Past and Present, Then Ever

cherry blossoms 

always the same, and yet

ever new with you

pink blossom rain

the space where you used to be

pink blossom rain

NeverEnding Story, April 18 2026

Added:

my first love

into the past tense

pink blossom rain

Added:

anniversary

first cherry blossoms 

my love elsewhere

Added: 

a riverside stroll

pink blossom rain on my face

on a homeless man

FYI: This could be read as a counter poem to my award-winning haiku below:

blossom rain

between earth and sky

somehow, us

Grand Prize, Sharpening the Green Pencil Haiku Contest, 2026

Added: 

midnight crescent

in a Beirut boy's eyes

buzzing drones

Added:

repeat after me

Trum pi no cchi o ...

the clown taps his nose

Added: Politics of Distraction, IX:

blocking the blockade

to break the strait blockade ...

in gathering dark

a gin-soaked flight to nowhere

through the un/truth of this war

Added: Trump Empire, Inc, XCII

             Donald Trump

                $20,28 per gallon

             America First

the MAGA-hatted man’s stare

bores holes through his lawn sign

FYI: This tanka could be read as a sequel to mine below:

Law is the 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:

on the road to work  

I push through the white drift --

cold snap pressing in

Added:

to T.S. Eliot

curtains part

snow-wet roofs mirroring

April twilight

FYI: This could be read as a sequel my gembun below:

April is the cruelest month, I murmur to myself

drinking alone

the sound of snowfall

deepens

NeverEnding Story, April 6 2026

Added: Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, CCXCII: "P/Crime Minister"

written on Israel's Independence Day

behind the shroud

of "our hero warriors"

the P/Crime Minister

spills the Castro-length 

blah, blah, blah on victory

Added: No More Fairy Tales, LIII

written on War-Ravaged Earth Day

Hormuz twilight

one pond of oily black

after another

"Relocation Plan"

Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, CCXVII: "'relocation plan'"

written in response to Haaretz, Aug. 20,2025: Defense Minister Approves Plan to Conquer Gaza City; 130,000 IDF Reservists to Be Mobilized

summer odors  ...

nowhere to go, no way

to get pieces of bread

ghost town

a Gazan's mind a labyrinth

of dead bodies

NeverEnding Story, August 20 2025

FYI: Haaretz, August 22, 2025: 'Gates of Hell Will Open': Israel's Defense Minister Vows to Level Gaza City After IDF Takeover Plan Approved

And Haaretz, Oct. 9 2025: In One Month, Israeli Fire Killed Over 130 People in 'Safe Zones' Designated by the IDF

Despite designating some refugee camps in central Gaza as 'safe zones' for residents evacuating Gaza City, the IDF has continued attacking them on an almost daily basis, killing at least 130 people

Added: Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, CCXVIII: "bloodied keffiyeh"

a single sneaker

amid the twisted rebar

a bloodied keffiyeh

FYI: For many Palestinians, the keffiyeh symbolizes their yearning for freedom and serves a nod to their history. For some non-Palestinians, it's a show of solidarity. 

Lost in the Silence

Christmas Eve

I refill my whiskey glass

with snowlight

Christmas morning

the sound of snowflakes

on snowflakes

PoemHunter, December 24 2024

reprinted in NeverEnding Story, December 25 2024

Note: This haiku set could be read as a prequel to the following:

gazing

at snow crystals on the skylight

this Christmas morning

how small and how large

my world without you

NeverEnding Story, December 25 2023

Added: 

a whiff

of Christmas leftovers ...

things half-spoken

Added: Between Heaven and Hell, XV

half asleep, half awake ...

the in and out

of this 51st US state

FYI: Yahoo News, Dec. 26: Trump floats Wayne Gretzky as 'Governor of Canada' while Trudeau's Christmas message struggles to make a mark: "It no longer looks like a joke"

Donald Trump is offering Canadians a reduction of 'more than 60%' in taxes if their government joins America as its 51st state

A Day, As Usual

written in response to the Great War's/World War I's slogan: the war to end all wars.

war after war news

lengthening the morning chill

Remembrance Sunday

Remembrance Parade

shoulder to shoulder to shoulder

headless shadows

NeverEnding Story, November 11 2024

FYI: "It was the British author, H.G. Wells, that coined the expression: 'The war that will end war' to describe World War One, which had broken out in Europe in September 1914. Wells believed the conflict would create a new world order that would make future conflict impossible."

And Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law: Today, it monitors more than 110 armed conflicts and provides information about parties, the latest developments, and applicable international law. Some of these conflicts make the headlines, others do not. Some of them started recently, while others have lasted for more than 50 years.

Added:

a thin layer of dust 

on the Unknown Soldier Statue

Remembrance day

Added:

Remembrance Day

an armless veteran sighs

what is life worth?

Somewhere Out There

Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, XCIX: "somewhere out there"

a girl stares long

at the the borderless sky

Rafah crossing

the great beyond

of fire

a pillar

ladders 

a boy 

NeverEnding Story, September 21 2024

Added:

war news on mute

with my eyes to the window ...

darkness between stars

NeverEnding Story, September 22 2024

Reprinted in Haikuniverse, October 2 2024

After Life and Death

hospice room

an empty flower vase

holds itself

scattering ashes ...

the monotonous fall

of winter waves

Scarlet Dragonfly Journal, April 2 2024

Valentine's Day and Night

a teen couple 

share one chocolate heart ...

me and my shadow

dim TV light

my dog licks chocolate crumbs

I left behind

NeverEnding Story, February 14 2024

Added: a tanka sequel

I share 

one chococlate heart

and Valentine poems

with my post-divorce date ...

her scent on my fingers

Added: This Brave New World, CXLII

this year 45 days old

in the breezy sunshine

49th mass shooting 

FYI: Most of the mass shootings don't make the news in the US (CBC News, Feb. 14)

And The Philadelphia Inquirer, Feb. 15: Gunfire at Chiefs’ Super Bowl celebration kills 1 and wounds nearly two dozen, including children: 

“Parades, rallies, schools, movies. It seems like almost nothing is safe,” Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas said.

Day and Night

A wedding gift haiku set for Frameless Sky's editor, Chrissi

lovers' trail 

the flicker of your smile

as butterflies mate

steam in the shower

your body and mine entwine

into one

Frameless Sky: "Gift Me a Love Poem," December, 2023