A Room of My Own: Man in Black Haiku

store windows barred shut

footsteps of a man in black

echoing mine

FYI: For more examples, see "To the Lighthouse: Haiku Noir"

Added:

in a blue suit

the "Great One" walked onto the ice 

near the US team’s bench

with a thumbs up ...

Gretzky statue smeared with poop

Added: Trump Empire, Inc., XI

Land of the Crazed --> USA

Canada <-- Home of the Brave

giant road sign

at the corner of the border

as flocks of geese fly north

Added: Trump Empire, Inc., XII

Uber ride home

a Trumpinator bobblehead

rattles on the dashboard

(FYI: Trumpinator bobblehead is a figurine of Donald Trump as the Terminator) 

To the Lighthouse: A Rhetorical Device, Humor

Humor is a rhetorical device that writers use to induce laughter or amusement in their readers, or more seriously, to highlight societal flaws

This Brave New World, LXIV

written in response to Republican Governor Doug Ducey's end-of-term, 97-million-dollars gift to his beloved "Land of the Free"

mile after mile

of stacked shipping containers 

topped by razor wire

under the desert sun

this Border Wall of Hate | Fear

NeverEnding Story, December 13 2022

mindless culture wars

On the Brink of Trumperica, XIII

woke mind virus ...

this double-masked man mumbles

in the psych ward

NeverEnding Story, February 8 2025

(FYI:

‘woke’ just means you give a damn about other people...We must stay in community. We must help the vulnerable. We must find ways to project an inspiring vision of the future

-- Jane Fonda, Feb. 23, 31st Screen Actors Guild Awards speech)

political corruption, which is rampant in Trumpland (CREW (Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington) is tracking Trump’s unprecedented corruption (again), Feb. 3, 2025), 

On the Brink of Trumperica, XII

the people of Trump

                  by the people of Musk

                  for the people of the SuperRich ...

sun-bleached stars and stripes

atop the Capitol fencing

NeverEnding Story, February 8, 2025

Or complete incompetence.

Between Heaven and Hell, VI

ka-kis-to-cracy ...

my English teacher's voice

quivering

as U-S-A! chants get louder

from the crowd outside the school

NeverEnding Story, November 16 2024

(FYI: The first part of the word comes from the Greek kákisto(s), meaning “worst.” So kakistocracy means “government by the worst.” The earliest known use of the word was in the 1600s by Paul Gosnold, a loyalist to King Charles I during the English Civil War.)

Now, what literary device is being used for humorous effect? Hyperbole is one of the commonly used devices with a focus, thematic or visual, on exaggeration for humorous effect, or the effective use of pun, irony, sarcasm, or the combination of these devices, can also achieve the same effect.

For example, see the titling, structure, political jargons, and "scientific fact " (as shown in the third haiku 😆) of the following haiku sequence:

Trump Empire, Inc., IX

written in response to Bob Newhart's claim: "Humor’s a weapon if you want to make it one"

Easy as 1-2-3 When Humor Bombs

MAGA bar brawl between Trump jokes a thunderous echo-fart

floodafterfloodoftariffstaxcutMARA

King Trump's Castro-length shit-words

raising chickens for eggs

since wave after wave of DOGE cuts

I fart so often

(FYI: The noun shit-word has been obsolete since its recorded usage only in the Middle English period (1150—1500) (shit-word entry, Oxford English Dictionary). Now, it's revived by King Trump.

DOGE stands for the "Department of Government Efficiency", and MARA for "Make America Rich Again."

And eggs contain sulfur, which can contribute to the sulfurous smell of gas.  😂)

To conclude today's post, I would like to share with you the following remarks:

Politicians and diapers must be changed often, and for the same reason.

-- Mark Twain

Politics is the gentle art of getting votes from the poor and campaign funds from the rich, by promising to protect each from the other.

-- Oscar Ameringer

One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors.

-- Plato

Added: Trump Empire, Inc., X

wall-mounted TV

blasting Putin demands to keep

captured territories

as we buy stinky tofu ...

one adds, "including the White House"

FYI: Stinky tofu, also known as "chou doufu" in Chinese, is a fermented bean curd dish popular in China and Taiwan, known for its strong, pungent odor and unique flavor. 

