Monday, March 18, 2024

Butterfly Dream: Winter Sky Haiku by Srinivasa Rao Sambangi

English Original

winter sky
the painter's downstroke
at a snail's pace

Akitsu, Winter, 2020

Srinivasa Rao Sambangi


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

冬天的天空
畫家以蝸牛的速度
的下筆

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

冬天的天空
画家以蜗牛的速度
的下笔


Bio Sketch

Srinivasa Rao Sambangi, a Master Black Belt in Six Sigma, is currently working in a pharma company in Hyderabad, India. His haiku are regularly published in all the leading haiku journals

Sunday, March 17, 2024

A Room of My Own: Hostages Tanka

Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, XXXIV: "hostages" 

the hostages stuck
between Israel's total victory
and Hamas' demands ...
protesters lock themselves
in cages on the highway



FYI: This tanka is a sequel to the following:

This Brave New World, CX

Kidnapped
pasted over Occupier
pasted over Kidnapped
above the photo of a man ...
this battle for perfect victims


And Haazetz, March 12: Why Israel's New Nationalistic Judaism Doesn't Care About the Hostages in Gaza: For Israel's rising jingoistic, messianic religious right, the war in Gaza is about recovering pride and projecting power. Desperate hostages held by Hamas don't fit their narrative

A fundamental ideology is at work here, according to which the war in Gaza is the ultimate national drama, a rare opportunity to recover national pride and a sense of invincibility. In this narrative, the hostages are a source of collective weakness.


AddedAgainst the Drowning Noise of Other Words, XXXV: "Promised Land" 

past suffering
spills into the present war
of fireballing rage
which shapes future kamikazes:
Promised Land of blood and honey


FYI: One of the best-recognized descriptions of the "land of Israel'/Promised Land is “a land flowing with milk and honey.” (Deuteronomy, 31:20)


Added: Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, XXXVI: "see us, hear us"

Ramadan Message
a magic realist tanka set written in response to NPR, March 16: "Netanyahu approves plan to invade Rafah, where 1.4 million Palestinians are sheltering"


blood-stained children
stand barefoot with their backs
to the reporters ...
do you see us, hear us now
to clicking of cameras

children with lanterns
walk into the far distance
their last words
we shall return, and overcome
linger in the smoky darkness


FYI: The fanous lantern has been a symbol of Ramadan for hundreds of years. For Muslims, it represents the light guiding the way.


Added: Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, XXXVII: "death toll in dispute"

death toll in dispute
a crow's last caw fading
into the dark

Saturday, March 16, 2024

Poetic Musings: Prize Quilt Tanka by Carmen Sterba

an Amish woman
dressed in grey
her heartsong
in the vivid colours
of her prize quilt

Eucalypt, 8, 2010

Carmen Sterba

Commentary by Jan Foster: On the surface, a simple tanka, traditional in shape and expression but, like all the topnotch tanka, a layering of thoughts which provide a wealth of concepts for the reader to come back to many times over. In the true tanka tradition, it begins simply, each line adding to the thought, growing to a crescendo in the final line, where the whole theme is laid before the delighted reader... 

-- excerpted from Tanka Appraisal Reports by Bowerbird Members

Friday, March 15, 2024

Butterfly Dream: Tug of War Haiku by Adjei Agyei-Baah

English Original

tug of war
a child and the wind
in a kite pull

Tales of the Kite, 2023

Adjei Agyei-Baah


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

一場拔河比賽
一個孩子和大風
拉扯飛翔的風箏

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

一场拔河比赛
一个孩子和大风
拉扯飞翔的风筝


Bio Sketch

Adjei Agyei-Baah (June 29, 1977 -- December 18, 2023) was the co-founder of the Africa Haiku Network and The Mamba and author of afriku: haiku and Senryui from Ghana, 2016, Finding the Other Door, 2021 and Scaring Crow, 2022. 

Thursday, March 14, 2024

One Man's Maple Moon: Final Glance Tanka by Sonam Chhoki

English Original

a final glance
through rain-splatttered screen
my ancestral home
so much left behind
so much carried with me

Atlas Poetica, 9, Summer 2011

Sonam Chhoki 


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

透過雨滴濺濕的紗窗
的最後一瞥
我的祖屋
留下這麼多東西未帶走
我仍然帶走這麼多東西

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

透过雨滴溅湿的纱窗
的最后一瞥
我的祖屋
留下这么多东西未带走
我仍然带走这么多东西


Bio Sketch

Sonam Chhoki finds the Japanese short form poetry resonates with her Tibetan Buddhist upbringing.  She is inspired by her father, Sonam Gyamtsho, the architect of Bhutan's non-monastic modern education and by her mother, Chhoden Jangmu, who taught her: “Being a girl doesn’t mean you can’t do anything.” She is the principal editor, and co-editor of haibun for the United Haiku and Tanka Society journal, cattails.

