Disemployed?

laid off
the autumn gust changes
its direction

unemployed
all these shapes
of winter clouds

job hunting
I step on the spring sun
in a puddle

summer heat
the AI greeter makes out
my fake smile
(note: AI stands for Artificial Intelligence)

Haiku Canada Review, 12:2, October 2018

Selected Haiku Sequence: Beginning of the End

I love you
on the tip of my tongue
spring drizzle

fleeting summer dream
between the spoken
and unspoken

my first taste
of make-up sex
crimson leaves

thundersnow
rumbling in the distance
her parting words

NeverEnding Story, September 19, 2014

Selected Haiku Sequence: A Year Of Solitude

to leave or to stay ...
the light and dark
of a spring wind

childhood summer ...
learning the language
of butterflies

ninth autumn...
facing the Pacific
I undress my thoughts

a winter sunset
over the Rocky Mountains
I am not myself

New Year's Eve
after the fireworks
a moonlit cobweb

Lynx, 28:3, October 2013

Selected Haiku Sequence: Another Year

hometown memories ...
spring water
against my legs

something old
that is always new
summer stars

autumn sunset
on a yellow brick road
I go skyward

a fleeting dream
in winter moonlight
notes of an erhu

my dog and I
in a patch of sunlight
New Year's morning

Frogpond, 36:2, Summer 2013
Fear of Dancing, Red Moon Anthology of English Language Haiku 2013

Selected Haiku Sequence: Waiting for Spring

butterflies flit
from garden to garden --
walking my shadow

swatting flies...
alone in the attic
on this summer day

standing in
the way of the autumn wind...
my old dog and me

whiskey stains
on One Man's Moon
. . .winter dawn

Frogpond, 35:2, 2012

Selected Haiku Sequence: A Life in Four Seasons

I write her
one poem every day
spring dewdrops

a butterfly
tattooed on her buttock
summer heat

autumn dawn
before the mirror I count
gray hairs

snow on snow
thoughts of her emerge
one at a time

Frogpond, 34:1, Winter 2011

Note:  In celebration of the upcoming 7th anniversary of being a published writer of Japanese short form poetry, I am pleased to announce a new publishing project, Selected Haiku Sequence by Chen-ou Liu.

Selected Tanka Sequence: A Year Gone with the Wind

I gaze
with my shadow
at the spring moon
that used to perch
on our shared dream

I dust
our photos taken years ago
wondering
if there's a Gobi Desert
in a corner of her heart

drinking alone
under an autumn sky
in my glass
I see her moon face
of three loves ago

snowing outside
I sit at a window
drinking coffee
the old self walks into
the summer of '67

Atlas Poetica, 6, Summer 2010

Note:  In celebration of the upcoming 7th anniversary of being a published writer of Japanese short form poetry, I am pleased to announce a new publishing project, Selected Tanka Sequences by Chen-ou Liu.

Beginning and End, A Haiku Sequence

first date
under a budding cherry tree
we stand still

my hand
skims her soft curves
summer moon

pieces of her note
zigzag to the doorway
lone cry of a crow

another dawn
cherry branches laced
with snowflakes 

NeverEnding Story, August 10, 2015

Our Unfinished Story, A Haiku Sequence

winter mist
she shares her tale
of first love

red wine
from my mouth to hers …
blooming iris

summer moonlight
on her breast
fingering my name

dry leaves rattling ...
the awkward silence
between me and her

NeverEnding Story, July 1, 2015

Beginning of the End, A Haiku Sequence

I love you
on the tip of my tongue
spring drizzle

fleeting summer dream
between the spoken
and unspoken

my first taste
of make-up sex
crimson leaves

thundersnow
rumbling in the distance
her parting words

NeverEnding Story, September 19, 2014

New Year's Resolution: You Must Stay Drunk on Writing, So Reality Cannot Destroy You

