Between Heaven and Earth

I'm soul-tired

before this wooden Jesus ...

Time is frozen

in St. Peter's Church

with frost flowers on the windows

What is Time?

alone and calm

before a leafy riot

of garden plants ...

my old friend and Time

are of the same race

If no one asks me, I know; if I need to explain it to one who asks, I don't know.

a mile-long lineup

of trucks at the checkpoint

in smoky sunset

inch by inch Time crawls through

the Kerem Shalom Crossing

What then is Time? In the present, the past presses forward; the future leans back toward me. I stand between them—no nearer to an answer than frost on glass.

Contemporary Haibun Online 22:1, April 2026

Before Jesus Tanka

a bare heart

and a humbled mind

before Jesus --

patch by patch filtered sunlight

slips beyond the chapel door

NeverEnding Story, July 12 2026

FYI: This could be read as a prequel to my tanka below:

in the chapel

I pray to Jesus

hour after hour

finally tired of me

Time leaves me alone

NeverEnding Story, September 15, 2017

Added:

The air in here twice-breathed, the taste of stale water in the waiting room. 

trapped wasp

thumping at the pane 

doctor’s gaze

Added:

Awake after a late muggy afternoon nap.

alone

yet the looping

of this fly

FYI: This could be read as a prequel to my senryu below:

summer cottage

after killing the last fly

I am alone

Failed Haiku, 2:16, 2017

And this could be read as a prequel to my senryu below:

summer cottage

everywhere the echo 

of me

Cattails, October 2025

Added:

By the lake of my mind, flower by flower ...

first homecoming

where wild bluebells bloomed

stacked townhouses

Added: No More Fairy Tales, LV

wildfires

hotter, bigger, deadlier

than before—

orange haze over Toronto

as multi-lane traffic crawls

FYI: This is a sequel to my tanka below:

No More Fairy Tales, XXXII

silhouetted

against the smoky forest

far away yet near ...

the Premier's mouth opens, closes

opens before cameras

NeverEnding Story, August 15 2024

Zen Workshop Senryu

Zen workshop

a young man's backpack

filled with books

tsuri-dōrō, 31, Jan/Feb. 2026 

Crucifix Haiku

on the rain-stained wall

where once a crucifix hung 

this night cold and dark

Haiku Avenue, 9, 2025

The Passion

the glow of fireballs

in a dead baby's eyes

the stone cross tilted

Silhouetted against the half collapsed and blood-splattered wall, the parish priest of Holy Family Church looks into the cellphone camera, and says in a firm voice, "nuns and I will stay and take care of elderly and wounded people, pregnant women and children."

"Are you not afraid of dying during the next Israeli strike?"

"Jesus is weak and vulnerable among people who need help and comfort, and that is exactly the way, the only way,  in which Jesus can be with us and help us."

Contemporary Haibun Online, 21:3, 2025

Anything New outside St Peter's Basilica?

a magical-realism tanka prose written on Pope Leo XIV's first day

as dusk deepens

a white-haired refugee's shadow

slips into the church ...

after mass, a priest muses

if he ranks love for others

Half awake yet half asleep, he glances at the LED bedside clock: 03:00 flashing red. Flanked by LED numbers, a blindingly bright human figure starts chanting:

Religion says don't hope

outside this whitewashed wall.

But then, once in a lifetime,

these longed-for tidal waves

of justice, peace and love

can rise up under the morning sun

if faith and action rhyme

Chrysanthemum, 35, 2025

German Translation:

Gibt es Neues vor dem Petersdom?

Eine magisch-realistische Tanka-Prosa, geschrieben am ersten Tag von Papst Leo XIV.

bei zunehmender Dämmerung gleitet

der Schatten eines weißhaarigen Flüchtlings

in die Kirche ...

nach der Messe sinniert ein Priester darüber

ob er die Liebe zu anderen über alles stellt

Halb wach, halb schlafend wirft er einen Blick auf den LED-Wecker: 03:00 blinkt es rot. Flankiert von LED-Ziffern beginnt eine blendend helle menschliche Gestalt zu singen:

Die Religion sagt: Hoffe nicht

außerhalb dieser weiß getünchten Mauer. 

