Human, All Too Human

heated breaths

and tangled bedsheets

bodies and dreams . . .

the bittersweet burden

of this love affair

 

to Kintsugi Master

I lament, with gold glue

could you piece back

my shattered heart?

a cloak of silence falls

 

chance encounter

at a motel ice machine . . .

with eyes and hands

we undress each other’s armor

curling into a single dream

Ribbons, 22:1, 2026

Law Is King

Trump Empire, Inc, XC

written for No Kings protests

just a dream, and yet ...

the mountain lion roars

to grazing sheep:

once elected as your King

I'll be vegetarian

the peanut-brained man

behind the Resolute Desk

grins to cameras,

just a little excursion...

oily clouds over Tehran

how much bullshit

can come out of one ass-hole

a veteran’s refrain

cracks and booms through iron bars

at the White House gate

the Capitol fence

shadowed against the sky

in twilight chill

lineups snake at the pumps

and at food banks too

chant after chant

of eggflation, fried truth

scrambled justice ...

a mutt's neck sign: I can poop

a better president

FYI: The title alludes to the famous quote from Thomas Paine's 1776 pamphlet, Common Sense: In America, THE LAW IS KING.

NeverEnding Story, March 28 2026

Added: Trump Empire, Inc, XCI

the stacking

of KKK hood, MAGA hat

and ICE cap ...

my beagle takes a dump

it steams the same in the snow

Added:

A 22-foot golden statue of Donald Trump looms at his Florida golf resort. 

from the statue

a flicker of sunlight —

seagulls drop white

FYI: This senryu-inflected gembun is written in response to MS Now, May 11 2026: Trump celebrates unveiling of 22-foot Don Colossus statue at Miami-area golf course

“For more than a year, the golden statue has been at the center of one of the stranger moneymaking ventures of the Trump era,” the New York Times noted. “A group of cryptocurrency investors paid $300,000 to have a sculptor create it as a tribute to Mr. Trump, an outspoken crypto proponent. Then they used it to promote a memecoin called $PATRIOT.”

Added: Politics of Distraction, IV:

An Elegy

Silhouetted against twilight, the façade reads:

"The Donald J. Trump and John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts"

across slabs of vein-streaked marble.

will the past be past?

redbud petals curl inward

this spring equinox

FYI: L1 of the haiku alludes to a famous assertion by William Faulkner:

The past is never dead. It's not even past.

This line, from Requiem for a Nun, resonates with historical context: Faulkner’s work was deeply admired by President John F. Kennedy, who, following Faulkner’s death in 1962, led national tributes stating, "Since Henry James, no writer has left behind such a vast and enduring monument to the strength of American literature."

In the haibun, the literary ghost/Faulkner reference in L1 functions as a structural haunting, bridging the weight of prose with the delicacy of haiku.

In literature, ghosts rarely just haunt—they speak. A "literary ghost" is one such spirit: a text, a phrase, or an idea from the past that refuses to stay buried. Unlike a simple allusion, which nods at another work, a literary ghost inhabits a new piece, creating a spectral presence that shapes meaning, mood, and memory.

Where an allusion informs, a literary ghost haunts. It can transform names, places, or words into conduits of history and memory, making the familiar feel strange, uncanny, and alive.

For more about the use of literary ghosts, see To the Lighthouse: Literary Ghost, A "Specific and Powerful Type of Allusion"

First Bombless Day

Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, CCXXXVIII: "first bombless day"

hometown

once a place of human warmth

and safety

now a pile of stones and dust

where memories crumble

family

once a source of love and help

now whispered names

on trembling lips

with a question, "still alive?"

ruins and ruins ...

under Gaza's smeared sun

childhood memories

scatter like splintered shards

that can’t be fit together

ceasefire deal

once a sunbird singing nonstop

now a mute swan

battling the chilly winds

of hunger and despair

The New Verse News, October 16 2025

Author’s note: The Palestine sunbird pictured above (Cinnyris osea) is a small passerine bird of the sunbird family, Nectariniidae, and in 2015, the Palestinian Authority adopted the species as a national bird. Native to Eurasia but migrating south for the winter, the mute swan (Cygnus olor) is a rare winter visitor to Palestine.

FYI: The New Yorker, Oct. 18, 2025: What Comes After Starvation in Gaza?