A Haiku Sequence

writing haiku...
the cock crows
as if possessed

the vacuum humming
I revise
a spring haiku

color of the sky
like a cat dead for weeks
my summer haiku

a pause
between haiku
half-moon

writing haiku...
autumn sunlight breaks
through a wall of gray

winter solstice
a haiku lost and found
in my dream

the porridge
on my coffee-stained desk
rewriting haiku
(for Jack Kerouac)

Lynx, 29:1, February 2014

Reincarnation

spring desire
soured
with aging moonlight

summer growth
an impulse
too green, too short

autumn longing
blooming
in sunset glow

winter harvest
loneliness
too white, too long

seasons come, seasons go
still I wait
for... spring desire

Shovel edited by Jack Galmitz, p.64

When Will the Spring Come Again?, A Tanka Sequence

anything
new under the sun?
my shadow
and I come back
where cherry blossom fell

as the moon appears
with the coming of stars
a part of her
unfolds toward me...
a midsummer night's dream?

the conversation
between my hands and her body
deepening
an autumn breeze covers us
with a quilt of crimson leaves

a trace of blood
on the icy floor
this moonless night
the gaze of memory
penetrates my heart

Skylark, 1:2, Winter 2013

A Bittersweet Year of Travel, A Haiku Sequence

Calgary Stampede
her harsh words pile up
along my spine

Antwerp fortress
a raven's caw darkens
the autumn sky

its shadow
overlaps with mine
Minerva Statue

Newstead Abbey
under the starless sky
echoes of an old tale

listening to the sunshine
through the windows
Sagrada Familia

Manneken Pis
between tree-lined streets
winter drizzle

Bruges in Spring
a chair and I, a tourist
in the empty room

insects trilling
Musical Instrument Museum
in spring sunlight

summer in Brussels
Famous Beer Inspector
on their T-shirts

CN Tower
penetrating the moon
under and alone

NeverEnding Story, Oct. 20, 2013

The Spring Sun also Rises, A Tanka Sequence

her soft, wet body
leans into mine
her legs, her thighs
move against me...
time and rain fall on

standing hand in hand
before our 3-bedroom house
now, we own
two Acuras
...and a golden retriever

autumn gust
blowing off my heart
her last words
You're like an onion;
the more layers I peel...

the distance
between sun and moon…
the apparition
of my ex-wife's face
in the rush hour crowd

in the mirror
Father's face and mine
overlapping
on New Year's morning
I take an ice-cold shower

Lynx, 28:3, October 2013

A Year Of Solitude, A Haiku Sequence

to leave or to stay...
the light and dark
of a spring wind

childhood summer . . .
learning the language
of butterflies

ninth autumn...
facing the Pacific
I undress my thoughts

a winter sunset
over the Rocky Mountains
I am not myself

New Year's Eve
after the fireworks
a moonlit cobweb

Lynx, 28:3, October 2013

Another Year, A Haiku Sequence

hometown memories...
spring water
against my legs

something old
that is always new
summer stars

autumn sunset
on a yellow brick road
I go skyward

a fleeting dream
in winter moonlight
notes of an erhu

my dog and I
in a patch of sunlight
New Year's morning

Frogpond, 36:2, Summer 2013
Fear of Dancing, Red Moon Anthology of English Language Haiku 2013

Another Year, A Haiku Sequence

the scent of plums
in a hazy moon night
writing haiku

summer breeze . . .
thinking of my ex's eyes
the color of the sea

off-key notes...
a maple leaf drifts in
through the window

whiskey stains
on One Man's Moon
winter solstice
(for Cid Corman)

PoemHunter, May 7, 2013

When Will Spring Come?: A Haiku Sequence

petals on pink
she asks, what will happen
after I die

her Cat got your tongue
lingering in my mind
those summer kisses

harvest moon...
a shadow shifting
across my poem

the recurring dream
of the mouth in Not I
winter light

Lynx,XXVII:3, October 2012

Waiting for Spring: A Haiku Sequence

butterflies flit
from garden to garden --
walking my shadow

swatting flies...
alone in the attic
on this summer day

standing in
the way of the autumn wind...
my old dog and me

whiskey stains
on One Man's Moon
. . .winter dawn

Frogpond, 35:2, 2012