Biting NOT Barking: Geese and Refugees Haiku by Ernest J. Berry

English Original

frosty morning

migrating geese

and refugees

Forgotten War, 2016

Ernest J. Berry

Chinese Translation (Traditional)

霜凍的早晨

遷徙的大雁

和難民

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

霜冻的早晨

迁徙的大雁

和难民

Bio Sketch

Ernest J. Berry was born in 1929 in Christchurch, New Zealand. After a decade of shepherding, he spent several years in business before retiring to a beach in Mexico where he rediscovered his boyhood love of poetry. He un-retired in 1993 and settled in Picton. After founding Picton Poets in 1994, he started teaching haiku in workshops, secondary schools  and haiku meetings. Two of his haiku books were honoured with Merit Book Awards from The Haiku Society of America. 

Butterfly Dream: Carousel Haiku by Mohammad Azim Khan

English Original

tree shadows

ride the carousel

abandoned park

Modern Haiku, 50:3, Fall 2019

Mohammad Azim Khan

Chinese Translation (Traditional)

樹影

乘坐旋轉木馬

廢棄的公園

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

树影

乘坐旋转木马

废弃的公园

Bio Sketch

Mohammad Azim Khan is a retired UN official who has travelled to many war-torn countries to oversee relief and disaster operations. He graduated from Peshawar University with Master's degrees in both English Literature and Economics. He has since developed a special interest in haiku and tanka. And he has published many poems in journals around the world.

Poetic Musings:Israeli Settler & Gazan Boy Visual Tanka by Chen-ou Liu

Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, CIII: "settler violence"

          under        slate-gray            skies

                                   |                          

a settler aims his gun | a boy throws his rock

                                   |

          tank track marks on the grass

NeverEnding Story, October 4 2024

Commentary: This is the first three-line visual tanka ever written, and its unusual format forces the reader to consider the relationships among Israeli incursions, as implied from L3,  in the occupied West Bank during the Gaza war. And the use of these vertical lines/slashes not only shows the "Apartheid Wall against Palestinians, a cruel system of domination and a crime against humanity" (Amnesty International, Feb. 1 2022), as indicated in L2, but also implies a World Apart between the occupiers/Israelis and the occupied people/Palestinians. 

Note: The "single vertical line" has become the standard format for tanka written by the Japanese poets since the latter half of the 19th century; However, Ishikawa Takuboku, author of Poems to Eat and Romaji Diary and Sad Toys,  advocated for and started writing two or three lines, depending on the rhythm of each tanka. For more, see Hiroaki Sato, “Lineation of Tanka in English Translation,” 42 Monumenta Nipponica 3:347-56, Autumn 1987.

FYI: The following could be read as its sequel:

Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, CLXVI: "military watch"

burning olive groves ...

the weight of thick gray and black

blanketing

over the West Bank families

under military watch

NeverEnding Story, March 11, 2025

And UN Press Release, March 18: Israel ramps up settlement and annexation in West Bank with dire human rights consequences

Covering the period from 1 November 2023 to 31 October 2024, the report details significant expansion of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem. Steps have been taken towards implementing plans to construct over 20,000 housing units in new or existing Israeli settlements in East Jerusalem alone, according to Israeli non-governmental organisations, while 214 Palestinian properties and structures have been demolished in East Jerusalem. Over 10,300 units within existing Israeli settlements in the rest of the West Bank are in the pipeline and an unprecedented 49 new Israeli outposts have been established.

And Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, CLXVII: "pre-dawn bombings"

written in response to The Canadian Press, March 18: Israel's surprise bombardment plunged Palestinians back into 'hell'

By midday, over 400 people had been killed. It was one of the deadliest days of the 17-month war, following two months of ceasefire.

pre-dawn bombings

light the sky with orange flares 

shatter the stillness 

set fire to a sprawling tent camp ...

sounds of Death in a child's eyes

FYI: "Israel's oldest daily, now sanctioned by Netanyahu, the WarCriminal , Haaretz," Editorial, March 19: Israel, Not Hamas, Is Derailing the Gaza Cease-fire and Preventing the Hostages' Return

The Irish News, March 18: Netanyahu says strikes across Gaza that killed hundreds ‘only the beginning’ And Al Jazeera, March 19: Israel’s renewed strikes on Gaza have killed 183 children

Haaretz, March 20:

The IDF announced it has begun a ground offensive in northern Gaza. The White House said that President Trump "fully supports" Israel's recent actions in Gaza. Over 710 Gazans have been killed and 900 wounded in Israeli strikes in the last 48 hours, the spokesperson of a hospital in central Gaza told Al Arabiya News.

And Haaretz, Analysis, March 21:  Israel Is Preparing to Occupy Gaza, Reinstate Military Rule and Fully Control the Palestinian Population

Israel appears to be creating a smokescreen around the government and army's true intentions. While awaiting updates on talks with Hamas, preparations are underway for a major operation to occupy Gaza

Added: Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, CLXVIII: "bomb after bomb"

some sleep, some prepare 

for another Ramadan fast ...

bomb after bomb 

silencing all things under the roofs 

and inside makeshift tents

Added: Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, CLXIX: "inverted red triangle"

police phalanx on campus ...

with his face painted

with the inverted red triangle

he shouts, I need no mask; I speak

from my difference

FYI: Red triangle (Palestinian symbol), Wikipedia: Since the Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip, an inverted red triangle has been used by pro-Palestinian protesters.[1] The red triangle as a Palestinian symbol dates back to the 1917 Arab Revolt, after which it was also used in the Palestinian flag...

Butterfly Dream: Old Friends Haiku by Bill Kenney

English Original

old friends ...

the garden fading

into twilight

tinywords, 16:1, April 12 2016

Bill Kenney

 

Chinese Translation (Traditional)

老朋友 …

在黃昏中花園

漸漸消逝

Translation result紙箱

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

老朋友 …

在黄昏中花园

渐渐消逝

 

Bio Sketch 

 

Born and raised in the Boston area, and living for over 50 years in New York City, Bill Kenney was a professor for many years in the English Department at Manhattan College. He started writing haiku in 2004, a month before his 72nd birthday, and became an active participant in the New York City Spring Street Haiku group. His haiku were published in numerous journals and anthologies. And his collection of haiku, keep walking, won the 2021 Touchstone Distinguished Book Awards.

A Room of My Own: Something New for a Day Trip, and Yet ...

Trump Empire, Inc., VII

written in response to Time Magazine, March 11: U.S. Is Added to Human Rights Watchlist

It's Trump-Free Zone

not the 51st US state

from New York

my friend trumpets with her eyes closed

face skyward, hands outstretched ...

in Toronto sunshine

with the scent of early spring

and freedom

two Americans meet and part:

one draft dodger, one Trump evader

wave after wave

lapping against the lake shore ...

the blood moon

shapes and re-shapes

our dark reflections

Note: During the Vietnam War, American "draft dodgers," most of whom were anti-war activists, evaded military service through various means, with some seeking refuge in Canada. And the origin of the name "Toronto" comes from the Huron word toran-ten, which literally means meeting place.

And BuzzFeed, "Jan. 22": Americans Share Why They Chose Canada Over The US

Added: Trump Empire, Inc., VIII

patho-cracy ...

my ESL teacher whispers

then puts her finger 

to her mouth as USA! chants 

grow loud and darker outside

FYI: ESL stands for English as a Second Language. And a pathocracy is “a system of government created by a small pathological minority that takes control over a society" 

For more details, see The Tyee, March 18: Trump and the Politics of Pathology: The strongman catastrophist summons the worst in us. 

Trump is a catastrophist. He wrecks things and then feeds on the pieces. His enablers scavenge the perks and privileges that he dispenses. He is a misanthrope. The conflict and confusion that he creates are purposeful, not incidental. It is a calculated cruelty. And it takes the combination of grievance, vulnerability, and pervasive public ignorance that allows a strongman symbol like Trump to rise to the surface by channelling these feelings into rage and the lust for retribution. It’s not the price of eggs.

