Thursday, April 30, 2015

Butterfly Dream: Phoenix Tattoo Haiku

English Original

flower moon ...
her fingertips trace the curves
of his phoenix tattoo

Rebecca Drouilhet


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

花月...
她的指尖繞行
他鳳凰紋身的曲線

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

花月...
她的指尖绕行
他凤凰纹身的曲线


Bio Sketch

Rebecca Drouilhet is a 59-year-old retired registered nurse.  Her haiku and tanka have appeared in numerous print and electronic journals.  In 2012, she won a Sakura award in the Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival Haiku Invitational.  She and her husband, Robert Michael Drouilhet have written a book of haiku titled Lighting a Path.

Wednesday, April 29, 2015

A Room of My Own: Canadian Dream

for Sam Roberts who once said, "I went out on the street today, the Canadian Dream was as far away as it's ever been..."

I used to be...
at the corners of his mouth
saliva stains

job hunting ...
shadows of a maple
across the dew

this promised land ...
each of his last words
drips with anger

Note: Sam Roberts is a Juno Award-winning Canadian rock singer-songwriter, whose 2001 debut release, The Inhuman Condition, became one of the bestselling independent releases in Canadian music history.

Tuesday, April 28, 2015

Butterfly Dream: Winter Pond Haiku by Julie Warther

English Original

still the same winter pond still

Mu, 4, 2012

Julie Warther


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

還是一樣的冬天池塘寂靜安寧

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

还是一样的冬天池塘寂静安宁


Bio Sketch

Julie Warther lives in Dover, Ohio with her husband and three children.  She serves as the Midwest Regional Coordinator for the Haiku Society of America.

One Man's Maple Moon: Red Truck Tanka by Ken Slaughter

English Original

on a shelf
in her dining room...
the red truck
her father bought
hoping for a boy

A Hundred Gourds, 2:1, December 2012

Ken Slaughter


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

在飯廳  
的展示櫃架子上 ...
她父親所買
的一輛紅色卡車
並希望有個男孩

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

在饭厅  
的展示柜架子上 ...
她父亲所买
的一辆红色卡车
并希望有个男孩


Bio Sketch

Ken Slaughter began writing tanka in 2012.  His tanka are published in a variety of online and print journals.  His tanka won second prize and  honorable mention in the 2012 Tanka Society of America International contest. He won an honorable mention in the 2014 contest.  Ken lives in Massachusetts, USA, with his wife and two cats.

Monday, April 27, 2015

Butterfly Dream: Old Villa Haiku by Sarah Paris

English Original

old villa
empty this autumn
a flock of crows 

Sarah Paris


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

今年秋天   
古老的鄉間別墅空蕩蕩
一群烏鴉

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

今年秋天   
古老的乡间别墅空荡荡
一群乌鸦


Bio Sketch

Sarah Paris is a Swiss-American poet, writer, and photographer. Her professional past includes  adventures in screenwriting, a ten-year stint as a freelance journalist, and the publication of the German-language novel Ahnenbeschwörung in Switzerland.  She is currently the director of communications for the UCSF School of Medicine.

Sunday, April 26, 2015

Butterfly Dream: Basket of Stars Haiku by Steliana Cristina Voicu

English Original

after apple-picking
in the orchard
a basket of stars

The Mainichi, 19th November 2014

Steliana Cristina Voicu


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

採摘蘋果之後
在果園裡
一籃子的星星

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

采摘苹果之後
在果园里
一篮子的星星


Bio Sketch

Steliana Cristina Voicu lives in Ploieşti, Romania and loves painting, poetry, photography and astronomy. She has a bachelor’s degree in Cybernetics, Statistics and Economic Informatics and a master's diploma in Business Support Databases. Her haiku, haiga and tanka have been published in various magazines and anthologies.

One Man's Maple Moon: Sweet Peas Tanka by Jenny Barnard

English Original

sweet peas
planted long ago --
lost in weeds
sudden myriad flowers
like new love

Gusts, 20, Fall/Winter 2014

Jenny Barnard


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

很久以前
種植的甜豌豆 --
消失在雜草中
突如其來的無數鮮花
像是新生的愛情

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

很久以前
种植的甜豌豆 --
消失在杂草中
突如其来的无数鲜花
像是新生的爱情


Bio Sketch

Jenny Barnard has been travelling the writing circuit for about 30 years. Her background began in Watersmeet haiku, Famous Reporter (Walleah press), Moonset & Republican Readings (haiku, tanka and extended poetry forms). She continues to explore tanka "freshness" and paradox. Her tanka have appeared in Canadian and Australian journals, anthologies, broadsheets, performances, and workshops. Her ideal is to master and teach tanka. She is married with one daughter, and lives in Berriedale, a suburb of Hobart, Tasmania.