This month, a United Nations study published in The Lancet reported that more than fifty-four thousand children are malnourished in Gaza.

For the severely malnourished, simply starting to eat normal meals again can cause sickness—even death.

Added: Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, CCXXXIX: "first bombless night"

canopy of stars

on first bombless night

shards of thoughts

Added: Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, CCXL: "death and life"

Death and Life

I stand closer to you

than I have been in two years 

but there's no hug

no healing..., a mother eulogizes

as the sky roils with dark clouds

the first rays 

of autumn sunset glow

the color 

returning to the face

of a released hostage

Another Day, Another Fight

a long walk home

after my first AA meeting

a neon sign

brings the flavour of beer

to the tip of my tongue

I repeat to myself

a day of sobriety

is wavelike ...

each one comes forward

with its own up and down

all I want

is to drink one beer (or two)

and pat my dog ...

alone at the crosswalk

a traffic light turns yellow

NeverEnding Story, September 21 2025

Added:

flowers wilting

in my front yard garden

a morning breeze

                 lets loose

a petal song for autumn

FYI: It might be interesting to do a comparison reading of the following tanka:

in a world

of green

one branch

burning

into Autumn

NeverEnding Story, September 22, 2017

Kris Lindbeck‏

Added:

a street preacher talks

over a line of pro-choicers --

his arguments

frothy as soapsuds

get big ... and bigger

Added: Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, CCXXIX: "between reality and the vision"

Between Reality and the Vision

Yom Teruah

this Jewish day of blasting ...

from Gaza 

the faint boom, boom, boom

fueling the fire of revenge

a dream, and yet ...

dry bones in Gaza's graves

reshaped

into skeletons, filled out with flesh,

standing on their feet, alive

FYI: Yom Teruah, also known as Rosh Hashanah or the Feast of Trumpets, is a Jewish holiday marking the beginning of the Jewish New Year and the High Holy Days. Its name translates to "day of blasting" or "day of sounding the shofar" (ram's horn). The central element of Yom Teruah is the sounding of the shofar, which consists of 100 blasts during a traditional Rosh Hashanah service. The teruah sound itself can mean an alarm, a signal, or a shout of joy.

Added: Trump Empire, Inc, LVIII

written in response to the Convicted Felon's hourlong "your countries are going to hell" rant

Donald Trump is right

about everything, everything

echoes, echoing ...

in the gathering dark

the psych ward hallway

FYI: CNN News, September 23 2025: Trump’s ‘your countries are going to hell’ UN speech, annotated

Life goes on behind the wall

the Drowning Noise of Other Words, CLXXIV: "wall of indifference"

Life goes on behind the wall

written in response to Haaretz, Opinion, April 9: "This Intolerable Gap Between Jewish Memory and Palestinian Reality" and in memory of 15 executed aid workers

anything new 

on the other side of this wall

of indifference ...

15 aid workers bound

and shot at close range

the young medic 

with a penetrating gaze

at smoke-darkened skies ...

his last phone message: the path

I chose to help people

too much to ask you 

to see Gazans as humans? 

50, 000 deaths

silenced, forgotten, buried

under the weight of daily life

NeverEnding Story, April 10 2025

FYI: Listen to Harrteza's April 8 podcast interview with Nir Hasson: 'I Don't Know of Any IDF Soldier Who Paid a Price for Killing Innocents in Gaza'

Haaretz journalist Nir Hasson has been covering the war in Gaza for months. He has seen so many horrifying acts of war go unpunished and uninvestigated, that he was hardly surprised by the killing of 15 aid workers at the end of March.

Added: Trump Empire, Inc., XX

tariff after tariff ...

another food bank lineup curls

around the corner

Added: Trump Empire, Inc., XXI

the garbage bin 

near the Fiction Section 

of a dollar bookstore

piles on piles of copies 

of Trump: The Art of the Deal

FYI: Yahoo! Finance, Oct. 13, 2020: As a businessman, Donald Trump ran 6 businesses that declared bankruptcy because they couldn’t pay their bills. 

We’re watching Trump’s 7th bankruptcy unfold

And CoinDesk, April 11: Donald Trump's Memecoin Faces Massive $320M Token Unlock Amid Record Low Price, having lost 83% of its value since Jan. 18.