Doch dann, einmal im Leben,

können diese ersehnten Flutwellen

der Gerechtigkeit, des Friedens und der Liebe

unter der Morgensonne aufsteigen,

wenn Glaube und Handeln sich reimen

Easter Lily Haiku

Easter lily

a curl at each edge

deepens

NeverEnding Story, April 6 2026

Added:

Jesus Wept

war news on mute ...

the sound

of Easter rain

church spire's tip 

piercing through half-sleep

a child's scream

I cry 

no reason, and yet

(this silence)

FYI: The title,  "Jesus Wept" (John 11:35),  is widely recognized as the shortest verse in the English Bible (King James Version and many others).

We are growing accustomed to violence, resigning ourselves to it, and becoming indifferent, indifferent to the deaths of thousands of people

Pope Leo XIV,  his first Easter Mass

And The Nation Magazine, April 13, 2026: Trump’s Deranged, One-Way Feud With Pope Leo

“I have no fear neither of the Trump administration, nor of speaking out loudly about the message of the Gospel,” the pope told reporters on his plane as he headed for a visit to Algeria and several other African countries.  They asked about Trump’s comments on Truth Social, and Leo responded: “It’s ironic—the name of the site itself. Say no more.” He added: “I do believe the message of the Gospel—‘blessed are the peacemakers’—is the message that the world needs to hear today.”

And this is a sequence to my tanka set below:

What Will Come Next?

in Easter sunshine

a billboard atop the church

proclaims:

Mary, called Magdalene

host to seven devils

Jesus is Risen

drifts from the whitewashed church

on the corner

a middle-aged black man

wears a crown of thorns

NeverEnding Story, April 5, 2026

Added:

After Easter

slate-gray sky

white, trumpet-shaped blooms

curl inward

church door closed

a fallen petal

cups the last light

Added:

a gembun written to T.S. Eliot

April is the cruelest month, I murmur to myself

drinking alone

the sound of snowfall

deepens

Added:

alone ...

the dawn sky 

tinged gray

Added: Politics of Distraction, V:

written in response to the Convicted Felon/Peanut-Brained man who sits behind the Resolute Desk

two-week ceasefire …

mid-bite of a taco

he mumbles, I won

FYI: taco stands for Trump Always Chickens Out

Added:

two-week ceasefire

pop, popping under the hood

of a Ford Mustang

Added: 

love in my dream

eyes half-closed, lips parted ...

surf crashes ashore

Breaking the Fast Tanka

Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, CCLXXXVI: "breaking the fast"

buzzing of drones

over a bomb-scarred alley

a family 

breaks their fast with a cracked pot

of lentils and rice,  and dirt

NeverEnding Story, March 5 2026

FYI: In line 5, the comma acts as a terminal caesura and serves multiple purposes:

Final Blow Effect: The comma isolates “and dirt”, forcing the reader to pause after the domestic imagery of food. This sudden intrusion mirrors how war penetrates even the most private, intimate spaces.

Rhythmic Disruption: It acts as a metrical “cut,” breaking the expected flow of the meal. This mirrors the brokenness already evoked by the “cracked pot” and the “bomb-scarred alley.”

Slowing the Pace: The pause allows the shocking image to sink in. The reader cannot skim past “dirt”; instead, its weight—the ultimate tragedy of the scene—is fully felt.

For more about terminal caesura, see  "To the Lighthouse: Terminal Caesura"

Jagged Ramadan Moon Haiku

Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, CCLXXXIII": "jagged Ramadan moon"

skeletal houses

jagged Ramadan moon

in each window shard

NeverEnding Story, February 20 2026

Note: My haiku below could be read as its prequel and sequel respectively:

Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, XXX: "Al-Aqsa" 

distant boom, boom, boom ...

the first sliver of the moon 

over Al-Aqsa

NeverEnding Story, March 11 2024 

FYI: Al-Aqsa is the compound of Islamic religious buildings that sit atop the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem.