Added:

no eye contact ...

a teen up and out of their shopway

this snowy morning

Added:

the beep, beep

of life on the brink

waxing crescent

in the window

of this ICU room

Butterfly Dream: Sun-Drenched Song Haiku by Kala Ramesh

English Original

long after sunset

the cuckoo’s

sun-drenched song

  

Acorn, 52, Spring 2024

Kala Ramesh 

Chinese Translation (Traditional) 

日落後一段時間

一隻杜鵑

陽光浸潤的歌聲

Chinese Translation (Simplified) 

日落后一段时间

一只杜鹃

阳光浸润的歌声

Bio Sketch

Kala Ramesh is the Founder and Director of Triveni Haikai India, the Founder and Managing Editor of haikuKATHA Journal, an anthologist, and an external faculty member of Symbiosis International University Pune, where she taught a 60-hour haikai course from 2012 to 2021 — a first in India. She has organised eight major haiku festivals and to bring haiku into everyday spaces, Kala has initiated several successful projects in India.

One Man's Maple Moon: Sketch Tanka by Michael McClintock

English Original

from the waterfall

I brought home a sketch

of a small fern

that stood by the torrent

and taught me to draw

Earth: Our Common Ground, 2017

Michael McClintock

Chinese Translation (Traditional)

從瀑布景點

我帶回家一幅素描:

長在激流旁

小蕨類植物

教我畫畫

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

从瀑布景点

我带回家一幅素描:

长在激流旁

小蕨类植物

教我画画

Bio Sketch

Michael McClintock's lifework in haiku, tanka, and related literature spanned over four decades. His many contributions to the field included six years as president of the Tanka Society of America (2004-2010) and contributing editor, essayist, and poet for dozens of journals, anthologies, landmark collections and critical studies. McClintock lived in Clovis, California, where he worked as an independent scholar, consultant for public libraries, and poet. Meals at Midnight [tanka], Sketches from the San Joaquin [haiku] and Streetlights: Poetry of Urban Life in Modern English Tanka, were some of his recent titles.

Biting NOT Barking: Bombs and Storks Haiku by Daniela Misso

English Original

bombs fall

in a child's eyes

storks flying

Third Place, indianKUKAI, 37

Daniela Misso

Chinese Translation (Traditional) 

炸彈落下

在孩子的眼裡

鸛鳥四處飛散

Chinese Translation (Simplified) 

炸弹落下

在孩子的眼里

鹳鸟四处飞散

Bio Sketch

Daniela Misso lives with her husband and son in Umbria, Italy where she composes verses. Winner of national and international competitions, she has many haiku published in magazines. She is the author of the book, Connessioni Sottili, ed. FusibiliaLibri, 2021.

Butterfly Dream: Shift Change Haiku by Ignatius Fay

English Original

shift change

fried chicken and exhaust

on the warm breeze

DailyHaiga, 10 January 2017

Ignatius Fay

Chinese Translation (Traditional)

換班

炸雞味和汽車廢氣

隨暖風飄蕩

Chinese Translation (Simplified) 

换班

炸鸡味和汽车废气

随暖风飘荡

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 Nest, Modern Haiku, Ars Poetica, Gusts,Chrysanthemum 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. 

Poetic Musings: Protest March Haiku by Adjei Agyei-Baah

protest march

potbelly men

hold the line

Akitsu, Fall 2021

Adjei Agyei-Baah

Commentary: L1 sets the theme and tone while unexpected yet visually and emotionally "powerful" L3 makes this "protest" haiku fresh and effective, sparking the reader's emotions and reflection on what kind of reason is this group of potbelly men, who are, generally speaking, less active or energetic, protesting for? Which "sociopolitical" goal are they trying to achieve by "holding the line" firmly. 👏

What's left unsaid is at least as potent as what's stated.