Wednesday, March 13, 2024

Hot News: New Milestone, 1.9 M Pageviews and Call for Submissions

My Dear Friends:

NeverEnding Story reached a new milestone last night: 1.9 M pageviews (FYI: OJanuary 22, 2023, it crossed 1.5 M view mark

I am grateful to everyone who has been a part of this poetry journey. 


writer's block?
Oh, I don't have time for that ...
this moonless night
becomes darker and heavier
with rent hike and snowfall

three lines
into the first tanka
of this dark night ...
I pause and listen
to the void in my life


A writer is a person for whom writing is more difficult than it is for other people. 
-- Thomas Mann

And 

Write only if you cannot live without writing. Write only what you alone can write
-- Elie Wiesel

musing, I cram
thoughts of being a poet
into five lines ...
this man's face, his silver-hair 
ripple in the lake of my mind
(for Sanford Goldstein, the father of tanka in English)

Ribbons, 19:3, Fall 2023

Chen-ou Liu


In a war situation or where violence and injustice are prevalent, "poetry is called upon to be something more than a thing of beauty." 

-- Seamus Heaney, an Irish poet, playwright and translator who received the 1995 Nobel Prize in Literature. 


Look forward to reading your haiku and tanka (see haiku and tanka submission guidelines)

Happy Writing    😎

Chen-ou

Tuesday, March 12, 2024

Butterfly Dream: Snowmelt Haiku by Elmedin Kadric

English Original

one keeps another one loving snowmelt

Frogpond, 45:1, winter 2022

Elmedin Kadric 


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

一個人讓另一個人熱戀雪在融化

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

一个人让另一个人热戀雪在融化


Bio Sketch

Elmedin Kadric was born in Novi Pazar, Serbia, but writes out of Helsingborg, Sweden. His first collection, buying time (2017), was published by Red Moon Press.

Monday, March 11, 2024

A Room of My Own: Al-Aqsa Haiku

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

distant boom, boom, boom...
the first sliver of the moon 
over Al-Aqsa 


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

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

Ramadan moon
wave upon wave of prayers
in a tent city


And Haaretz, March 11: Israeli Police Block Hundreds of Palestinians From Al-Aqsa on Ramadan's First Night, Hit Worshipers With Batons

Restrictions for the first prayers of Ramadan contradicted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's recent promise to allow freedom of worship. The police issued dozens of restraining orders against Palestinian activists and journalists over the past few days, barring them from the compound.


Added: Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, XXXI: "Ramadan lantern"

silent screams as prayers
in this death-dark nightmare
a Ramadan lantern


FYI: "The fanous lantern has been a symbol of Ramadan for hundreds of years. For Muslims, it represents the light guiding the way. In Egypt, during the holy month of Ramadan, streets are illuminated at night by colorful fanous lanterns."


AddedAgainst the Drowning Noise of Other Words, XXXII: "pre-dawn meal"

humming of drones ...
a family's pre-dawn meal,
finger-sized biscuits 


FYI: "Suhoor, known as the pre-dawn meal in English, is a significant element for Muslims during Ramadan. It is the last meal before the sun rises and the day of fasting begins."


AddedAgainst the Drowning Noise of Other Words, XXXIII: "bulldozers" 

the first sliver
of the Ramadan moon
rows of men
face to face with the teeth
of Israeli bulldozers


Addedreading between the lives and writing between the lines, LXXXII

Royal smiles
photoshopped for Mother's Day ....
this broken world, yet ...


FYI: Sky News, March 11: Kate, Princess of Wales, apologises 'for any confusion' after 'editing' Mother's Day photograph

Graham Smith, of the anti-monarchy group Republic, earlier said: "The manipulation of an image that the palace says was taken by William is extraordinary.

"The monarchy has always sought to manipulate and manage its image, but if they have tried to fake a photograph to silence online conspiracy theories, that is disgraceful."

Sunday, March 10, 2024

One Man's Maple Moon: Arthritic Knees Tanka by Ignatius Fay

English Original

back bent
kneeling among the flowers
weeding
her son’s old hockey shin guards
protect arthritic knees

After the Storm, 2021

Ignatius Fay


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

背部彎曲
跪在花叢中
除草
她兒子的舊曲棍球護腿板
保護她患有關節炎的膝蓋

Chinese Translation (Simplified) 

背部弯曲
跪在花丛中
除草
她儿子的旧曲棍球护腿板
保护她患有关节炎的膝盖


Bio Sketch

Ignatius Fay was a retired invertebrate paleontologist. His poems has appeared in many of the most respected online and print journals, including The Heron’s NestModern HaikuArs Poetica, GustsChrysanthemum and Eucalypt. Books: Breccia (2012), a collaboration with fellow haiku poet, Irene Golas; Points In Between (2011), an anecdotal history of his first 23 years. He was the editor of the Haiku Society of America Bulletin. Ignatius resided in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada.