Added: Trump Empire, Inc., XXII

"Kiss my ass!"

he brags, going with his gut 

and the world's forced to go along 

for this roller coaster ride ...

Trump’s 7th bankruptcy unfolds

Added: the Drowning Noise of Other Words, CLXXIV: "Seder and mass grave"

an empty chair

at the Passover Seder

100 miles away

in a mass grave bodies found

in paramedic uniforms

FYI: This tanka could be read as a sequel to the following:

Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, LVII: "Passover"

headlines bleed

into this sunlit suburb

on Passover

chants of Free Hostages

mingle with Free Palestine

NeverEnding Story, April 23 2024 

Against Trumpinator

Trump Empire, Inc., XVII

patho-cracy ...

my ESL teacher whispers

then puts her finger 

to her mouth as USA! chants 

grow sharp and darker outside

wecan'twaitfor 

$5, 000 made-in-USA

iPhones. iPhones now ...

flanked by a spray of flags

red-hattedTrumpists shouting

 

tariffs, a tax cut 

for working Americans

louder from TV

in gathering dark, she mutters

my 401K, now 401

Land of the Crazed --> USA

Canada <-- Home of the Brave

a giant road sign

at the corner near the border

as flocks of geese fly north

in Toronto sunshine

with the scent of early spring

and freedom

two Americans meet and part:

one draft dodger, one Trump evader

Hands Off Rally:

chant after chant of fried truth

eggflation

scrambled justice, poached rights,

cracked democracy... Trump, Fuck Off

NeverEnding Story, April 8 2025

FYI: Trumpinator,  Donald Trump as the Terminator, is a MAGA codeword.

ESL stands for English as a Second Language.

The Polish psychiatrist Andrew Lobaczewski coined this term, "pathocracy," to describe a type of governance by a small pathological minority that takes control over a society. 

And a 401(k) is a retirement savings plan in the US

Note: My translation project, NeverEnding Story:First English-Chinese Bilingual Haiku and Tanka Blog,  reached a new milestone yesterday at midnight:

the HIGEST daily page views, 23, 802

on the windowsill

two bluebirds singing

to each other

I tweet and retweet

"NeverEnding Story" (most-read haiku and tanka poetry blog) 👍

Now, it calls for haiku and tanka submissions. See the guidelines here.

We read to know we're "not alone."

-- The character of C.S. Lewis in William Nicholson's play, "Shadowlands" 

The proper response to a poem is "another poem."

-- Phyllis Webb 

Added: Trump Empire, Inc., XVIII

White House news on mute

shaft after shaft of sunlight

through rainclouds

Added: the Drowning Noise of Other Words, CLXXIII: "15 aid workers executed"

aid workers bound and shot

the s t  r   e  t   c    h of silence

after silence

Added: Trump Empire, Inc., XIX

the stocks rocketing

downward, upward, downward ...

Trump brags, kissing my ass

Something New for a Day Trip, and Yet ...

Trump Empire, Inc., VII

written in response to Time Magazine, March 11: U.S. Is Added to Human Rights Watchlist

It's Trump-Free Zone

not the 51st US state

from New York

my friend trumpets with her eyes closed

face skyward, hands outstretched ...

in Toronto sunshine

with the scent of early spring

and freedom

two Americans meet and part:

one draft dodger, one Trump evader

wave after wave

lapping against the lake shore ...

the blood moon

shapes and re-shapes

our dark reflections

NeverEnding Story, March 17 2025

Note: During the Vietnam War, American "draft dodgers," most of whom were anti-war activists, evaded military service through various means, with some seeking refuge in Canada. And the origin of the name "Toronto" comes from the Huron word toran-ten, which literally means meeting place.

And BuzzFeed, "Jan. 22": Americans Share Why They Chose Canada Over The US

Added: Trump Empire, Inc., VIII

patho-cracy ...

my ESL teacher whispers

then puts her finger 

to her mouth as USA! chants 

grow loud and darker outside

FYI: ESL stands for English as a Second Language. And a pathocracy is “a system of government created by a small pathological minority that takes control over a society" 

For more details, see The Tyee, March 18: Trump and the Politics of Pathology: The strongman catastrophist summons the worst in us. 