Saturday, April 25, 2015

Butterfly Dream: Ants Haiku by Polona Oblak

English Original

distant thunder
ants inside
a broken egg shell

tinywords, 12.1, 2012

Polona Oblak


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

遠方雷聲
一個破蛋殼裡
的螞蟻

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

远方雷声
一个破蛋壳里
的蚂蚁


Bio Sketch

Polona Oblak lives and works in Ljubljana, Slovenia. For 40 odd years Polona thought she had no talent for writing. Then she discovered haiku. Her haiku and occasional tanka are widely published and a handful appeared in anthologies such as The Red Moon Anthology and Take Five.

Friday, April 24, 2015

Blueline and Red Thread: Scream from the Shadows, II

she whispers,
I'm good at intimacy
with strangers ...
I see the light go out
in the escort's eyes

behind my back
they whisper slanted eyes ...
in a dream
I unzip my skin,
put on another
(Note: Highly Commended, 5th Kokako Tanka Competition, 2014. Below is a comment by the Judge: In "behind my back," the effect of verbal abuse is communicated in striking fashion, through a dream, which somehow connects us all. -- commentary by the judge, Owen Bullock, Kokako, 22, 2015 )

Note: "Scream from the Shadows" is the first themed section of  Blueline and Red Thread, the first collection of sociopolitical tanka. And you can read the preceding tanka here.

Thursday, April 23, 2015

Butterfly Dream: Stylist Haiku by Barry George

English Original

the stylist
rinses away
the sound of her voice

First Place, 2009 Gerald Brady Senryu Award

Barry George


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

髮型師
沖走了
她的聲音

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

髮型师
冲走了
她的声音


Bio Sketch

Barry George’s haiku have been widely published in journals and anthologies, and in Chinese, Japanese, German, Romanian, Croatian, and French translations. A winner of competitions including First Prize in the Gerald Brady Senryu Contest, he is the author of Wrecking Ball and Other Urban Haiku, nominated for a Pushcart Prize.

Wednesday, April 22, 2015

Poetic Musings: Burned Fields Haiku by Anonymous

Japanese Original:

Kusa-moyuru ikioi ari ya yakenohara

English Translation

the grass
sprouting wildly ...
burned fields

Anonymous,  “Current Events Haiku” Column, Taiwan Daily News, 27 January 1901, p4.
trans. by Chen-ou Liu


Commentary

Denotatively speaking, "burned fields" (or burned plains) is an early spring season word, and "the grass sprouting," is a frequent association in poems with "burned fields" (Brink, "Conventional Projections of Nature and Labor in Early Colonial Taiwan," p. 337). In the old days, Japanese farmers burned the fields or plains to make way for  new grass, and they made fertilizer from the ashes. 

Connotatively speaking,  this anonymous haiku was published in the “Current Events Haiku” Column of  Taiwan Daily News on 27 January 1901, mainly employed to be a symbol of crushing the recent Taiwanese armed resistance to the Japanese colonial rule, which began in 1895 after Qing China lost the First Sino-Japanese War to Japan. And evaluated in this sociopolitical context, “the grass,” takes on "the meaning of the people of Taiwan, and with “sprouting wildly” Ls 1 &2  indicate a "condescending framing of Taiwanese Chinese and aboriginal peoples as just starting to grow into the modern model which would suit the Japanese (being shaped to serve the needs of agriculture and industry)" (Ibid.)

Note: This "Poetic Musings" post is a part of my essay project, titled "Politics and Poetics of Haiku in Taiwan," written for the Haiku Foundation.

Reference:

Dean Brink, "Conventional Projections of Nature and Labor in Early Colonial Taiwan," Oriental Archive, 79, 2011, p.337.

