Wind-Spun Petals Haiku

wind-spun petals

go back where you came from

brayed down the block

NeverEnding Story, May 19 2026

FYI: This haiku is a prequel to mine below:

the zigzag path 

of a yellow maple leaf ...

to stay or to go?

Mamba, 18, 2025

Added:

shouted after a boy

go back where you came from...

the chilly wind

punching a paper bag

against the schoolyard fence

Added:

shouted after a boy

go back where you came from...

the chilly wind

punching a paper bag

against the schoolyard fence

Added: 

fireball-lit skies

"ceasefire" for 45 days

inked on paper

FYI: BBC News, May 18 2026: Death toll from Israeli strikes on Lebanon passes 3,000, officials say

Added:

blossom-spun wind

against the chain-link fence

store foreclosure

Added:

rooftop pool

I float in the light

of stars

Added:

a row of beach chairs

in every pair of glasses

drifting clouds

FYI:  This haiku could be read as a prequel to mine below:

dream space

between our beach chairs

rippling sunset

Wales Haiku Journal, Summer 2022

Tribal Fear Tanka

nodding our heads

we pass each other like this 

for seven years ...

my old neighbor's tribal fear

of the Other [like me]

Haiku Page, 11, 2025

New Year's Reverie Haiku

Re-Homing in the Maple Land, XXXIV 

New Year's reverie ...

I unzip my yellow skin

for a fair one

NeverEnding Story, January 29 2025

And reprinted in Hexagon, October, 2025

Re-Homing?

During his much-anticipated debut appearance on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, the Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, bantered with the host throughout most of the interview. Answering trivial questions Americans might have for Canadians, he got canned laughter and applause as he tried to set Canada apart from the U.S. His host prompted, "But I don't know everything I should know about Canada. Imagine I come from a country that think mostly about themselves. I hear really good things about Canada, then sell me."

The Prime Minister's response was typical at first. "Canada is the best country in the world, has beautiful mountains, rivers, lakes, ...Oh, and Canada has three coasts: east, west and the Arctic." Then he paused for a moment with his media-trained smile and continued to emphasize Canadian uniqueness. "The thing is, everyone focuses on the land, but really, Canada is about the people. It’s a range of people from every possible background who come together and -- a little different from the melting pot in the United States where everyone gets to be American -- we try to celebrate differences, and people keep their cultures and keep their languages."

I turn off the TV and go to bed, but I cannot sleep and stare through a hole in the attic roof at a dreamless sky. The Prime Minister's photogenic smile and lofty words keep hovering my mind, recalling his 2015 campaign slogan: "My friends, sunny way, sunny way! Real change is on the way."

stuck in traffic

as lines of protesters chant

"no more immigrants" ...

I wonder if beside my name

the hidden asterisk re-emerges

during lunch break

I drink another cup of coffee

dark and bitter ...

behind my back coworkers mimic

"you're flawed not a fraud"

streaks of crimson

swallowed by the night sky ...

the cries of snow geese

again rewilding

my immigrant heart

contemporary haibun online, 20:3, 2024

FYI: Chinese Mandarin speakers often have a tough time learning l's and r's later in life.

Black and White

The verdict blasts from the wall-mounted TV. The diners, mostly white, freeze, and the silence falls over the room. Suddenly, clapping, cheering, and yelling from waiters and the kitchen staff.

frosty window

in gathering dusk I stare

into my reflection

Under the Basho, September 3 2024

Morning Coffee Haiku

morning coffee darkened

the way a colleague mimics

my English

Hauling the Tide: HSA's 2024 Members' Anthology

Slave Cemetery Tanka

a rutted road

to the slave cemetery ...

an old woman

bends under the weight

of her ancestral past

German Translation by Chrysanthemum Editorial Team

eine ausgefahrene Straße

zum Sklavenfriedhof ...