Trump is a catastrophist. He wrecks things and then feeds on the pieces. His enablers scavenge the perks and privileges that he dispenses. He is a misanthrope. The conflict and confusion that he creates are purposeful, not incidental. It is a calculated cruelty. And it takes the combination of grievance, vulnerability, and pervasive public ignorance that allows a strongman symbol like Trump to rise to the surface by channelling these feelings into rage and the lust for retribution. It’s not the price of eggs.

Added:

no eye contact ...

a teen up and out of their shopway

this snowy morning

Added:

the beep, beep

of life on the brink

waxing crescent

in the window

of this ICU room

The Longest Yet the Shortest Night

Trump Empire, Inc., III:

once upon a time

Rome was a Republic ...

my teacher laments

gazing at the White House

in the gathering dark

the dumb, no,

dumbest trade war in history ...

with news on mute

I see the MAGA neighbor

piling up boxes of eggs

this storm of thoughts

in my recurring dream

King Trump's head

sliced open with nothing in it

except a wall nut

warm bedside light --

Isaac Asimov flies me

into the Milky Way

to mind-witness the fall

of a galactic empire

NeverEnding Story, March 11 2025

FYI: It might be interesting to do a thematic comparison reading of the first entry of Between Heaven and Hell to reflect on what things have changed over a short period of less than 4 months in Trumperica.

Two Americas

the White House

surrounded by a metal fence 

ten feet high ...

this is America, and yet

the other America

this chilly night

stretching thousands of miles

behind the day

November 6th, the veil thinnest

between Heaven and Hell

Not Going Back

painted in large blue letters

on the billboard

in autumn morning chill

Not crossed out with red paint

raindrops stream

down Lady Liberty's face ...

in my mind's eye

atop the White House roof

the stars & stripes upside-down

NeverEnding Story , November 4, 2024

And The New Yorker, March 8: America’s Founders Feared a Caesar. Has One Arrived?

Julius Caesar pressured the Senate, won popular support by fomenting class warfare, and sported a combover. The constitutional scholar Jeffrey Rosen discusses the parallels.

The Washington Roundtable speaks with Jeffrey Rosen, the president and C.E.O. of the National Constitution Center, a nonpartisan nonprofit, about how America’s Founders tried to tyrant-proof their constitutional system, how Donald Trump’s whim-based decision-making resembles that of the dictator Julius Caesar, and what we can learn from the fall of the Roman Republic. Plus, how the Supreme Court is responding to the Trump Administration’s broad claims of executive power.

Added: Trump Empire, Inc., IV

in morning chill

to the clicking of cameras 

MAGA, MAGA ...

row upon rows of migrants

with hands and feet shackled

FYI: Time Magazine, March 11: U.S. Is Added to Human Rights Watchlist

Added: Trump Empire, Inc., V

plunge after plunge

the stock market bleeding ...

to reporters

red-eyed King Trump shouts,

shut up about egg prices

FYI: USA Today, March 9: Don't worry about eggs or a Trump recession. The billionaires will be just fine.

And Al Jazeera, March 11: ‘Bloodbath’: US stock market sheds $1.75tn after Trump’s recession remarks

Tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 plunges 3.81 percent, its steepest single-day loss since September 2022.

Added: Trump Empire, Inc., VI

King Trump's meaty smile ...

phalanx after phalanx

of red-hatted men

chanting, tariffs are a tax cut

Make America Great Again

FYI: King Trump's mouthpiece, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, claimed on March 11, "Tariffs are a tax cut for the American people....”

Added: Re-Homing in the Maple Land, XXXVII

the wind blows away 

what a homeless family

left behind ...

footprint after footprint

in the snow-covered park 

Added: Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, CLXVI: "military watch"

burning olive groves ...

the weight of thick gray and black

blanketing

over the West Bank families

under military watch

God, Rid Me of God

slanted sunlight

through stained glass windows

as I pray hard ...

finally tired of me

Time leaves me alone

jab by jab

right hook after left hook

at its head

I shadowbox with God

in my last Bible study

unshackled

from my childhood beliefs

I'm a passing thought

in the mind of God

who forsook his son on the cross

tired and alone

in the sunlit pew in a church

by the roadside ...

for hours my heart-to-heart

with the Angel of Silence

NeverEnding Story, February 21 2025

FYI: The title is a paraphrase of German theologian, philosopher and mystic Meister Eckhart's prayer.