Butterfly Dream: Dandelion Clocks Haiku by John McManus

English Original

dandelion clocks
she unfolds
an abortion leaflet

Modern Haiku, 45:2, Summer 2015

John McManus


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

蒲公英時鐘
她攤開
一張墮胎傳單

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

蒲公英时钟
她摊开
一张堕胎传单


Bio Sketch

John McManus is a poet from Carlisle, Cumbria, England. His haiku and senryu have appeared in various journals all over the world. He currently works as a support worker for people with mental health issues. In his spare time he enjoys watching films, sharing poetry with friends and spending time with his family.

Tuesday, April 21, 2015

One Man's Maple Moon: Pelting Rain Tanka by Mary Davila

English Original

bare branches
of an old oak
in pelting rain...
I forget
another prayer

Ribbons, 10:3,  Fall 2014

Mary Davila


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

在傾盆大雨中
一棵老橡樹
光禿禿的樹枝 ...
我忘了
另一個祈禱

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

在倾盆大雨中
一棵老橡树
光秃秃的树枝 ...
我忘了
另一个祈祷


Bio Sketch

Mary Davila and her husband, Frank, live in Buffalo, NY.  She relies on her faith for everything, including writing.  Mary began to explore haiku and haiga in 2006.  Her work has been published in numerous online journals and in print.  In 2014, tanka became her main focus.  Her website  is www.petalsinthelight.com.

Monday, April 20, 2015

Butterfly Dream: Empty Field Haiku by Maureen Virchau

English Original

separation
a crow's caw across
an empty field

tinywords, 14.1, May 2014

Maureen Virchau


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

暫時分居
烏鴉的啼聲穿越
荒蕪田地
   
Chinese Translation (Simplified)

暂时分居
乌鸦的啼声穿越
荒芜田地


Bio Sketch

Maureen Virchau lives in western New York with her husband and son. Her haiku have appeared in Acorn, A Hundred Gourds, Bones, Frogpond, Prune Juice, and tinywords.

Sunday, April 19, 2015

A Room of My Own: Something New under the Sun

A Gendai Haiku Sequence

Houston,
we have lift-off ...
the night moaning

Rated R --
the orgasm
of sudden rain

my snow angel
dripping with hormones ...
scent of spring

Saturday, April 18, 2015

One Man's Maple Moon: Ancient Grief Tanka by Gerry Jacobson

English Original

rain falling
on crumbling tombstones
in the woods
I feel the weight
of ancient grief 

Eucalypt, 9, 2010

Gerry Jacobson


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

雨點
飄落在樹林中
搖搖欲墜的墓碑
我感覺到
古老悲傷的沉重

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

雨点
飘落在树林中
摇摇欲坠的墓碑
我感觉到
古老悲伤的沉重


Bio Sketch

Gerry Jacobson lives in Canberra , Australia . A retired geologist, he grows vegetables, looks after grandchildren, and writes tanka. He is composing a kind of autobiography in "tanka prose."

Friday, April 17, 2015

Butterfly Dream: Ifs and Buts Haiku by Shloka Shankar

English Original

sliver moon...
my ifs and buts
wear him out

Gems: an anthology of haiku, senryu, and sedoka, 2014

Shloka Shankar


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

天邊一片月 ...
我的許多如果和但是
使他疲累

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

天边一片月 ...
我的许多如果和但是
使他疲累


Bio Sketch

Shloka Shankar is a freelance writer residing in India. Her work appears in over two dozen international anthologies. Her haiku, haiga and tanka have appeared in numerous print and online journals. She is also the editor of the literary and arts journal, Sonic Boom.

One Man's Maple Moon: Ditch Tanka by Helen E. Herr

English Original

cows moon-eye me
through the fence --
writing poetry
cross-legged
in the ditch

Gusts, 11, Spring/Summer 2010

Helen E. Herr


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

通過圍欄
牛群用朦朧的眼神
看著我 --
坐在水溝中
盤著腿寫詩

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

通过围栏
牛群用朦胧的眼神
看著我
坐在水沟中
盘著腿写诗


Bio Sketch

Helen E. Herr lives in a town of 2500: Watrous, Saskatchewan, Canada, where people grow grain, raise livestock, and produce Potash. Her family support her writing, painting and sculpting soapstone.  She loves writing all the different types of poetry. Her grandchildren keep her young.