eine alte Frau

beugt sich unter dem Gewicht

ihrer angestammten Vergangenheit

Chrysanthemum, 32, 2024

Same Bloody Spot Tanka

written on Juneteenth

a Black man

cried, and cried out for his mother

then went quiet ...

years later my friend is stopped

and frisked on the same bloody spot

NeverEnding Story, June 19 2024

FYI: This is a sequel to my haiku below:

passing the shadow

of the George Floyd mural wall

white cops on the beat

NeverEnding Story, May 26 2021

And for more about Juneteenth, see Special Feature: "Selected Poems for Reflections on Juneteenth"

Feeder Tanka

a sparrow

chased off the feeder --

go back

to where you came from

lingers behind my back

take 5ive, 3, 2022

Black Teen Tanka

reading between the lives and writing between the lines, LXI

written in response to Francis Jen's remark: Always give your big smile to those who hates you. It will kill them.

we'll send you

back to the cotton field ...

a Black teen

stands unmoved on the playground

with a smile I've never seen

NeverEnding Story, March 26 2023

Added: Game Show 2024, XIV

God, guns and Trump

under the Waco sunshine 

a wavy sea

of people with MAGA hats 

shouting, Trump won, Trump won...

FYI: Donald Trump launched his first official campaign rally for Waco, Texas on the thirtieth anniversary of the 51-day siege, which resulted in the deaths of four federal agents and 82 Branch Davidians, 28 of whom were children.

And Business Insider, March 25: Texas Lt. Governor Dan Patrick takes credit for arranging Trump's debut 2024 campaign rally: 'I picked Waco'

Trump's decision to hold a rally at the site of a historic government standoff that claimed nearly 100 lives alarmed some.

"So Trump is planning his first campaign rally for Waco on thirtieth anniversary of the siege where a cult leader challenged the authority of the federal government and threatened violence," presidential historian Michael Beschloss wrote earlier this week, linking the former president to late religious sect leader David Koresh.

Added: reading between the lives and writing between the lines, LXII

fresh bakery

at ten dollars per person ...

with a smile

I take a deep, deep breath

when no one is around

Added: This Brave New World, LXXII

written in response to this year's 129th mass shooting in the USA: "Nashville church school shooting, 3 children, 3 staff killed"

ra-ta-ta-ta-tat

followed by these blah, blah, blah ...

more "thoughts and prayers"

FYI: Time, May 25: School Shootings Confirm That Guns Are the Religion of the Right, written by Samuel L. Perry,  sociologists of religion and co-author of The Flag And The Cross

What’s needed is a coalition of American politicians and citizens—secular and religious—who value the protection of innocent human life above power. Without that, the ritual will continue: Horrific deaths, followed by thoughts and prayers, calls to return to God, and no change.

And 

Lord, when babies die at a church school, it is time for us to move beyond thoughts and prayers. Remind our lawmakers of the words of the British statesman Edmund Burke: All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good people to do nothing. Lord, deliver our senators from the paralysis of analysis that waits for the miraculous.

-- Chaplain Barry Black, opening prayer for the Senate's new session

Added:

Monday blues ...

the snow turning

into brown slush  

A Damn Thing Tanka

written in response to Democracy Now, Feb. 16: "Buffalo Supermarket Shooter Gets Life in Prison Without Parole for Racist Massacre"

the mass murderer

turns away from her stare ...

you don't know

a damm thing about Black people

we're human, our kids go to school

NeverEnding Story, February 2017, 2023

FYI: Simone Crawley, granddaughter of shooting victim Ruth Whitfield: “We all know the pure hatred and motivations behind your heinous crime, and we are here to tell you that you failed. We will continue to elevate and be everything that you are not, everything that you hate, and everything that you intended to destroy. … We are extremely aware that you are not a lone wolf, but a pawn of a larger organized network of domestic terrorists. And to that network, we say, 'we as a people are unbreakable.'”

Masked White Man Tanka

masked, in the snow

we walk silently

toward each other ...

the white man raising his hand

to shield his mouth and nose

Ribbons, 18:3, Fall 2022

What Is the Difference?