Ramadan moon

behind skeletal houses

the edge of peace

Third Place, The Solitary Daisy Annual Haiku Contest, 2025

Added: to Joyce Carol Oates, who views art as a form of exploration and, at times, a transgression:

“My belief is that art should not be comforting; for comfort, we have mass entertainment and one another. Art should provoke, disturb, arouse our emotions, expand our sympathies in directions we may not anticipate and may not even wish.”

is it possible

to turn this jagged pain

into words?

the blank screen stares back

lit with my reflection

Added: Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, CCLXXXIV: "howls of orphans"

Gaza skies tinged red …

the howls of orphans carried

from age into age

through one life to the next

while the baton never falls

Added: Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, CCLXXXV: "revenge, price tag"

dusk cloaks the West Bank

"revenge, price tag' red-scrawled

on mosque walls, torched

FYI: Haaretz, February 23 2026: West Bank Mosque Torched in Suspected Settler Attack

Last week, Israeli settlers shot and beat a 19-year-old Palestinian-American, who died the next day. As of January, the Israeli military had recorded a total of 1,720 settler attacks on Palestinians since October 7, 2023

Added: Trump Empire, Inc, LXXVII

eighty-five seconds 

to midnight of Human Fate...

the Doomday Clock

on your life, mine and the rest

ticks, ticking in the cold snap

FYI: the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists set the Doomsday Clock to 85 seconds to midnight on January 27, 2026—the closest it has ever been to global catastrophe.

This January 27th, however, with nine countries now having nuclear weapons (and more undoubtedly in the offing), and our world in increasing turmoil...  the [US]'s spending $87 billion on its nuclear arsenal this year alone, while creating a future "Trump class" of warships that will be armed with nuclear missiles

Muslim Mayor Tanka

(Added: Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, CCLXVII: "lives born then ash-bound"

Haunting thoughts of a Gazan baby swirl within ... yet rainbow flowers bloom above New York’s neon haze.

firework-lit sky

on the screen and in my mind

lives born, then ash-bound)

History Often Rhymes, III: "first Muslim mayor of New York City"

for Zohran Mamdani, the first Muslim mayor of New York City 

and "ALL" New Yorkers

with his hand

firmly on the Quran

Mamdani vows ...

echo and echo through hearts

while the city breathes as one

NeverEnding Story,January 2 2026

FYI: "Zohran Mamdani is considered the second Muslim mayor of a major Western capital, following his inauguration as the 112th Mayor of New York City on January 1, 2026. While New York City is not a national capital, it is often grouped with cities like London as a "global capital" or "major Western capital" in political discourse. By this definition, Mamdani follows Sadiq Khan, who became the first Muslim mayor of a major Western capital when he was elected Mayor of London in 2016." 

And some relevant passages from  his inaugural address:

I have been told that this is the occasion to reset expectations, that I should use this opportunity to encourage the people of New York to ask for little and expect even less. I will do no such thing. The only expectation I seek to reset is that of small expectations.

Beginning today, we will govern expansively and audaciously. We may not always succeed. But never will we be accused of lacking the courage to try...

I was elected as a democratic socialist and I will govern as a democratic socialist. I will not abandon my principles for fear of being deemed radical. As the great senator from Vermont once said, “What’s radical is a system which gives so much to so few and denies so many people the basic necessities of life.”

Added: 

thunderclaps echo ...

Kharkiv’s skies smoky red

on New Year

Added: Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, CCLXIV: "haunting thoughts"

haunting thoughts

of a Gazan baby 

swirl within ...

yet rainbow flowers bloom 

above New York’s neon haze

Added: Trump Empire, Inc, LXVII:

written in response to CBS News, Jan. 3 2026: U.S. strikes Venezuela and captures Maduro; Trump says "we're going to run the country" for now

Maduro

bound, blindfolded and kidnapped ... 

Trump's meaty smile

and his middle finger raised

to clicking of cameras

FYI: Democracy Now, Jan. 3 Special Report: U.S. Abducts Maduro, Trump Says "We Are Going to Run" Venezuela

Mexico's Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the attack as a clear violation of article two of the charter of the United Nations.