Saturday, March 9, 2024

Butterfly Dream: Winter Romance Haiku by Keitha Keyes

English Original

winter romance --
eyes meet in the dancing
of firelight

Kokako, 35, 2021

Keitha Keyes 


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

冬天的浪漫 --
情侶的眼神交會
在舞動的火光

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

冬天的浪漫 --
情侣的眼神交会
在舞动的火光


Bio Sketch

Keitha Keyes lives in a tiny house in Sydney, filled with her husband’s model ships and her many antique irons and trivets. She enjoys writing haiku, senryu, gembun, tanka, cherita, sequences and tanka prose. Her work is published in many print and online journals in Australia and overseas.

Friday, March 8, 2024

Butterfly Dream: Sumi-e Painting Haiku by Brendon Kent

English Original

sumi-e painting 
a crow breaks
the snow’s silence 

First Place, 2022 Polish International Haiku Contest

Brendon Kent 


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

日本水墨畫
一隻烏鴉打斷
大雪的寂靜

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

日本水墨画
一只乌鸦打断
大雪的寂静


Bio Sketch
    
Brendon Kent lived in Botley, an old countryside village in Southern England (circa 890 A.D.) Born in the late 50's he had written poetry for many years preferring the "short forms." Brendon's haiku/senryu were published worldwide in many leading books and journals. He was a member of the British Haiku Society.

Thursday, March 7, 2024

To the Lighthouse: List Tanka

A list tanka, a subgenre of list poetry, is a deliberately organized 5-line poem containing a list of things or images that build up to describe the poem’s subject matter. Thematically or emotionally speaking, a list tanka can be divided into two contrasting parts with the last line having the most weight. A list tanka often concludes with a startling or surprising phrase or image.

For example, the following tanka by M. Kei:

a migraine,
a pill,
a sweltering afternoon,
clouds without rain,
days without love 

January, A Tanka Diary, 2013

The first four lines show the N's daily activities in the forms of illness (L1), medication (L2), and weather impact (L3) and observation (L4), and the last line reveals the N's existential state of life (L5).

And his tanka below could be read as a prequel

no love notes
to be found
except those
that I wrote
in my imagination

NeverEnding Story, January 24, 2024


To conclude today's post, I would like to share with you the newest entries,  XXXVIII and XXXIX,  of Game Show, 2024: 

written in response to the Super Tuesday results

a row of flags
the same old blonde-haired man
a roomful of USA!s
flashing cell phones held high
deaths of children far away


written in response to Joe Biden's Absurdist theatrics in the State of the Union address

the old man raising his fist
more than 1000 troops
working day and night for two months
a floating pier done
the smell of rotting corpses with flies


FYI: List poems are an ancient tradition in poetry. There are examples in Homer's The Iliad and in the Bible. Eighteen-century English poet Christopher Smart, whose poetry was known for its "visionary power, Christian ardor, and lyrical virtuosity," composed a famous list poem, "from Jubilate Agno," which details all the daily activities of his cat Jeoffrey.

For I will consider my Cat Jeoffry.
For he is the servant of the Living God duly and daily serving him.
For at the first glance of the glory of God in the East he worships in his way.
For this is done by wreathing his body seven times round with elegant quickness.
For then he leaps up to catch the musk, which is the blessing of God upon his prayer.
For he rolls upon prank to work it in....



And Democarcy Now, March 4U.S. Airdrops Food to Gaza While Arming Israel to Drop Bombs

Palestinian health officials say at least 16 children have died in recent days from starvation and dehydration as Israel’s assault continues. UNICEF warns the number of child deaths will likely “rapidly increase” unless the war ends.


Added: The following entry is a sequel to XXXVIII:

Build Back (Much) Worse 

Game Show, 2024, XXXIX
written on International Women's Day

white raven on the roof ...
the same old man and his staff
patch and stitch
and slap together pieces
of past promises

Israel kills
two mothers every hour!
drowned out
by rolling chants of Four More Years!
as the storm clouds gather


FYI: The white raven is the extremely rare leucistic bird. It's not albino, evidenced by its striking sky-blue eyes, and it's believed to be a symbol of bad luck. The last time it was spotted was around Anchorage on Oct. 24 2023

And Democracy Now, March 8: Palestinian Women Prisoners Share Accounts of Inhumane Treatment, Sexual Assault

U.N. experts are calling for a probe into reports of sexual assault, torture and killing of Palestinian women prisoners by Israeli forces. The Palestinian Prisoner Society says an estimated 240 Palestinian women have been detained since October 7. 