Added:

I find church boring ...

my Christian friend responds

in dappled shadow

his tough-as-nails-on-the-Cross

account of fighting cancer

Added: On the Brink of Trumperica, XV

Living in the Land of Promise

just a dream, and yet ...

the mountain lion roaring

to flocks of sheep,

once elected as your King

I'll be vegetarian

a dictator

on his "first day only" ...

in misty dark

the ghost of tomorrow whispers

Trump Forever, Trump Forever

the people of Trump

                  by the people of Musk

                  for the people of the SuperRich ...

sun-bleached stars and stripes

atop the Capitol fencing

surge after surge

of woke mind virus ...

wearing a crown

the Convicted Felon alone

in an Oval Office window

FYI: The Telegraph, Feb., 7: Let’s celebrate: Donald Trump is vaccinating the West against the woke mind virus

Whether it’s gender ideology or border control, the president has torn through years of bizarre, divisive groupthink in a matter of weeks

Rolling Stone, Feb. 19: Trump on Himself: 'LONG LIVE THE KING'

The White House’s official X account also shared an image of a fake cover of Time magazine depicting Trump in a golden crown, with the headline “LONG LIVE THE KING.” 

And ‘woke’ just means you give a damn about other people...We must stay in community. We must help the vulnerable. We must find ways to project an inspiring vision of the future

Jane Fonda, Feb. 23, 31st Screen Actors Guild Awards speech

Added:

one inch less 

of sunlight

winter solitude

Day One Promises

On the Brink of Trumperica, II

written in response to USA Today, Jan.19: "Shock and awe": Trump plans 100 immediate executive actions. 

Day One Promises

police boats

meander through slabs of ice

atop the river ...

thousands of tons of steel

encircle the National Mall

the downward tilt

of his chin and forehead

and the knitted eyebrows ...

Convicted Felon's official portrait

[l]awfully like his mug shot

the greatest 

political movement of all time ...

to the cameras

he proclaims with his meaty smile 

as the night turns icy cold 

a dictator

on his "first day only" ...

in misty dark

the ghost of tomorrow whispers 

Trump Forever, Trump Forever

NeverEnding Story, January 20 2025

FYI: Rolling Stone, Oct. 6 2024: Trump Reiterates He Wants to Be a "Dictator" for "One Day" at Wisconsin Rally

And Bloomberg, July 29, 2024: Believe Trump When He Says He Won’t Give Up Power

The former president has floated the idea of remaining beyond another term too often and praised too many dictators to dismiss his conjecture as hyperbole.

Donald Trump revisited one of his favorite mantras on Friday night: He would like to be president for life.

“Christians, get out and vote, just this time. You won’t have to do it anymore,” he told a religious group at a Florida event. “You got to get out and vote. In four years, you don’t have to vote again. We’ll have it fixed so good, you’re not going to have to vote.”

Added: On the Brink of Trumperica, III

jab after jab

at America's decline

under Sleepy Joe ...

all these "I will" 's  dripping 

from the Convicted Felon's mouth

Added: On the Brink of Trumperica, IV

tech titans

dog Trump from Mar-a-Lago

to the Rotunda

and lay laurels at his feet ...

another arctic blast

FYI: Vox, Jan. 20: The broligarchs have a vision for the new Trump term. It’s darker than you think.

For the tech bros — or as some say, the broligarchs — this is about much more than just maintaining and growing their riches. It’s about ideology. An ideology inspired by science fiction and fantasy. An ideology that says they are supermen, and supermen should not be subject to rules, because they’re doing something incredibly important: remaking the world in their image.

It’s this ideology that makes MAGA a godsend for the broligarchs, who include Musk, Zuck, and Bezos as well as the venture capitalists Peter Thiel and Marc Andreessen. That’s because MAGA is all about granting unchecked power to the powerful.

“It’s a sense of complete impunity — including impunity to the laws of nature,” Brooke Harrington, a professor of economic sociology at Dartmouth College who studies the behavior of the ultra-rich, told me. “They reject constraint in all of its forms.”