And The Nation Magazine, Jan.3: Members of Congress Decry Trump’s Act of War on Venezuela as “Illegal”

Tim Kaine, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, issued a statement arguing, “President Trump’s unauthorized military attack on Venezuela to arrest Maduro—however terrible he is—is a return to a day when the United States asserted a right to dominate the internal affairs of all nations in the Western Hemisphere. The history is replete with failures, and doubling down on it makes it difficult to the claim with a straight face to other countries should respect the United States’ sovereignty when we do not do the same.”

And

"We're not afraid of boots on the ground if we have to have. We had boots on the ground last night at a very high level, actually."

"Under our new national security strategy, American dominance in the Western Hemisphere will never be questioned again."

Convicted Felon Trump, Jan.3 

Watch GodFather's best/kissing-the-ring scene about the paradise of power and "justice," USA.

Haaretz, Analysis, Jan. 5: A Groundbreaking Coup in Latin America? Maduro's Capture Continues a U.S. Tradition Dating Back to the 19th Century

Amid persistent inflation, he's trying another, oft-repeated policy – imperialistic behavior in Latin America: Between 1898 and 1994, the continent saw 41 instances of U.S.-engineered regime change.

Trump is a unique president in many respects, but in this case, he didn't deviate from the decisions of John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush and others who overthrew regimes they disliked. The U.S. perception of Latin America as its backyard has been one of the most prominent characteristics of its foreign policy for generations.

However, Trump is facing domestic challenges like persistent inflation and the Epstein files that continue to make headlines. Under these conditions, foreign policy is a simple, magical solution, certainly if it's in the form of an impressive military operation that expresses U.S. power.

And this tanka could be read as a sequel to my tanka below:

History Often Rhymes, I: "the Donroe Doctrine"

the Don posed 

behind the Resolute Desk

with fingers cocked

for the cameras' rapid fire ...

a map crossed with red X’s

NeverEnding Story, December 13 2025

Added: Trump Empire, Inc, LXVIII:

in misty night

Corleone and Trump blurring ...

a dream, yet truer

FYI: The Guardian, March 14 2025: Donald Trump, the mob boss with a messiah complex

And Convicted Felon Trump, response to the Jan.3 Venezuela invasion

Under our new national security strategy, American dominance in the Western Hemisphere will never be questioned again.

And watch the GodFather best/kissing-the-ring scene about the paradise of power and "justice," USA.

Added: Trump Empire, Inc, LXIX:

Otherworldly Feel

to spineless Mark Carney, Canada's prime minister

snowstorm gathering...

does it matter now how 

Maduro was taken?

Niagara Falls' cliff

covered in icocles ...

51st state claim

elbows up

elbows down, elbows up?

tangled maple limbs

FYI: The War of 1812 heavily impacted the Niagara Falls area, becoming a critical theater for American invasions of Upper Canada, culminating in the brutal Battle of Lundy's Lane. The narrow neck of land between Lake Erie and Lake Ontario made the Niagara region a crucial invasion route for the Americans.

Added:

At the Edge

the year

dying in the night

alone

I lean out the window

into the dark

this pull

of the moonlit darkness

as if distant

as if near ...

still, I wait

Added: Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, CCLXV: "buzzing sound of drones"

the buzzing 

of drones in deepening dark

a ponytailed girl

freezes, gazing heavenward

as puddles ripple crimson

Garden Buddha Haiku

wind chimes

dappled with sunlight

garden Buddha

Asahi Haikuist Network , August 29, 2025

Street-Preach Chants Haiku

street-preach chants ...

clouds of breath weaving through

the Friday night crowd

NeverEnding Story, October 27 2025

FYI: The following could be read as its prequel:

a street preacher talks

over a line of pro-choicers --

his arguments

frothy as soapsuds

get big ... and bigger

NeverEnding Story, September 21 2025

Added:

twilight fog drifting ...

my shadow and I follow

no one

FYI: My haiku below could be read as its prequel:

snow geese

unzip the morning sky

my journey starts

Brass Bell, January, 2022

Added: Trump Empire, Inc, LX

Read My Lips

"Canada is not for sale. You can kiss me where the sun doesn’t shine, and you can put a big 'C' in front of it," a grey-haired auto worker shouts out his defiant challenge to the people strolling along the opposite bank of the river, at least one mile away.

