Dusty Attic Box Haiku

dusty attic box

each of these love letters marked

return to sender

Haiku Avenue, 8, 2025

Land of the Free

early leaf fall ...

I drift where the thoughts

of my exile life

take me today [ten years

and an ocean apart]

in dim light

I'm just a temp in the attic

waiting alone

for another gig ...

chants from afar of USA!

The Bamboo Hut, September 2024

Shoebox of Dreams Tanka

rusty pins

all over the map

on the wall --

under my attic bed

a shoebox of dreams

the art of tanka, 2, 2024

Dusty Corner Tanka

tucked away

in the dusty corner

of my attic

boxes of I used to be

before immigration

Eye to Eye: The Tanka Society of America Members’ Anthology, 2023

This What-If World Haiku

to stay or to go ...

alone in this what-if world

of my attic room

NeverEnding Story, February 4 2023

Added:

missile attack

after missile attack 

in the winter dark

an old couple phone-scrolling

through a cacophony of news

Added:

the full moon between

bars of a cellar window

boom, boom, boom ...

Woman's Face Haiku

a woman's face

in the attic window

Kabul traffic 

Stratified Layers: Haiku Canada Members’ Anthology, 2022

Moon Festival and Silence Tanka

an ocean away

from the land of my birth

this moon festival

I open my bedroom window

to let out the silence

PoemHunter, September 20 2021

Attic Wall and Stars Senryu

shelter in place

a hole in the attic wall

fills with stars

Failed Haiku, 6:66,  June 2021 

Alone with a Fly Kyoka

shelter in place ...

alone in the attic room
with a fly
banging itself restlessly
against the sunlit window

Prune Juice, 32, 2020

Covid-19 Heat Map and The Scream Haiku

to Edvard Munch

Covid-19 heat map

face to face with The Scream

on the attic wall

Plum Blossom

Attic and Silent Night Tanka

this attic
I’ve lived in for ten years
silent now
the night and I
grow older and darker

Atlas Poetica, 40, 2020

Leash Tanka

my dog knows
the length of his leash ...
yet I envision
my rented attic room
with a fifth corner for dreams

Gusts, 31, Spring/Summer 2020

Shadow and Echo Tanka

Seventy-Seventh Entry, Coronavirus Poetry Diary

quarantined
for two more weeks
in the attic
we're all alone together:
me, my shadow and my echo

PoemHunter. June 10 2020

Opening Up America Again Haiku

Thirty-Fourth Entry, Coronavirus Poetry Diary 

Opening Up America Again

the size of this billboard

seen from my attic window

PoemHunter, April 21 2020

Note: This haiku is a sequel to the thirty-third entry written in response to CBC News: Trump tweets support for 'responsible' protesters

END the LOCKDOWN ...

protesters choke the streets

with their cars 

blocking ambulances 

from reaching the hospital

PoemHunter, April 18 2020

Shelter in Place Haiku

Thirteenth Entry, Coronavirus Poetry Diary

shades of gray

seen from my attic window

shelter in place

PoemHunter, March 25 2020

Note:  The following poem is the tenth entry, which could be read as a prequel to the thirteenth entry: 

nursing home silhouette

I air high-five my old friend

at the window

PoemHunter, March 21 2020 

Selected Tanka: Fifth Corner of the Sky Tanka

home sweet home
in the promised land:
my attic room
ten-square feet with a fifth
corner of the sky

NeverEnding Story, October 11, 2016

Attic World Tanka

last light
on the horizon ...
snowflakes drift
into the silence
of my attic world

Tanka Origins, 1, 2019

Editor's Commentary: Leave it to a well known tanka poet Chen-ou to always create “atmosphere” in his tanka, as well as give us superb visuals. This is the kind of tanka you can step right into literally. Upon reading I was immediately enjoying the silence of that attic world right alongside this author watching that “last light on the horizon”; this tanka makes good use of bringing nature indoors.

Seeing, Not Seeing Tanka

alone
at the attic window
seeing, not seeing ...
these winter rain clouds
the shape of my thoughts

Cattails, October 2019

Attic Letters Senryu

attic letters
the musty smell
of her love

Failed Haiku, 4:43, 2019

Winter Wind Tanka

a seagull flies
against the winter wind
dragging my shadow
toward an attic room
where I live alone

Atlas Poetica, 37, 2019