Added: On the Brink of Trumperica, V

written in response to Convicted Felon Donald Trump's proclamation: "On Day One, I will launch the largest deportation program in American history."

detention camp in shadow ...

between the guard and holding cells

dialects of silence

FYI: The New Yorks, Jan. 18: Support for Trump’s Policies Exceeds Support for Trump

A new poll found the public is sympathetic to the president-elect’s plans to deport migrants and reduce America’s presence overseas.

And Huffpost, Jan.22: Donald Trump Has Middle-Of-The-Night Meltdown Over Pastor’s ‘Nasty’ Sermon About Him

On Tuesday, Reverend Mariann Edgar Budde, the Episcopal bishop of Washington, addressed the President directly in a homily at the Washington National Cathedral, asking him to show compassion for immigrants, members of the L.G.B.T.Q. community, and others, noting, “We were all once strangers in this land.” Today, Trump demanded an apology, calling her “nasty in tone, and not compelling or smart.”

Trump then peddled his usual anti-immigrant rhetoric, adding: “She failed to mention the large number of illegal migrants that came into our Country and killed people. Many were deposited from jails and mental institutions. It is a giant crime wave that is taking place in the USA.”

Added: On the Brink of Trumperica, VI

American dream

somewhere over the rainbow

detention camps

Added: On the Brink of Trumperica, VI

the Stars and Stripes

in my migrant friend's wrinkled eyes 

the spring that wasn't

Added: On the Brink of Trumperica, VII

drill, baby, drill ...

a stray barking at its echo

as the blizzard blasts the South

FYI: FOX Weather, Jan. 22: Blizzard blasts Gulf Coast paralyzing communities with record-breaking snow from Texas to Florida to Carolinas

A powerful and rare winter storm swept across the South on Tuesday, bringing the first-ever Blizzard Warning to the Gulf Coast and blasting communities from Texas to Florida to the Carolinas with record-shattering snow that snarled travel and brought daily life to a halt.

And CNN, Jan.22: At least 9 reported dead in brutal cold as historic snow falls in once-in-a-generation storm in the South

Land of the Un/Free

Between Heaven and Hell, IX

my body, my choice 

penetrating the distant chants

of U-S-A!

I gaze at Lady Liberty’s

forward-facing charge

to the clicking

of cameras in a row

the Convicted Felon

proclaims, I will protect

the women ... like it or not

ka-kis-to-cracy ...

my English teacher's voice

quivering

as U-S-A! chants get louder

from the crowd outside the school

in morning chill

a youth gazes at the billboard

dripping red:

your body, My choice painted

over my body, my choice

NeverEnding Story, November 22 2024

FYI: The first part of kakistocracy comes from the Greek kákisto(s), meaning “worst.” Therefore, kakistocracy means “government by the WORST.” 

The New Yorker, Nov.14: A New Rallying Cry for the Irony-Poisoned Right: It took less than twenty-four hours after Trump’s reëlection for young men to take up a slogan that could define the coming era of gendered regression: “Your body, my choice.” 

And PBS, Oct.31: Trump: I will 'protect the women' ... 'like it or not'

Added: This Brave New World, CXVII

6M-dollar worth

of one banana duct-taped

to the gallery wall

the rift between the Gilded-rich

and the Working-poor un/seen ...

FYI: BBC News, Nov. 21: Duct-taped banana artwork sells for $6.2m in NYC. 

And L4 refers to the Gilded Age, from 1870s to 1900 in American history. The term was coined by Mark Twain and was used to describe an age characterized by corruption, but covered over with gold. 

The slogan of the Gilded Age: Get rich, dishonestly if we can, honestly if we must.

Added: No More Fairy Tales, XXXVIII

raven shadow

after raven shadow

COP29

opens and closes as the banner

Climate Change, frays at its edges

FYI: Primarily living in semi-deserts and deserts, but now more and more "brown-necked ravens" (larger birds, 52–56 cm in length) are found in the urban area of Baku, Azerbaijan.

FYI: Primarily living in semi-deserts and deserts, but now more and more "brown-necked ravens" (larger birds, 52–56 cm in length) are found in the urban area of Baku, Azerbaijan.

GlobalIssues, Nov.26: Why COP29 Baku Outcome is a Bad Deal for Poor, Vulnerable Nations

The promise of a USD 1.3 trillion of climate finance in line with what developing countries wanted rings hollow, for the text does not lay out the road map for how the funds are to be raised, postponing the issue to 2025. Even more concerning, Baku seems to have set things in motion for wealthy nations to distance themselves from their financial responsibility to vulnerable nations in the jaws of a vicious climate crisis.