And it might be interesting to do a thematic comparison reading of the following "magical-realist-esque" haiku:

a police phalanx

moves backward

a black woman

Applause Please, 2020

Jack Galmitz

A Room of My Own: The Longest Yet the Shortest Night

Trump Empire, Inc., III:

once upon a time

Rome was a Republic ...

my teacher laments

gazing at the White House

in the gathering dark

the dumb, no,

dumbest trade war in history ...

with news on mute

I see the MAGA neighbor

piling up boxes of eggs

this storm of thoughts

in my recurring dream

King Trump's head

sliced open with nothing in it

except a wall nut

warm bedside light --

Isaac Asimov flies me

into the Milky Way

to mind-witness the fall

of a galactic empire

FYI: It might be interesting to do a thematic comparison reading of the first entry of Between Heaven and Hell to reflection on what things have changed over a short period of less than 4 months in Trumperica.

Two Americas

the White House

surrounded by a metal fence 

ten feet high ...

this is America, and yet

the other America

this chilly night

stretching thousands of miles

behind the day

November 6th, the veil thinnest

between Heaven and Hell

Not Going Back

painted in large blue letters

on the billboard

in autumn morning chill

Not crossed out with red paint

raindrops stream

down Lady Liberty's face ...

in my mind's eye

atop the White House roof

the stars & stripes upside-down

NeverEnding Story , November 4, 2024

And The New Yorker, March 8: America’s Founders Feared a Caesar. Has One Arrived?

Julius Caesar pressured the Senate, won popular support by fomenting class warfare, and sported a combover. The constitutional scholar Jeffrey Rosen discusses the parallels.

The Washington Roundtable speaks with Jeffrey Rosen, the president and C.E.O. of the National Constitution Center, a nonpartisan nonprofit, about how America’s Founders tried to tyrant-proof their constitutional system, how Donald Trump’s whim-based decision-making resembles that of the dictator Julius Caesar, and what we can learn from the fall of the Roman Republic. Plus, how the Supreme Court is responding to the Trump Administration’s broad claims of executive power.

Added: Trump Empire, Inc., IV

in morning chill

to the clicking of cameras 

MAGA, MAGA ...

row upon rows of migrants

with hands and feet shackled

FYI: Time Magazine, March 11: U.S. Is Added to Human Rights Watchlist

Added: Trump Empire, Inc., V

plunge after plunge

the stock market bleeding ...

to reporters

red-eyed King Trump shouts,

shut up about egg prices

FYI: USA Today, March 9: Don't worry about eggs or a Trump recession. The billionaires will be just fine.

And Al Jazeera, March 11: ‘Bloodbath’: US stock market sheds $1.75tn after Trump’s recession remarks

Tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 plunges 3.81 percent, its steepest single-day loss since September 2022.

Added: Trump Empire, Inc., VI

King Trump's meaty smile ...

phalanx after phalanx

of red-hatted men

chanting, tariffs are a tax cut

Make America Great Again

FYI: King Trump's mouthpiece, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, claimed on March 11, "Tariffs are a tax cut for the American people....”

Added: Re-Homing in the Maple Land, XXXVII

the wind blows away 

what a homeless family

left behind ...

footprint after footprint

in the snow-covered park

Added: Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, CLXVI: "military watch"

burning olive groves ...

the weight of thick gray and black

blanketing

over the West Bank families

under military watch

Butterfly Dream: Flurry of Snow Haiku by Alan Summers

English Original 

a flurry of snow

the night settles

on each crow 

Lyrical Passion, July 2020

 

Alan Summers

 

Chinese Translation (Traditional)

一陣雪花

夜幕降臨籠罩著

每一隻烏鴉

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

一陣雪花

夜幕降臨籠罩著

每一隻烏鴉

 

Bio Sketch

Alan Summers is co-founder of Call of the Page, and founding editor of The Blo͞o Outlier Journal. He believes it’s essential to keep baking bread while creating innovative toppings from marmite and marmalade, not always at the same time, to other delights!

Butterfly Dream: Wren Song Haiku by Elmedin Kadric

English Original

holding off

holding on

wren song

rust, 2023

Elmedin Kadric 

Chinese Translation (Traditional)

延後

堅持 

鷦鷯之歌

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

延后

坚持

鹪鹩之歌

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.