This Brave New World, LXVIII

written in response to the released video of vicious Tyre Nichols beating by Memphis police officers

decades-old video

of the Rodney King beating --

now, punch after punch

a black man beaten to death

by five black policemen

a phalanx

of black youth with arms linked --

blood-red paint

on a pair of giant bronze hands

named Serve and Protect

NeverEnding Story, January 29 2023

FYI: The New Yorker, Jan. 28: "The Police Folklore That Helped Kill Tyre Nichols": A 1992 study claims that officers who show weakness are more likely to be killed. Law-enforcement culture has never recovered.

Most significant, the study’s core lesson about the imperative to dominate dovetailed with a nineties-era turn in law-enforcement culture toward what was known as a “warrior mind-set,” teaching officers to see almost any civilian as a potentially lethal assassin—an approach that many police trainers still advertise, even as the cops-vs.-citizens mentality has fallen out of favor among many police chiefs.

Added: Three Hundred and Sixtieth Entry, Coronavirus Poetry Diary

written in response to Bloomberg News, Jan. 27: "China Celebrated Lunar New Year Like Covid No Longer Exists" and The Daily Beast, Jan. 28: "How China’s COVID Crisis Could Spawn a Disastrous Virus Leap"

back-to-back waves

of Omicron subvariants . . . 

migrant workers

on their New Year's train ride

stare at the rolling dice

FYI: FYI: Lunar New Year celebrations, also known as the Spring Festival, in China start on the 23rd day of the 12th lunar month of the Chinese calendar. The festival lasts for about 23 days, ending on the 15th day of the first lunar month in the following year in the Chinese calendar. And the Chinese New Year Migration, Spring Festival Travel Rush, is the largest human migration on earth annually.

Added:

these nail heads

of the new neighbor's fence ....

heat lightning

Added: reading between the lives and writing between the lines, LX

midnight barking ...

one group after another

hastily crowded 

into this new VRChat 

a men-only echo chamber  

Holocaust Remembrance Day Tanka

This Brave New World, LXVII

written in response to this alarming news, NL Times, Jan. 25, 2023 : "23% of young Dutch have doubts that the Holocaust happened"

"I, too, find it shocking, ”Prime Minister Mark Rutte later said. “We can debate everything, but it is important that we at least agree on the facts.”

Nearly a quarter (23 percent) of Netherlands residents born after 1980 think the Holocaust is “a myth” or that the number of Jewish people killed is grossly exaggerated. That is more than in other countries. One-third to over half of the generations born since 1980 know remarkably little about the persecution of the Jews and genocide in the Second World War.

in the chat room

did SIX million really die

loud and louder ...

more youth enter this guessing game

as the night grows dark and colder

NeverEnding Story, January 27, 2023

FYI: Did Six Million Really Die? The Truth at Last is a neo-Nazi, Holocaust denial pamphlet published in 1974 by neo-Nazi propagandist Ernst Zündel...In 1983, Holocaust survivor Sabina Citron began a private prosecution under s.181 of the Canadian Criminal Code against Zündel, charging him with spreading false news...The Supreme Court concluded in the 1988 trial that "The pamphlet Did Six Million Really Die? does not fit with received views of reality because it is not part of reality." -- excerpted from the Wikipedia entry, "Did Six Million Really Die?"  

And for more about Holocaust Remembrance Day, see my "Special Feature" post, Poems For Reflections on the Day of Holocaust Remembrance

Un/Covering the News

an unlucky man

or a threat to public safety

the reporter asks ...

a Black shot dead hours later

after pacing around a store

frostbite amputations

spike to a 10-year high ...

the anchor's voice

drowned by streams of chatter

and laughter from diners

a nurse's death

headlines for one day 

and life goes on ...