And The Nation, Nov.27: The “Worst COP” Concludes With a “Heartbreaking” Climate-Finance Deal

Activists say the climate agreement effectively signed away the 1.5-degree Celsius target—”our only real chance to safeguard humanity’s future.”

A Makeover

oh, you speak well

where are you really from?

behind the fence

my neighbor, a native speaker

of the weasel language 

this dream loop,

a moment in Taipei

then next in Ajax ...

mental quicksand where

the past drowns the present

another round

of armed conflict in the news

as a new year starts

I ponder the endings

in my immigrant life

Ribbons, 20:2, Autumn/Winter 2024

Imagine

surge upon surge

of this sultry loneliness 

washing ove me ...

quiet in a seaside room

one night before the deadline

the blank page

staring at me for hours ...

this drunken night

I glimpse the nude muse

rising from a sea of words

the muse and I

mouth on mouth, legs tangled with legs

become a single dream:

my book in the front window

at Barnes & Noble

NeverEnding Story, July 22 2024

FYI: Barnes & Noble is the largest individual bookstore in the world measured by square footage.

Added: Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, LXXX: "wall of apartheid"

apartheid wall

only so far a child's eyes

can see beyond [his world]

FYI Israel describes the wall as a necessary security barrier against Palestinian political violence; whereas Palestinians describe it as an element of racial segregation and a representation of Israeli apartheid, who often call it "Wall of Apartheid".

And Human Rights Watch, July 19, 2024: World Court Finds Israel Responsible for Apartheid

The following quote can be attributed to Tirana Hassan, Human Rights Watch Executive Director:

"In a historic ruling the International Court of Justice has found multiple and serious international law violations by Israel towards Palestinians in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including, for the first time, finding Israel responsible for apartheid. The court has placed responsibility with all states and the United Nations to end these violations of international law. The ruling should be yet another wake up call for the United States to end its egregious policy of defending Israel’s oppression of Palestinians and prompt a thorough reassessment in other countries as well."

Added: Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, LXXXI: "Gaza's rubble"

to Kamala Harris, 2024 Democratic presidential candidate

what can be

unburdened by what has been

this soundbite 

becomes cheap and louder ...

a hand out of Gaza's rubble

FYI: "What can be, unburdened by what has been" is a quote popularized and primarily used by Kamala Harris, the current vice president of the United States and 2024 Democratic presidential candidate. A supercut of Harris repeating the quote was first shared by the Republican National Committee on social media platform X, on April 30, 2023, after which it became viral (Wikipedia, "What can be, unburdened by what has been")

Added: Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, LXXXII: "war criminal"

written in response to Netanyahu's Congress speech

a state of dis/union:

pumping his fist in the air

the war criminal

opens, closes, opens... his mouth

to Congress for an hour

FYI: The Nation, July 25: Netanyahu’s Theater of the Grotesque

Mostly, though, the speech was notable for its lies. Netanyahu lied openly about his army’s ethics and conduct. He lied about starving civilians. He lied about the number of people he has killed. He lied about the antisemitism of American protesters. His only moment of deliberate truth-telling came when he declared his debt to his literal partner in crime, Joe Biden.

Added: Re-Homing in the Maple Land, XXIII

shouts from the beach,

go back where you came from ...

bubbles of memory

pop to the surface

of my immigrant life

FYI: This could be read as a prequel to my tanka below"

a kid trying

to kick sea foam back

where it came from

I remember the first time

a white man yelled at me

Runner-Up, Tanka Section, 2016 British Haiku Society Awards

Added: No More Fairy Tales, XXX

written in response to Jasper wildfires

smoky twilight

this wall

of fast-moving flame

Added: No More Fairy Tales, XXXI

sultry night alone

the long note

of a wildfire siren

The Last Years of My Father's Life

in memory of my father who was born in mainland China, lived most of his adult life in Taiwan, died and was buried there in 2022

alone again

in the gathering dark

my father tries

to use his hammer of anger

to break walls of dementia

quiet and quieter

and unable to walk

on his own --

my father's years-long

marathon with dementia

in fading light

on Taiwan's north coast

I finger-write

my father's name in the sand

and watch it wash away

NeverEnding Story, June 16 2024

Added:

snowflakes drift

from silence to silence

weight of Father's urn

Added:Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, LXIX: "ruins"

written on Father's Day

an old man's stare

late night lightning connects

heaven and Gaza's ruins

Mother and Father

the urge to look at

and to look away from him

scolding his boy

near the candy shelf ... this flushed face

of my six-year-old self

calling from Taiwan

my mother cries, laughs and cries ...

