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

Showing posts with label play. Show all posts
Showing posts with label play. Show all posts

Tuesday, May 26, 2026

Empty Basketball Court Haiku

empty basketball court
the faint sound of a swaying net
in smoky twilight



FYI: The haiku employs ghost imagery: rather than depicting action directly, it evokes what remains after the action has vanished.

Ghost imagery captures the instant after action disappears, emphasizing what lingers rather than what occurred. It evokes absence through residual cues—sound, motion, light, and atmosphere—forcing the reader to perceive the aftermath instead of the event itself. 

For more examples, see "To the Lighthouse: Ghost Imagery"


Added:

her side of the bed
a hollow still visible
in moonlit dust


Added:

moonlit playground
swing chains sway in the echo
of far laughter


Added:

winter fishing pier
the slow knock of loose ropes
against pilings


Added:

empty bus stop 
the flutter of a ticket
in streetlamp light


Added:

vacant alley court
the backboard shining
in police lights


Added:

closed dog park
one tennis ball rolling back
through bloodied leaves


Added:

carnival grounds
ticket stubs against the fence
in misty rain

Thursday, March 26, 2026

Sunday, August 17, 2025

Tuesday, April 15, 2025

Tunnel of Pink Blossoms Haiku

dappled sunshine
kid after kid through a tunnel
of pink blossoms

Romanian Translation by Editor Steliana Cristina Voicu

soare pătat
copil după copil printr-un tunel
de flori roz

Friday, December 6, 2024

Curve of Laughter Haiku

first day of school
curve after curve of laughter
down a spiral slide


Chinese Translation

開學第一天
一聲接著一聲歡笑
沿著螺旋滑梯滑下

Thursday, September 12, 2024

Laughter After Laughter Haiku

childhood lake
laughter after laughter
Pollocking my face



FYI: A major figure in the abstract expressionist movement, Paul Jackson Pollock was in/famously known for his "drip technique" of pouring or splashing liquid household paint onto a horizontal surface. "Pollocking" is used to be an action verb for splashing water with Spontaneity and Vibrancy like the way Pollock splashed liquid paint onto the canvas on his studio floor (as shown in the movie, Pollock, 2000, confident, insightful work, one of the year's best movies.). 


FYI: PBS, American Masters, Jan.16, 2024: How Jackson Pollock's "Blue Poles" changed the face of art 

When Jackson painted "Blue Poles" in 1952, he had no idea it would later become the most expensive American painting sold when the National Gallery in Australia purchased it for two million U.S. dollars to much controversy. What was it about the "exquisite web of paint" that so captivated and divided audiences at the time and even now? 

Responding to a question on how people should appreciate modern art, Pollock said: "I think they should not look for, but look passively and try to receive what the painting has to offer. I think it should be enjoyed just as music is enjoyed. After a while you may like it or may not, but I think at least give it a chance."

Friday, June 7, 2024

Rain Shower Tanka

rain shower                 
after a heat wave
the laughter of kids
chasing dogs 
chasing kids

Ribbons, 20:1, Winter 2024

Friday, July 28, 2023

Earth Day Tanka

this Earth Day 
we stroll along the white sand ...
my son and daughter
start to run, then sprint
staying one step ahead of the surf

Tuesday, July 25, 2023

A Day Like This

smoky twilight
pieces of army jackets
on a burnt tree

Kyiv boys play
behind their cardboard tank
half-collapsed houses



Added: This Brave New World, XCVII

dadadadada ...
under the school desk a boy
hearing and seeing


Added: This Brave New World, XCVIII

Florida sunshine
the new neighbor's swimming pool
shaped like a handgun


Added:

sultry night
the Venus Fountain drenched
in moonlight

Wednesday, July 12, 2023

Saturday, May 27, 2023

Horse-Tail Clouds Haiku

horse-tail clouds ...
I hold my daughter's hand
holding the kite string

Modern Haiku, 54:1, Winter-Spring  2023

Wednesday, November 30, 2022

Football in Midair Haiku

men link arms in lines
chanting olay, olay, olay ...
a football in midair


FYI: Olé/Olay is a Spanish interjection used to cheer on or praise a performance. For more, see my "To the Lighthouse" post, A Rhetoric Device, Onomatopoeia

Wednesday, July 6, 2022

Monday, July 12, 2021

What has been will be again

Two Hundred and Thirty-Second Entry, Coronavirus Poetry Diary

after months
of wearing flip-flops
a masked woman 
in red high heels
teeters toward the mall

skateboarders
in backward baseball caps
zigzagging
across the downtown square 
first day of re-opening

a young dude
with a pack of cold beer
heads for the park
hip-hop songs blasting
at a mask-free crowd

a masked guard
in the breezy twilight
a dozen
line up at the clinic
with the Vax-A-Million sign


FYI: What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.Ecclesiastes, 1:9, NIV


AddedTwo Hundred and Thirty-Third Entry

suddenly awake
with my heart beating fast
I hear my cry
in my disheveled wife's cries:
Vax-a-Million winner!


AddedTwo Hundred and Thirty-Fourth Entry

quarantined in an attic room
face to face with my inner child