Alone at the edge of East Riverview Park, a patch of green overlooking the Detroit River, he continues his shouting for minutes until he hears the distant laughter drifting toward him

migrant kids

chase kids chasing rainbow balloons

Trump-Free Zone

Added:

hillside maples

the sunset glow redder

... and redder

Added:

sunset glow

a pink-haired girl wheels her chair

through leaf fall 

Added:

crack of the bat

a roar of voices chasing

the sky-high ball

Smoky fireball

Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, CCXVI: "Christ's thorns"

after smoky fireball ... the weight of this hushed silence.

a skeletal house

amid debris and pot shards

Christ's thorns

NeverEnding Story, August 15 2025

FYI: "According to a religious legend, the crown of thorns worn by Jesus Christ at the crucifixion was made from the stems of this plant, euphorbia milii , also known as Christ's thorn, a pretty succulent plant that can bloom almost year-round, even indoors."

Haaretz, August 16, 2025: 'They Need a Nakba' | Former IDF General Calls Palestinian Death Toll in Gaza 'Necessary' in Recording

The former Israeli military intelligence chief said the high number of Palestinians killed in Gaza is "necessary for future generations," according to recordings broadcast Friday on Israel's Channel 12 News.

In the recordings, Maj. Gen. (res.) Aharon Haliva can be heard saying that "50 Palestinians should die" for every victim of Hamas' attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023. "There's no choice, they need a Nakba every now and then to feel the consequences," Haliva added, referring to the 1948 displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians out of what would become the border of the State of Israel.

"I'm not saying this out of revenge, but as a message for future generations," he added.

And Al Jazeera, August 16, 2025: Arab, Islamic countries condemn Netanyahu’s ‘Greater Israel’ remark

When interviewer Sharon Gal with the Israeli i24NEWS channel asked Netanyahu if he subscribed to a “vision” for a “Greater Israel”, Netanyahu said “absolutely”. Asked during the interview aired on Tuesday if he felt connected to the “Greater Israel” vision, Netanyahu said: “Very much.”

The “Greater Israel” concept supported by ultranationalist Israelis is understood to refer to an expansionist vision that lays claim to the occupied West Bank, Gaza, parts of Lebanon, Syria, Egypt and Jordan.

Prayers in the Smoky Air Tanka

Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, CCVII: "prayers in the smoky air"

her prayers 

hanging in the smoky air ...

a bent woman

holds the Gazan night sky

on her bony shoulders

NeverEnding Story, July 29 2025

Added: Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, CCVIII: "if only just a nightmare"

Gazan night sky

a ghastly shade of red ...

a white-haired man

murmurs, if only this were 

just a nightmare

Added: Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, CCIX: " blood-stained bird cage"

smoky ruins ...

a blood-stained bird cage

with the door open

Added: Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, CCX: "a headless doll"

smoky skies

between two skeletal houses

a headless doll

No-Bullshit Air Kyoka

Yellowing Memories, VI

first class reunion:

each one looks almost the same

just older,

except this bully-turned-priest

with a no-bullshit air

NeverEnding Story July 17 2025

FYI: My tanka below could be read as its sequel:

returning home

after the class reunion

in the bathroom mirror

the same old me

and yet . . .

Atlas Poetica, 38, 2019

Added: Trump Empire, Inc, XLVI

phalanx after phalanx

of ICE-hatted alligators ...

this daymare, and yet

FYI: The Tyee, July 16: 2025: ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ and Trump’s Celebration of Cruelty: How visual symbols are being weaponized to create terror and hate.

The United States government recently opened a massive immigrant detention facility built deep within the Florida Everglades that’s been dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz.” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said during a media briefing that “there is only one road leading in… and the only way out is a one-way flight.”

...Apparently designed to be an immigration deterrence and a display of cruelty, Alligator Alcatraz is much more than infrastructure. It is visual policy aimed to stage terror as a message while making Trump’s authoritarian and fascist politics a material reality...

