A Room of My Own: CeaseFire Now Haiku

Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, XCIII: "ceasefire now"

b l             d

       o  

  d r    o  

              ps

waveafterwaveofprotesters

chanting CeaseFire Now

FYI: Haaretz, September 2: Israel's Blood-soaked Cabinet Won't Stop Unless Sunday's Powerful Protests Continue

Much like the hours following October 7, it is increasingly clear that Netanyahu is completely dysfunctional, and that his personal and political survival is a thousand times more important than the lives of the hostages.

Added: Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, XCIV: "hostages"

hand-drawn portraits 

of six hostages dripping blood ...

Crime Minister cutout

FYI: Each passing day is like a Russian roulette that Netanyahu is playing.

-- Einav Zangauker, father of a hostage

Added: Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, XCV: "Hostage Square"

Hostage Square

row upon row of coffins draped

with Stars of David

Added: Game Show, 2024, LXIV

317 I's

in one single rally speech ...

a MAGA pin

on this young man's breast pocket

stained with oil paint

Added: Game Show, 2024, LXV

an alley stray barking 

at its own echo ...

chants from afar of USA!

Added: 

I open the window

to let out a summer fly ...

the silence falls

Added:

a silhouette

in the backstreet alley

this sultry night

her hand touches me there

where manhood once was

Added: This Brave New World, CXVI

The same old same old every day

in the school hallway

scream after scream cut off

by gunshots ...

thoughts and prayers, enough's enough

fade in the gathering dark

Make America 

[Greatly] Sane Again ...

my ex-GOP friend

wipes his wrinkled eyes 

between spasms of laughter

FYI: BBC News, September 5: How many US mass shootings have there been in 2024?

Mass shootings on the rise

There have been more than 385 mass shootings across the US so far this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive, which defines a mass shooting as an incident in which four or more people are injured or killed. Their figures include shootings that happen in homes and in public places.

For each of the last four years there have been more than 600 mass shootings - almost two a day on average.

Poetic Musings: frograffiti Haiku by LeRoy Gorman

frograffitinsidecemberain

Modern Haiku, 46:2, Summer 2015

LeRoy Gorman

Commentary: The layout, one-line and compressed format, of this concrete haiku, "frograffitinsidecemberain (frog graffiti inside december rain)," works well with its theme and visual effects. And thematically and emotionally speaking, in contrast with real-life frogs in the winter that hibernate underwater, hide somewhere underground, or are tucked inside a structure that sits on the ground surface, this army of graffiti frogs in December rain create an orchestra of croaks and chirps, enlivening the gloomy winter streets.

Biting NOT Barking: Noway Haiku by Leroy Gorman

English Original

nowayfor war  d

Haiku Canada Review, 17:2, 2023

Leroy Gorman

Chinese Translation (Traditional)

不可能發生戰爭  或是  無路可走

    

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

不可能发生战争  或是  无路可走

Bio Sketch

LeRoy Gorman lives in Napanee, Ontario. His poetry, much of it minimalist and visual, has appeared in publications and exhibitions worldwide. He is the author of two dozen poetry books and chapbooks. He is also the winner of the 2017 Dwarf Stars Award

Poetic Musings: Dead Child's Stare Haiku

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

                     aid

out of reach            air            ops

                                       dr 

and a dead child’s stare

NeverEnding Story, March 5 2024

Chen-ou Liu

Commentary: This concrete haiku is divided into two parts (as indicated by "and" in the last line): one about the Palestinians struggling for Survival and the other about a dead child without closing his/her eyes. And the spilt between "dr" and "ops" is used to show the disintegration of this most expensive and dangerous aid delivery method. The concrete formatting works to heighten the message:

Each airdrop from each plane stirs anxiety and chaos, and it's unpredictable and devastating for anyone who is hungry and in need. 

FYI: CBC News, March 18: Gaza aid drops: risky and inefficient where aerial shots are used to this ineffective aid delivery. 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.

Haaretz, March 20: Israel at War, Day 166

In Rafah, where more food arrives, relative to northern Gaza, the proportion of malnourished children had risen from 5 percent to 10 percent by the end of February, while those with severe wasting increased from 1 percent to 4 percent 

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, Conference on humanitarian aid for Gaza in Brussels, March 18

In Gaza we are no longer on the brink of famine, we are in a state of famine, affecting thousands of people... This is unacceptable. Starvation is used as a weapon of war. Israel is provoking famine.

Haaretz, March 24: UNRWA Commissioner General Philippe Lazzarini said that Israeli Authorities informed the UN that they will no longer approve any UNRWA food convoys to the north of Gaza, adding that this was done "to obstruct lifesaving assistance during a man-made famine."

Axios, April 2: "Unforgivable": José Andrés' World Central Kitchen/NGO says 7 aid workers killed in Gaza strike

This is not only an attack against WCK, this is an attack on humanitarian organizations showing up in the most dire of situations where food is being used as a weapon of war," World Central Kitchen CEO Erin Gore said in a statement early Tuesday morning.

"The Israeli government needs to stop this indiscriminate killing. It needs to stop restricting humanitarian aid, stop killing civilians and aid workers, and stop using food as a weapon," José Andrés said.

Haaretz, April 2: Israeli Army Sources: Gaza Aid Workers Killed Because 'IDF Officers on the Ground Do What They Want'

The IDF and defense ministry claimed that the aid workers' killing resulted from poor coordination. Israeli army sources later refuted their claims, saying the incident has 'no connection to coordination' and was caused by the fact that 'every commander sets the rules for himself'

And Reuters, April 3: Chef Jose Andres says Israel targeted his aid workers 'systematically, car by car'

Celebrity chef Jose Andres told Reuters in an emotional interview on Wednesday that an Israeli attack that killed seven of his food aid workers in Gaza had targeted them "systematically, car by car."

This it seems is a war against humanity itself. And you can never win that war. Because humanity eventually will always prevail

To the Lighthouse: Concrete Haiku

A concrete haiku, also sometimes known as a visual haiku or a shape haiku, is an arrangement of linguistic elements in which the typographical effect is more important in conveying meaning than verbal significance. 

A concrete haiku is usually shaped or patterned in some way. The way the words are arranged on the page depicts the subject matter.

For example, my haiku about a salmon run, the annual migration of salmon upstream through rapids and up waterfalls to spawn. "Leaping up to three meters out of the water, it’s an impressive show of strength and determination...The salmon are driven by a strong urge to return to the place of their birth to spawn. Only the strongest will make it...(Britannica, "Behold the annual migration of salmon upstream through rapids and up waterfalls")

                                                                           waterfall

                                                                       a

                                                                up

                                                          ing

                                                 leap

salmon                            sight 

              dip                 of

                              out

                    in 

                         and 

Fireflies' Light, 26, September 2022

Another example, LeRoy Gorman's humorous haiku about wearing a "sombrero" (a "broad-brimmed felt or straw hat," typically worn in Mexico and the southwestern US) and the consequence.

                           no
                          way
                        to see
                          the
                      mountain
(((((((((((((((((sombrero)))))))))))))))))

Modern Haiku, 38:3, Autumn 2007