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

Showing posts with label crow. Show all posts
Showing posts with label crow. Show all posts

Saturday, July 25, 2026

Dying Winter Light Haiku

the weight
of dying winter light ...
crow after crow

Leaf Haiku, 9, 2026

Tuesday, June 10, 2025

Smoky Silence Haiku

skeletal houses
crow after crow circling
the smoky silence

Acorn, 54,  2025

Monday, November 7, 2022

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


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, 2019Canada’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. 14Canada 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. 16The 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)

Wednesday, June 1, 2022

America is back, our president was here

The President's gas-guzzling 20-car motorcade wound through the streets of Glasgow for the summit. When the motorcade arrived under the media spotlight, a giant WWII-style Climate Siren blasted in the morning chill, opposite the grandiose entrance.

The president opened his speech by launching an attack against the Chinese leader for not attending the summit. One day later, the Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson hit back with a video clip; in it, the President's aide had to wake him up several times as he dozed off at the conference. Eventually, the two biggest polluters called a truce by agreeing to hold a bilateral talk annually, which will start next year. The agreement was reached one day before the end of the summit.

Five days after signing the climate action pledge, the earth-shaking news --"US auctions off the largest oil and gas drilling leases in its history" -- hit the headlines across the globe this cold, windy morning. 

caw-caw-caw of crows
on the White House roof ...
climate talk briefing

Monday, January 31, 2022

New Variants and Winter Crows Tanka

Three Hundred and Ninth Entry, Coronavirus Poetry Diary

one variant 
after another …
the caw-caw-caw
throughout the night 
of winter crows


FYI: COVID still 'full of surprises, nasty and cunning' and more variants 'not far away', WHO warns. Sky News, January 24 and More than 100 cases of Omicron BA.2 sub-variant identified in Canada since NovemberDHNews, January 28

Sunday, January 30, 2022

The True North strong and free!

Three Hundred and Seventh Entry, Coronavirus Poetry Diary
written in response to Elon Musk's tweet -- "Canadian Truckers Rule" -- to his nearly 72 million followers.

a cacophony
of wing flutters and caws
crows in gathering dark

storm clouds roll in
amid lightning strikes 
omicron rage

freedom convoy trucks
from coast to coast 
new variant emerging


FYI: Elon Musk's tweet shows his support for "The Freedom Convoy 2022," an ongoing protest against COVID-19 vaccine mandates for cross-border truckers introduced by the Government of Canada on January 15, 2022. 

The title is taken from O Canada, the national anthem of Canada.

O Canada!
Our home and native land!
True patriot love in all of us command.
With glowing hearts we see thee rise,
The True North strong and free! ....

And "Omicron subvariant BA.2 reported in Canada, " CTV News, Jan. 26 2022.


Added: Three Hundred and Eighth Entry

freedom convoy trucks
snake past Parliament Hill
with his mouth open
a white-haired man staring
at truckers with yellow stars

FYI: Anger over Holocaust symbols used in protests, CBC News, January 28

...Holocaust survivors say they’re angry about seeing yellow stars and swastikas being used in protests against vaccine mandates and pandemic restrictions. They also say they feel traumatized by protesters comparing COVID-19 restrictions to those imposed in Nazi Germany....

Friday, February 12, 2021

A Not-So-Fake Disclaimer

This is a work of fiction. Although its form is that of a short poetic autobiography, it is not one. With the exception of public figures, any resemblance to actual events or locales or real persons, is coincidental. 

one crow
croaking to another
on a white house roof
my name is Rudy
and I am a Trumpholic

Saturday, August 22, 2020

Selected Senryu Sequence: American Carnage

New Life in Trumpland, A Senryu Sequence

Go Trump graffiti
a stray dog
marking his spot

trumping Trump
my Mexican parrot
lifts up its voice

election night
a scream from the other side
of the fence

Trump victory
the sky bursting
with crows

post-election blues
my sister dressed in black
from head to toe

Thanksgiving dinner
Trump hats and Clinton stickers
left on the doormat

misty night
red states,  blue states
strongertogether

first false dawn
Donald Trump Toppled
on realnews

bald eagle's cry
cut off
Inauguration Day

a neon sign
on the White House roof:
Alternative Facts


NeverEnding Story, January 23, 2017

Wednesday, January 8, 2020

Wednesday, December 25, 2019