Thursday, April 16, 2015

Butterfly Dream: Spring Skies Haiku by Kris Lindbeck

English Original

spring skies
even the crow's caw
full of light

Kris Lindbeck


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

春天的天空
就連烏鴉的叫聲
都充滿明亮

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

春天的天空
就连乌鸦的叫声
都充满明亮


Bio Sketch

Kris Lindbeck has been writing Japanese short form poetry since 2009. She can be found on Twitter @krislindbeck and tumblr. She has published in Prune Juice, Haiku News, Bones, and Skylark.. She is also working on a book of poems about biblical women.

Wednesday, April 15, 2015

Butterfly Dream: Plastic Bag Haiku by Ben Moeller-Gaa

English Original

bus stop
a plastic bag jellyfishing
in the breeze

Acorn, 33, 2014

Ben Moeller-Gaa


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

公共汽車站
一個塑料袋在微風中
像海蜇般漂游

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

公共汽车站
一个塑料袋在微风中
像海蜇般漂游


Bio Sketch

Ben Moeller-Gaa is a haiku poet and a contributing poetry editor to River Styx literary magazine. He is the author of two haiku chapbooks, Wasp Shadows (Folded Word 2014) and Blowing on a Hot Soup Spoon (poor metaphor design 2014). You can find more on Ben online at www.benmoellergaa.com.

Tuesday, April 14, 2015

Blueline and Red Thread: Scream from the Shadows, I

In celebration of the fifteenth anniversary of the Tanka Society of America, I am pleased to announce a new publishing project, the first collection of sociopolitical tanka titled Blueline and Red Thread.

The following is the title tanka and it's dedicated to Krzysztof Kieślowski, film director of The Three Colors Trilogy (the collective title of three films, Blue, White, and Red, loosely based on one of the three political ideals in the motto of the French Republic: liberty, equality, fraternity)

I protest
with my mouth taped:
don't stain my poems
Blueline and Red Thread
with your snow-white kiss

This collection of sociopolitical tanka is divided into distinct themed sections. Below are two tanka from the first section, "Scream from the Shadows:"

the drunk
on top of his wife
as she screams
then becomes silent ...
snow falling on snow

a senate claims
women can block rape sperm
with willpower!
throughout the night, I hear
walnuts hitting the ground


Note: Blueline is the final stage of the design process of publications before going to print, and  red thread is a metaphor used in Germanic and Slavic languages to describe a common theme running through a story.

One Man's Maple Moon: Silence Tanka by Susan Constable

English Original

silence comes
on little cat feet …
soft and warm
as a late-summer breeze
or a goodnight kiss

Susan Constable


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

寂靜像小貓般
悄悄地到來 ...
它的柔軟和溫暖
如同夏末的微風
或是晚安之吻

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

寂静像小猫般
悄悄地到来 ...
它的柔软和温暖
如同夏末的微风
或是晚安之吻


Bio Sketch

Susan Constable’s tanka appear in numerous journals and anthologies, including Take Five. Her tanka collection, The Eternity of Waves, was one of the winning entries in the eChapbook Awards for 2012. She is currently the tanka editor for the international on-line journal, A Hundred Gourds.

Monday, April 13, 2015

Butterfly Dream: Storm Haiku by Maria Tomczak

English Original

coming storm
less and less space
between us

Cattails, September 2014

Maria Tomczak


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

即將到來的風暴
在我們之間
空間越來越少

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

即将到来的风暴
在我们之间
空间越来越少


Bio Sketch

Maria Tomczak lives in Opole, Poland. She enjoys writing haiku, poems and short stories. As a mother she also writes fairy tales for her son. She is interested in Japanese culture and poetry, especially haiku and related forms.

Sunday, April 12, 2015

A Room of My Own: Gunshot Haiku

There are literally two Americas. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

a flurry of white ...
a black man shot in the back
as he runs


Note: This haiku was written in response to the killing of  Walter L. Scott by a white police officer, and "There are literally two Americas," a joshi ("prefatory note" functioning as a poetic device), is taken from Dr. King's speech  made at Stanford University in 1967, a year before his assassination.