(with more deaths by depression

from overwork)

another

swarming attack by teens

replaced by news

of a self-harm epidemic ...

new snow on old snow  

NeverEnding Story, January 17 2023

Added: No More Fairy Tales, IX

more than 1000

private jets land at the airport

of this snowy resort

talk after talk of climate

in the Davos summit

Added: No More Fairy Tales, X

Davos summit

protesters outside scream

no plan B! no planet B!

Added:

a teenager

in the bare maple tree ...

a moose

charges back and forth

in the gathering dark

Alone Together, Now and Then

for the first time

a spacecraft has touched the sun ...

will those three words

in my borrowed tongue

reach this white woman's heart

 

side by side

two gravestones among tall grass ...

how a Chinese man

and a white woman

broke the color line 

Fireflies' Light, 26, September 2022

Face-to-Face Tanka

reading between the lives and writing between the lines, XXXIV

the face-to-face

between a Royal aide

and a Black guest:

I am born here, UK

but, where are you really from?

NeverEnding Story, December 1 2022

Notes:

1: Lady Susan Hussey,  Queen Elizabeth's aide for more than 60 years,  was made Prince William’s godmother in 1982. After the monarch’s death, King Charles III kept her on as a “lady of the household.” According to Newsweek, she was one of the palace aides put in charge of helping Meghan Markle prepare for royal life, and there are unconfirmed reports that she was against Markle’s marriage to Prince Harry... Glamour, Nov. 30: "Prince William and Kate Middleton Release a Statement Following Racist Incident at Buckingham Palace"

2: Ngozi Fulani, founder of Britain’s leading domestic abuse charity, Sistah Space,  for Black women, was invited to the Violence Against Women and Girls reception on Tuesday, hosted by the Queen Consort Camilla. For more, see The Independent, Nov.30: "Ngozi Fulani: Black Charity boss of  Sistah Space accuses Buckingham Palace of institutional racism after ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide"

This tanka is a sequel to the following tanka set:

The Aftermath

Life is about storytelling — about the stories we tell ourselves, the stories we are told and the stories we buy into ... Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex

white on white

this snowy day

a voice lurking

in dim corners of her mind,

the baby's skin color?

we're very much

not a racist family ...

in winter chill

a black man mutters

at least a bit

NeverEnding Story, March 13, 2021

3: The following is a relevant excerpt from Sistah Space (@Sistah_Space)'s Nov. 30 Tweet where Lady SH is Lady Susan Hussey and Me is Ngozi Fulani:

Lady SH: Where are you from?

Me: Sistah Space

SH: No where do you come from?

Me: We're based in Hackney.

SH: No, what part of Africa are YOU from?

Me: I don't know, they didn't leave any records.

SH: Well, you must know where you're from, I spent time in France. Where are you from?

Me: Here, UK

SH: No, but what Nationality are you?

Me: I am born here and am British.

SH: No, but where do you really come from, where do your people come from?

Me: 'My people', lady, what is this?

SH: Oh I can see I am going to have a challenge getting you to say where you're from. When did you first come here?

Me: Lady! I am a British national, my parents came here in the 50's when...

SH: Oh, I knew we'd get there in the end, you're Caribbean!

Me: No lady, I am of African heritage, Caribbean descent and British nationality.

SH: Oh so you're from....

For more, see The Telegraph, Nov. 30: "Queen Elizabeth's aide, Lady Susan Hussey, resigns amid racism row."

Added: reading between the lives and writing between the lines, XXXV

"alternative fact" of the racism row at Buckingham Palace

laughter and chit-chat

between a guest gowned in silk

and a Royal aide:

I was born in Bristol, too

[best known for its slave trade]

Added:

Just an Awkward Night 

[amid a racist row at home]

cheers and U-S-A!

from the basketball crowd ...

the Royal couple

glance up at the giant screens 

to check if they're on camera

the Royals

gamely fix their smiles

one Celtics fan 

launches a tweetstorm of "If we lose

we blame this on the British"

FYI: A "tweetstorm" is a series of related tweets posted by a Twitter user in quick succession.