Added: Trump Empire, Inc, XLVII

faded Trump graffiti

my pitbull 

cocks its leg

Added: Trump Empire, Inc, XLVIII

Trump fan and foe

face to face with fists raised

in sunburned silence

at the anti/rally

their cars bumper-kiss

Added:

Trump news on mute

an alley stray barks

another answers

Added:

old blues singer

on a Bourbon Street corner

tourists come and go

FYI: The heart of the French Quarter, Bourbon Street is the most well-known street in New Orleans.

Priest's Shadow Haiku

muffled cries

a priest's shadow slips

into the grave

Under the Basho  May 4  2025

Why Zane Haiku

alone with birdsong

in the light of spring dawn

why zazen?

Sense & Sensibility, May, 2025

Bent Woman Haiku

churchyard shadows

a bent woman speaking

in tongues

Ink Sweat & Tears, April 17, 2025 

Faith and Action Tanka

in memory of Pope Francis, a man of Peace in Action

and to the Catholic Church and Christians around the world

faith and action rhyme:

Pope Francis's Easter message

ceasefire now

this longed-for tidal

wave of peace can rise up

NeverEnding Story, April 22 2025

FYI:

Palestine Chronicle, April 21: Pope Francis’ Passing: His Key Statements on Gaza and the Ongoing Genocide

In the final years of his papacy, he consistently spoke out about the war in Gaza, expressing concern for civilians and calling for peace and humanitarian access.

Since October 9, 2023, Pope Francis has been calling Gaza’s Holy Family Parish every evening—brief conversations at 7 PM, marked by simple, human questions: “How are you?” “What did you eat?” 

These nightly calls, as reported by Vatican News, offered a vital sense of connection and comfort to the more than 600 people, both Christians and Muslims, sheltering in the parish’s church and school. He always ended with a blessing, making the sign of the cross and saying, “Muchas gracias, grazie tante.”

Pope Francis, who passed away at 88, leaves behind a legacy defined by his steadfast calls for peace and justice in Gaza, persistently urging ceasefires, condemning violence, and advocating for the protection of civilians.

Investigation into ‘Genocide’

In a book released ahead of the Jubilee Year 2025, Pope Francis called for an investigation into the unfolding genocide in Gaza, urging the world not to look away from the suffering of its people.

“I am thinking above all of those who leave Gaza in the midst of the famine that has struck their Palestinian brothers and sisters given the difficulty of getting food and aid into their territory,” the pontiff wrote.

He went further, raising the alarm on the potential severity of the situation: “According to some experts,” Pope Francis noted, “what is happening in Gaza has the characteristics of a genocide. It should be carefully investigated to determine whether it fits into the technical definition formulated by jurists and international bodies.”

Nativity Scene

On December 8, 2024, Pope Francis unveiled the Vatican’s annual nativity scene, which featured baby Jesus draped in a Palestinian keffiyeh, according to Vatican News. 

This symbolic addition underscored the Holy Family’s connection to Bethlehem and served as a nod to the Palestinian struggle.

Easter Message

He expressed particular solidarity with the people of Gaza and the Christian community there, where “the terrible conflict continues to cause death and destruction and to create a dramatic and deplorable humanitarian situation.”

“I appeal once again,” he said, “for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip”.

The Pope urged the international community to take action and “come to the aid of a starving people that aspires to a future of peace.”

Added:

flanked by Swiss guards

Pope in a wooden casket ...

behind high walls

politicking over the successor

becomes intense and darker

FYI: The Guardian, April 22: Vatican power struggle: will an ‘anti-Francis’ pope emerge from conclave?

The death of Pope Francis will throw into sharp relief the internecine power struggle that has been a hallmark of his papacy

In the coming days, a ferocious battle for the future of the church will be played out with the highest of stakes within the sanctity of the Sistine Chapel.

And Conclave Movie Quotes

This is a conclave, Aldo, it’s not a war.

It is a war! And you have to commit to a side.

Certainty is the great enemy of unity. Certainty is the deadly enemy of tolerance.

Edge of Peace Haiku

ramadan moon

behind skeletal houses

the edge of peace

Third Place, The Solitary Daisy Annual Haiku Contest, 2025