Below are my published tanka about the killings of innocent African Americans by white policemen:

a baseball cap
on his gold-and-black coffin...
a silent cry
from the bloodstained ground
no justice, no peace
(for Michael Brown)

PoemHunter, August 26 2014

blindfolded Justice
holding her scales and sword
in the square
row upon row of black men
chanting I can't breathe
(for Eric Garner)

PoemHunter, December 6, 2014

Saturday, April 11, 2015

Butterfly Dream: Moon Haiku by Ken Sawitri

English Original

last load
my son spreads his hand
to weigh the moon

Wednesday Haiku, 159, May 14th 2014

Ken Sawitri


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

最後一批貨
我兒子伸開他的手
權衡月亮之重

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

最後一批货
我儿子伸开他的手
权衡月亮之重


Bio Sketch

Ken Sawitri was born in Blora, Central Java, Indonesia, and completed her degree in psychology at the University of Indonesia. She was the Psychology & Education editor of  Ayahbunda (1995-1998). She had the first publication in Indonesian national  media when she was in junior high school.

Friday, April 10, 2015

One Man's Maple Moon: Dad’s Ashes Tanka by Ignatius Fay

English Original

recycling
Dad’s ashes scattered
in the garden
his urn reused
as a planter

red lights, 10:2, June 2014

Ignatius Fay


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

回收
撒在花園裡
爸爸的骨灰
他的骨灰盒重新使用
作為一個花盆

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

回收
撒在花园里
爸爸的骨灰
他的骨灰盒重新使用
作为一个花盆


Bio Sketch

Ignatius Fay is a retired invertebrate paleontologist. His poems have 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 is the new editor of the Haiku Society of America Bulletin. Ignatius resides in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada.

Thursday, April 9, 2015

Butterfly Dream: Nursing Home Haiku by Vera Constantineau

English Original

nursing home
she doesn't know me
did she ever                                     

bottle rockets, 29, August 2013

Vera Constantineau


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

住在養老院裡
她不認識我
她曾經認識我嗎

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

住在养老院里
她不认识我
她曾经认识我吗


Bio Sketch

Vera Constantineau lives in Copper Cliff, Ontario. She loves to write human haiku that point out the foibles of fellow citizens of the planet.

To the Lighthouse: A Rhetorical Device, Oxymoron

Given the extreme shortness of the poem, the stylistic interest or hitch cannot but consist of the most elementary of rhetorical devices: oxymoron and hyperbole. I use these terms in their widest senses, "oxymoron" covering a whole range of meanings from contradiction to opposition to contrast,...

-- Koji Kawamoto, “The Use and Disuse of Tradition in Basho's Haiku and Imagist Poetry,” Poetics Today, 20:4, Winter, 1999, pp.713, 714.


The rhetorical term oxymoron, made up of two Greek words meaning "sharp" and "dull," is itself oxymoronic: illogical and self-contradictory.  Oxymoron is  the "show-off" figure of speech mainly used to "shock" the reader into recognizing a reality never noticed before, thus giving voice to life's inherent conflicts and incongruities. Since haiku don't have enough space to deal with the complex narrative logic or explore complicated themes, the use of  antithetical phrases and images is one of the most effective ways of instigating the reader's inquiry into and discovery of significance. And evaluated in the context of haiku poetics, "contradiction is an essential element of haikai -- ... the utterly indispensable opposition of ga ("elevated") and zoku ("unrefined") and the logical discrepancies. Basho's disciples and later poets often identified toriawase ("matching of elements") as the fundamental feature of haiku. No doubt the practice of bringing together essentially disparate elements was always at the forefront of their minds" (Koji Kawamoto, The Poetics of Japanese Verse: Imagery, Structure, Meter, p. 108)


Awfully Good  Haiku:

snow on snow ...
my shadow and I
alone together

Chen-ou liu

Comment: L1 establishes the seasonal and emotional context of the poem while Ls 2&3 convey a strong sense of loneliness and isolation through the rhetorical expression of oxymoron (my shadow and I [i.e. just one person, the speaker] "alone" "together")


At Sumadera Temple --
one hears an unplayed flute
in the dark beneath the summer trees

Basho

Comment: On a summer night, standing alone under the dense trees on the Buddhist temple grounds, one can recognize in this  oxymoronic announcement ("one hears an unplayed flute") a paradoxical yet transcendent truth: the sound of silence is a purer kind of music than anything that can be played upon an instrument. And armed with the extra-textual knowledge about Taira no Atsumori's beloved flute left to Sumadera Temple after the young warrior's death at the 1184 battle of Ichi-no-tani (Kawamoto, Ibid.), one can see L2 not only as a bold announcement where a paradoxical yet transcendent truth is embedded but also as a  heartfelt description of one's mental picture, which adds emotional weight and psychological depth to the poem)


spring skies
even the crow's caw
full of light

Kris Lindbeck

Comment: L1 sets the scene and establishes the seasonal context while the mood and feel of the poem is greatly enhanced through the excellent combined use of oxymoronic hyperbole and  synaesthesia in Ls 2&3.