peeling back

layers of memories

about my stubborn childhood

waking yet not quite ...

in the dawnlight through the gap

between curtains

mother holds my six-year-old self

as father fades into darkness

The Bamboo Hut,1, 2024

The Smell of Home

I stop father 

from taking the sixth bun

for breakfast--

their scent like the ones

his mother made long ago

Dad, I'm Chen-ou ...

he runs his fingers again

through his white hair

as though puzzled

by an ungraspable thought

what kind of life

is our father living now?

my brother replies,

last Sunday after eating buns

Father said, Mmm, boy! Good!

The Bamboo Hut,1, 2024

This Winter of Discontent

my blind date mutters

before eating anything

oh, you're a writer ...

a flotilla of sushi boats

floating round and round

half asleep

I listen to the beating sound

inside my chest

and yet the voice in my head

whispers, you're a failed writer

what if I were rich?

her parting words linger

in the cold air,

my mind was in love

but not my body

The Bamboo Hut,1, 2024

FYI: Wooden sushi boats, shaped like Japanese wasens, are a traditional and elegant way to serve sushi in a Japanese-owned, upscale restaurant.  

Normal Life, A Soap Bubble

my friend turns forty

the age his father died

he mutters

the Grim Reaper haunts me

like my walking shadow

breaking news

at the first light of spring dawn

my friend's stooped back

bends a little further

from grief after grief

thick foggy air

with no sun visible

my friend murmurs

how many mornings are left

for me with something new

my friend dies

alone in his attic room

but the shade of death

has been always on his mind

since his mother hung herself

NeverEnding Story, May 5 2024

Added: Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, LXI: "aid worker"

please bury me

with no casket, no prayers

face down, away

from this shrapnel-filled world:

the note in an aid worker's hand

Added: Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, LXII: "Holocaust Remembrance Day "

written in response to Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day, evening of Sunday, May 5, 2024 – Monday, May 6, 2024, observed by  the State of Israel and many Jews around the world)

And inspired by the following remark by Marek Edelman, the deputy commander of the "Warsaw Ghetto" Uprising and the only leader to survive the war

To be a JEW means always being with the Oppressed and never the oppressors.

a standstill

for two minutes in Israel ...

fifty miles away

fighter jet after fighter jet

silencing everything below 

FYI: This is a sequel to my tanka below:

for Phil Chernofsky, author of And Every Single One Was Someone ("Holocaust Told in One Word, 6 Million Times," Jodi Rudoren's review)

line upon line

page after page

the word

Jew

six million times

NeverEnding Story, January 27, 2014

And in contrast with the following entry:

Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, XI: "Holocaust"

written on International Holocaust Remembrance Day

in response to UN top court's/ICJ's genocide case against Israel ruling

and for Jewish Israelis 

Aftermath

blot out Amalek ...

clutching his bible a rabbi 

lost in thought 

Holocaust Remembrance

Together We Will Win

[peace... peace only]

candlelight virgil

a tattooed survivor holds

a Stop the War sign

NeverEnding Story, January 27, 2024

And The Nation, May 7: Biden Must Condemn Israel’s Attack on Al Jazeera—Now

Benjamin Netanyahu’s government shut down the network’s operations in Israel. Press freedom advocates are raising an outcry, and Americans should back them up.

Netanyahu’s decision—which came just two days after World Press Freedom Day—has been condemned by the leading Israeli newspaper Haaretz (“Israel Must Not Shut Down Al Jazeera”) 

Middle East historian Assal Rad posted images from Rafah with the message, “This is why Israel is shutting down Al Jazeera. They don’t want us to see what they’re going to do in Rafah, the last refuge for Palestinians in Gaza,” while former Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis said, “Israel’s banning of Al Jazeera is one aspect of its War On Truth. It aims at preventing Israelis from knowing what goes on in Gaza.”