And The Independent, Dec. 2: New York Times writes ‘unsurprising’ report on Boston’s reaction to William and Kate visit

“Don’t care.”

We cannot tolerate the royal family” because of allegations of racism, namely from Meghan Markle.

“This is America, and I think that’s an important part of who we are, that we don’t deify people.”

I said to my wife this morning, ‘I put my pants on the same way he does – why is he so special?

Added: reading between the lives and writing between the lines, XXXV

within the confine

of these white picket fences

the neighbors

nodding at each other

around this gated neighborhood

FYI: This tanka is a sequel to the following haiku sequence:

Land of the Free

electric gate

Your Kind of Community

in glowing white letters

picket fences

a white man shadows

the black teen

thud of footsteps

one bark answers

another

ID check

the black teen’s shadow

slips out of the gate

Prune Juice, 36, 2022

White People First Haiku

written on the eve of Ontario's municipal elections

White People First

scrawled on a campaign sign

frost alert

NeverEnding Story, October 23 2022

FYI: CBC News, Oct., 22: Ontario municipal candidates face "organized hatred" as campaign nears close.

And POV, CBCDocs, White nationalism and right-wing extremism aren’t new to Canada. 

White supremacists, anti-immigrant organizers, and Holocaust deniers in Canada have been actively organizing here for decades. “Old wine, new labels.” When it comes to the alt-right, that’s the phrase that comes to mind for Dr. Barbara Perry. A hate crime researcher for almost 20 years... 

Added: written on the day of Ontario's municipal elections

White People First

staked into a neighbor's lawn ...

under the sign

my dog cocks his leg as I muse

on how smelly the day is

FYI: TVO, The Agenda with Steve Paikin, Oct. 21, 2022: Why are Acclamations on the Rise in Ontario?

More and more municipal elections in Ontario are going uncontested. According to the Association of Municipalities of Ontario, 548 candidates were acclaimed in this year's municipal election. That means no door-to-door canvassing, no debates and more importantly no competition. And 32 mayors and entire councils have all been acclaimed this year.

Added:

online trolling ...

behind my back these whispers

of slanted eyes

FYI: Bloomberg, "MAY 7 2021": This Is the Anti-Asian Hate Crime Capital of North America: A surge of attacks in one of Canada’s most multicultural cities during the pandemic is surfacing long-simmering racial tensions.

Last year, more anti-Asian hate crimes were reported to police in Vancouver, a city of 700,000 people, than in the top 10 most populous U.S. cities combined. With almost 1 out of every 2 residents of Asian descent in British Columbia experiencing a hate incident in the past year, the region is confronting an undercurrent of racism that runs as long and deep as the historical links stretching across the Pacific. 

And Toronto Star, "MARCH 29, 2022": Anti-Asian racism is soaring in Canada. These numbers tell the story, representing a 47 per cent increase from the previous year.

Whitewashed Church Haiku

reading between the lives and writing between the lines, XXVIII

whitewashed church

on the street corner a black man

with a crown of thorns

NeverEnding Story, October 5 2022

FYI: Ls 2&3 allude to "Black Jesus."  Black theology envisions Jesus Christ as one who stands on the side of the oppressed people, blacks, and is one with them, over against the oppressor.

Added: reading between the lives and writing between the lines, XXIX

my friend

strips down to his underwear ...

in dim streetlight

this drug search lays bare

his scarred black body

Added: This Brave New World, LVI

Tehran twilight

a hijab-free teen on top

of a traffic pole

FYI: In Iran, the "hijab and chastity" law requires women and girls over the "age of 9" to wear a headscarf in public.

Black Woman and Policeman Tanka

a policeman

throws a black woman

into the mud

shouting, she held a knife!

(found only in his mind)

NeverEnding Story, September 19 2022

FYI: For more, see my "To the Lighthouse" post, Character/Persona Tanka