and pandemic mandates, known to some as the “Freedom Convoy.”

Is that flag a symbol of protest or of unity?

Added: 

"freedom convoy" protest --

wandering strays stop to piss

on a wall

FYI: Rabble.ca June 30: Ottawa prepares for freedom-convoy-style protest this Canada Day weekend: With anti-COVID mandate protesters marching into Ottawa, police, government officials, and residents fear a repeat of February’s violent occupation of the city. And Politico, Feb. 6  : Ottawa truckers' freedom convoy galvanizes far-right worldwide.

"Freedom" Truckers Tanka

Three Hundred and Fifteenth Entry, Coronavirus Poetry Diary

written in response to Politico, Feb. 6 news : Ottawa truckers' freedom convoy galvanizes far-right worldwide: Leading Republicans, right-wing influencers and white supremacist groups have jumped at the chance to promote the standoff in Ottawa to a global audience.

"freedom" truckers 

steeped in TrumpTalk

echo slogans  --

arms linked, young women chant

make Canada boring again!

FYI: FYI: What started as a rally of Canadian truckers angry at cross-border vaccine mandates has fast become a magnet for far-right grievances around the world (Politico, Feb. 6 news). And for more, see The New York Times, Feb 15 news: "Emergency Law Invoked As Canadians Mull Identity"

Added: Three Hundred and Sixteenth Entry, Coronavirus Poetry Diary

long Covid

the smoker's voice rasps

everything’s just fine

NeverEnding Story, February 16 2022

Canada Day Reckoning Tanka

This Brave New World, XIV, written on Canada Day (of reckoning)

red and white coloring

turns into a stream of orange

on Parliament Hill 

the gray-haired Elders chanting

every child matters

NeverEnding Story, July 1 2021

FYI: L1 refers to the colors of the Canadian flag while "orange" in L2 is the color of the protesters' shorts (FYI: Orange represents the color of the indigenous peoples in Canada because of Orange Shirt Day, also known as the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation)

Canada Day Reflection Haiku

This Brave New World, XIII

more unmarked graves found ...

the Peace Tower flag at half-mast

on Canada Day

NeverEnding Story, July 1 2021

FYI: The Peace Tower is a focal bell and clock tower on the central axis of the Centre Block of the Canadian parliament buildings in Ottawa, Ontario. 

The Point of No Return

On the day of my emigration to Canada, a land of maple leaves and snowflakes that will eventually bury my past.

a parting

of summer clouds

mother

lets go of my hand

. . . and of my heart

Ribbons, 16:1, Winter 2020

O Canada Tanka

written on Canada Day for new Canadians

breezy sunlight
floods the ceremony room
each new citizen
singing O Canada
in a different tone

NeverEnding Story, July 1 2020

Note: The following is a prequel to the tanka above:

for naturalized Canadians

a giant Maple Leaf
in the ceremony
I answer
to my English name
with a twinge of sadness

Atlas Poetica, 21, 2015

Used to Be Tanka

an immigrant
talks nonstop on the bus ...
to Canadian ears
is there any difference
between his used to be and mine

Skylark, 7:1, Summer 2019

Butterfly Kites Tanka

laughter
chasing laughter
on Canada Day
butterfly kites
color the sky

Atlas Poetica, 37, 2019

Selected Tanka: Roommate Tanka

my roommate
used to sing himself to sleep
with Chinese songs . . .
on this sultry night
his O Canada thunders

Atlas Poetica, 25, 2016

Selected Tanka: Ilha Formosa Tanka

a shingled house
this small patch of Canada
to which I lay claim --
in a corner of my mind
Ilha Formosa echoes

Skylark 3:1, Summer 2015

Note: In 1544, a Portuguese ship sighted the main island of Taiwan and named it "Ilha Formosa," which means “Beautiful Island.”

Canada 150

false dawn
a demonstration teepee
on Parliament Hill

ice cream clouds
"O Canada! Our home ..."
in many tongues

rainbow fireworks
refugees in the shadow
of the Peace Tower

NeverEnding Story, July 1, 2017

Note: "The Peace Tower, also known as the Tower of Victory and Peace, is a focal bell and clock tower sitting on the central axis of the Centre Block of the Canadian parliament buildings in Ottawa, the capital city of Canada."

Immigration Haiku Set

[North] American literature has always been immigrant.
-- Salman Rushdie


the Kodak smile
of a new immigrant
first snowflakes

misty Canada Day
three immigrant children
build a sandcastle

NeverEnding Story, November 3, 2014

A Haiku about Dementia

long time passing
echoes down the hallway . . .
dementia ward

Haiku Canada Review, 8:1, Feb. 2014

Canadian Experience (Tanka Sequence)

piece by piece
I packed 40 years of life
into 60 boxes
once in Canada
they fill an Ajax attic

the crescent moon
shines over Ajax
my nostalgia
hangs
on its lower tip

my sleepless eyes
peeking through the blinds
massage
the moonlit lane
under autumn nights

time is signed
on the debris
of memories—
morning in Ajax
I live Taipei’s nightlife

your sunny face
smiling at me
in my drink—
like Ho Yi
I take nine shots

(Note: Ho Yi, a legendary Chinese hero, comes to earth to shoot down nine of the ten suns that are burning up the earth at the same time)

the autumn moon
over Ajax rooftops
hangs also above
Taiwan's fields—
rice grains falling

I met her
in an airport
we talked openly
as if we'd been stranded
on an desert island

Taiwan was safe
in my heart
years later I opened it
over the Pacific –
a worn map

on a moonless night
as I left for Canada
you gave me oranges
every now and again
Taiwan orange hangs in the sky

Canadian dream
locks me in the attic
even during the day . . .
no good time for sex
because I sleep with winter

my little brother
stands at full attention
for the first time—
no Canadian experience
needed when writing poems 
(Note: In Canada, every new immigrant knows what the term "Canadian Experience" means for them. The discrimination against foreign sources of human capital places immigrants at a considerable disadvantage in the labour market. No Canadian experience, no job; no job, no Canadian experience)

when being shouted at
go back where you came from
the gray wings
of the Canada goose
skim my heart

side by side
our dictionaries
French-English
and Chinese-English—
exchange of solitudes

bathed in sunshine
outside a laundry store
in Ajax, I smell
the scent of clothes
on wash lines in Taipei

Atlas Poetica, #5