Added: Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, XXIX: "period products"
written for International Women's Day

a circle of teens
making period products 
out of scraps
of their makeshift tents ...
Gaza's night sky shades of red

FYI: Dust and small particles, trapped in the atmosphere by high pressure after the aerial bombing, turn the night sky shades of red/orange-red

And Haaretz, March 7: This Women's Day, Palestinian Women in Gaza Are Making Period Products Out of Tents

The Gazan women cutting off their hair in the face of a water crisis, surviving c-sections without anesthesia and fashioning period products from scraps are showing strength and ingenuity in impossible circumstances

According to the international non-governmental organization ActionAid, Gaza is now one of the most dangerous places for women, with seven killed every two hours. 

Wednesday, March 6, 2024

Butterfly Dream: Black Cat Haiku by David Cobb

English Original

behind the coal box
a black cat licks the wind
out of its fur

Blithe Spirit, 4:1, 1994

David Cobb


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

在高側板嬰兒車的後面
一隻黑貓從它的毛皮中
舔著風

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

在高侧板婴儿车的后面
一只黑猫从它的毛皮中
舔着风


Bio Sketch

David Cobb was a British educational writer and champion of English-language haiku and haibun genres. He founded the British Haiku Society in 1990 and served as its president from 1997 to 2002. He won four Haiku Society of America Merit Book Awards, and the 1997 collection of haibun, Spring Journey to the Saxon Shore, established him as the "initiator of the haibun in Britain."

Tuesday, March 5, 2024

A Room of My Own: Gazan Poet Tanka

Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, XXV: "poetry"

do you still believe
that poems are stronger than fireballs
a Gazan poet asks
in daymares, I see a narcissus
entwined around my mind


FYI: This is a sequel to the following tanka:
Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, XVIII: "Rafah"

attacks on Rafah ...
will the sound of bombings 
echo, echoing
in the ears of the World
thousands of miles away



AddedAgainst the Drowning Noise of Other Words, XXVI: "aid airdrops"

                     aid
out of reach            air            ops
                                       dr 

and a dead child’s stare


FYI: Democarcy Now, March 4: U.S. Airdrops Food to Gaza While Arming Israel to Drop Bombs

Palestinian health officials say at least 16 children have died in recent days from starvation and dehydration as Israel’s assault continues. UNICEF warns the number of child deaths will likely “rapidly increase” unless the war ends.

And BBC News, March 5: Gaza aid airdrop: Why delivering food from the air is controversial

"Airdrops are expensive, haphazard and usually lead to the wrong people getting the aid," Jan Egeland, the secretary general of the Norwegian Refugee Council and a former UN aid chief, told the BBC after returning from a recent three-day visit to Gaza.

Airdrops are seven times more expensive compared to ground-delivered aid due to costs related to aircraft, fuel and personnel, says the WFP.

In addition to that, only relatively small quantities can be delivered with each flight, in comparison to what a convoy of lorries can bring in, and significant ground co-ordination is required within the delivery zone, says the WFP.

And The Guardian, March 8: Five killed and 10 injured in Gaza aid airdrop when parachute fails to open: Package ‘fell down like a rocket’ on roof of house near al-Shati refugee camp where people were waiting, a witness says

And Haaretz, March 9: UNRWA Accuses Israel of Forcing Agency Staff to Falsely Admit Hamas Links

A report by the UN agency details allegations of severe physical beatings, waterboarding, and threats of harm to family members.


AddedAgainst the Drowning Noise of Other Words, XXVII: "donkey feed"

rain clouds darkening ...
Gazan children sift through feed
as a donkey does


 Democracy Now, March 7: Ceasefire Talks Falter as Famine Plagues Gaza, Aid Remains Blocked by Israel


The group Refugees International is warning Israel’s persistent blocking of humanitarian aid into Gaza has created “apocalyptic” conditions inside the besieged territory. At least 20 Gazans have starved to death; the youngest victim was just one day old.

a soup kitchen volunteer in Rafah, Mohammed Al-Dalu: “Our hearts are being squeezed when a child comes over and says, 'I want to have rice and chicken.' We are unable to provide rice, let alone chicken, in light of the war that we are experiencing. This is not only a war on civilians. It is a war on food, on starvation. People here in the Gaza Strip cannot find bread to eat.”

And Democracy Now, March 7: iden Quietly Approves 100+ Arms Sales to Israel While Claiming Concern for Civilians in Gaza


AddedAgainst the Drowning Noise of Other Words, XXVIII: "bombshell shards"

winter deepens
bombshell shards glinting
at the crescent moon

Monday, March 4, 2024

Butterfly Dream: Cardboard Haiku by Robert D. Wilson

English Original

a lean-to
made of cardboard ...
winter rain

Ambrosia, 2, Winter 2009

Robert D. Wilson


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

紙板做成
的簡易避難所 ...
冬雨

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

纸板做成
的简易避难所 ...
冬雨


Bio Sketch

Robert D. Wilson is Co-Owner of Simply Haiku.