In this haiku, oxymoron  is generated not by any particular linguistic structure (such as in the case of  Basho's haiku) or form of expression (such as in the case of Chen-ou Liu's snow haiku) but mainly through the meanings and associations of the words themselves by the creation of an opposition or contrast between elevated ("ga," represented by spring skies) and unrefined ("zoku," represented by the crow and its caw) registers (Kawamoto, Ibid., 112).

 In order to enhance the mood and feel evoked by the warm and joyful scene, "spring skies," the auditory image, "the crow's caw" (the hoarse raucous sound),  is beautified and described with the visual phrase, "full of light" in a hyperbolic manner as indicated by the use of even ("the force of hyperbole is frequently borne by the appearance of the particle "mo" ("even;" for more examples, see Kawamoto, Ibid., pp. 79-82)

Wednesday, April 8, 2015

Butterfly Dream: End of Winter Haiku by Carl Seguiban

English Original

end of winter --
shelving
Ulysses

bottlerockets, 31, August 2014

Carl Seguiban


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

冬季結束 --
尤利西斯
放回書架上

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

冬季结束 --
尤利西斯
放回书架上


Bio Sketch

Carl Seguiban resides in British Columbia which inspires his haiku. His poems have been published in Mayfly, Modern Haiku, Frogpond, Bottle Rockets, A Hundred Gourds, Moongarlic, Presence, Under the Basho, paper wasp, The Heron's Nest, Cattails, Prune Juice among others.

Tuesday, April 7, 2015

A Room of My Own: Every Poem an Epitaph

a solo somonka in response to Albert Camus's remark:
There is but one truly serious philosophical problem, and that is suicide.
--  An Absurd Reasoning

published poet,
a shaman or just a shame ...
unemployed
I crawl into a hole
and wait for the last breath

destroy, destroy, ...
hums my unconscious --
the God of Job
refuses to hear the hum
while killing my ten poems

Monday, April 6, 2015

Butterfly Dream: Ferry Haiku by Cynthia Rowe

English Original

last ferry home
the night empty
of stars

Commended, 2014 New Zealand Poetry Society Competition

Cynthia Rowe


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

最後一班渡輪回家
夜晚的天空
一顆星星都沒有

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

最後一班渡轮回家
夜晚的天空
一颗星星都没有


Bio Sketch

Cynthia Rowe is President: Australian Haiku Society; Editor: Haiku Xpressions; Past President: Eastern Suburbs Branch FAW NSW. A University of Melbourne graduate in French and Philosophy, she was awarded a Diplôme Approfondi de Langue Française by the French Ministry of Education. She has published seven novels, plus poetry collections Driftwood and Floating Nest.

Sunday, April 5, 2015

Butterfly Dream: Tide Haiku by Tash Adams

English Original

turn of the tide                        
baby’s first footprints                      
in the sand    

Tash Adams


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

潮水轉向
在沙灘上寶寶
的第一個腳印

Chinese Translation (Simplified)


潮水转向
在沙滩上宝宝
的第一个脚印


Bio Sketch

Tash Adams has a scientist’s eye for discovery; and she hopes to name a new species. Tash can be found investigating nature with her children or counting syllables on her fingers (Walking whilst doing so may result in injury). She hides in the hills of Perth Western Australia, blogging infrequently at tashadams.com

Saturday, April 4, 2015

One Man's Maple Moon: Hyacinths Tanka by Pamela A. Babusci

English Original

cutting
turquoise-blue hyacinths
the color of sky
i visit my sister
who just miscarried

First Place,  2013 Tanka Way Contest

Pamela A. Babusci


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

摘除
藍綠色的風信子
它們展現天空的顏色
我看望妹妹
她剛剛流產

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

摘除
蓝绿色的风信子
它们展现天空的颜色
我看望妹妹
她刚刚流产


Bio Sketch

Pamela A. Babusci  is an internationally award winning haiku, tanka poet and haiga artist. Some of her awards include: Museum of Haiku Literature Award, International Tanka Splendor Awards, First Place Yellow Moon Competition (Aust) tanka category,  First Place Kokako Tanka Competition,(NZ) First Place Saigyo Tanka Awards (US), Basho Festival Haiku Contests (Japan).  Pamela has illustrated several books, including: Full Moon Tide: The Best of Tanka Splendor Awards, Taboo Haiku, Chasing the Sun, Take Five: Best Contemporary Tanka, and A Thousand Reasons 2009. Pamela was the founder and now is the solo Editor of Moonbathing: a journal of women’s tanka; the first all women’s tanka journal in the US.

Butterfly Dream: Waititng Room Haiku by Sonam Chhoki

English Original

clinic waiting room --
beyond the window blinds
more walls

The Heron's Nest, 13:1, March 2011

Sonam Chhoki


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

診所等候室 --
在窗簾的另外一邊
有更多牆

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

诊所等候室 --
在窗簾的另外一边
有更多墙


Bio Sketch

Born and raised in the eastern Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan, Sonam Chhoki has been writing Japanese short forms of haiku, tanka and haibun for about 7 years. These forms resonate with her Tibetan Buddhist upbringing and provide the perfect medium for the exploration of  her country's rich ritual, social and cultural heritage. She is inspired by her father, Sonam Gyamtsho, the architect of Bhutan's non-monastic modern education. Her haiku, tanka and haibun have been published in poetry journals and anthologies in Australia, Canada, Ireland, Japan, UK and US.

Friday, April 3, 2015

One Man's Maple Moon: Robin Tanka by Brian Zimmer

English Original

first to rise
under fading stars
the robin
rouses a choir
to sing-up the sun

Skylark, 1:2, Winter 2013

Brian Zimmer


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

在殘星之下
知更鳥
率先醒來
鼓舞唱詩班
用歡唱升起太陽

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

在残星之下
知更鸟
率先醒来
鼓舞唱诗班
用欢唱升起太阳


Bio Sketch

Brian Zimmer wrote from the banks of the Mississippi River in St. Louis, Missouri. His work had appeared in various international print and online journals. He took inspiration from a variety of sources, including the ancient Japanese poetic-diary (utanikki) and free-form, poetic "essay" (zuihitsu).

Thursday, April 2, 2015

Butterfly Dream: Blooming Orchard Haiku by Goda V. Bendoraitiene

English Original

blooming orchard ...
in a dream I meet my mom
as old as me

A Vast Sky: World Haiku Anthology, 2015

Goda V. Bendoraitiene


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

盛開的果園 ...
在夢裡我見到母親
她和我一樣蒼老

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

盛开的果园 ...
在梦里我见到母亲
她和我一样苍老


Bio Sketch

Goda V. Bendoraitiene lives in Klaipeda, Lithuania. She studied English at Vilnius Pedagogical University. At the age of 48, she was inspired to write haiku, and joined the Lithuanian site for Literature. She publishes poetry, arranges national haiku contests, and takes part in the contests as a member of the jury.

Wednesday, April 1, 2015

A Room of My Own: April Is the Cruelest Month

steaming wulong tea ...
a collage
of memories

thoughts of home
one after another
April snowflakes

Hot News: A New Milestone -- 200,000 Pageviews

My Dear Friends:

NeverEnding Story just crossed the 200,000 view mark this morning.

Stats:

Pageviews yesterday: 371
Pageviews last month:11,680

I am grateful to everyone who has been a part of this poetry journey. And look forward to reading your new haiku/tanka (see 2015 anthology submission guidelines for haiku and tanka )

A haiku or a tanka without "rhetoric" was likely to be no more  than a brief observation without poetic tension or illumination.

-- Donald Keene, The Winter Sun Shines in: A Life of Masaoka Shiki, p 57.

Chen-ou


Note:  In addition to being translated into Chinese and published on NeverEnding Story, the accepted haiku and tanka will be tweeted and re-tweeted by  @storyhaikutanka (NeverEnding Story's Tweeter account: following: 8, followers: 446) and @ericcoliu (Chen-ou Liu's Tweeter account: following: 6, followers: 1,731) respectively to reach a larger readership.