Showing posts with label mirror. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mirror. Show all posts

Saturday, November 16, 2024

A Room of My Own: Melting Clock Haiku

Between Heaven and Hell, IV
first magical realist haiku

wall-to-wall mirrors
in his presidential suite ...
a melting clock ticks


FYI: "Magic realism or magical realism is a "style of literary fiction and art. It paints a realistic view of the world while also adding magical elements, often blurring the lines between fantasy and reality...excerpted from my "To the Lighthouse" post, Magical Realism in Times of Crises"


Added: Between Heaven and Hell, V

post-election blues ...
yet the stump jagged with some twigs
stretching upward


Added: Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, CXXIV: "armless Gazan"

smoky sunbeams 
through tattered olive trees ...
an armless Gazan


Added: 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


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.

And Daily Beast, Nov. 21: Jon Stewart Knows Why Trump Is Picking All the Worst People for His Cabinet

For Trump, it’s not a “downside” that his Cabinet picks “will not be sufficient stewards of these agencies,” Stewart said on the latest episode of his Weekly Show podcast. The point is that they are trying to “dismantle” the agencies themselves.


AddedBetween Heaven and Hell, VII

in morning chill
a youth gazes at the billboard
dripping red:
your body, My choice painted
over my body, my choice


FYI: The New Yorker, Nov.14: A New Rallying Cry for the Irony-Poisoned Right: It took less than twenty-four hours after Trump’s reëlection for young men to take up a slogan that could define the coming era of gendered regression: “Your body, my choice.” 

PBS, Oct.31: Trump: I will 'protect the women' ... 'like it or not'

And The Indian Express, Nov.17: ‘Your Body, My Choice’ vs 4B movement: The radical movement is an answer to the clock turning back

The movement consists of four ‘nos’ — no dating, no sex, no marriage, and no childbearing. It is a radical approach, but perhaps one whose time has come given the tumultuous fight for bodily autonomy American women have been undergoing.


AddedBetween Heaven and Hell, VIII
written in response to CNN News, Nov.18: "With swastika flags and bellowed slurs, neo-Nazi marchers strode through Columbus. Ohio" (J.D. Vance's home state)

Back in Business
It's Cleanup Time!
dripping red paint ...
I turn away when MAGA men
stab me with their eyes

Tuesday, December 31, 2019

A Room of My Own: A New Year of the Same Old

the year dying
nothing in this rented room
but my old dog

year's end
a mix of rain and snow
darkens the night

midnight countdown
staring at me a stranger
in the mirror

Saturday, March 30, 2019

Butterfly Dream: Mirror Haiku by Simon Hanson

English Original

either side
of the mirror
candlelight and darkness

the zen space, Summer 2016

Simon Hanson


Chinese Translation (Traditional)


任何一邊
的鏡子
燭光和黑暗

Chinese Translation (Simplified)


任何一边
的镜子
烛光和黑暗


Bio Sketch

Simon Hanson lives in sub-tropical Queensland, Australia where he enjoys his proximity to the Pacific Ocean and areas of rainforest.  He is a committee member of the Australian Haiku Society and is published in various journals and anthologies.

Friday, August 17, 2018

One Man's Maple Moon: Comparison Tanka by Sanford Goldstein

English Original

twenty years ago
the sagging neck of an actress
made him laugh;
now before his mirror
he juggles the comparison

Encounters in This Penny World, 2005

Sanford Goldstein


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

二十年前
一位女演員下垂的脖子
讓他發笑
現在他站在鏡子面前
戲耍地比較他的脖子下垂程度

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

二十年前
一位女演员下垂的脖子
让他发笑
现在他站在镜子面前
戏耍弄地比较他的脖子下垂程度


Bio Sketch

Sanford Goldstein has been publishing tanka for more than fifty years.  He was born in 1925 and is now 93 years old.  Long ago, he wrote haiku, but decided to focus on tanka.  His latest books, three in the last two years, have each said this would be his last.

Friday, June 15, 2018

Butterfly Dream: Cold Moon Haiku by Neal Whitman

English Original

not a window
but a mirror
full cold moon
   
Second Prize, 2016 San Francisco International Contest

Neal Whitman


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

不是一個窗戶
而是一面鏡子
一輪冷月

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

不是一个窗户
而是一面镜子
一轮冷月


Bio Sketch

Neal Whitman lives in Pacific Grove, California, with his wife Elaine. He is the haiku editor for Pulse: Voices from the Heart of Medicine and is Vice President of the United Haiku and Tanka Society.

Thursday, January 11, 2018

Poetic Musings: Mind and Moon Haiku by Chen-ou Liu

moon mirrors mind mirrors moon

NeverEnding Story,  September 21, 2017

Chen-ou Liu

Commentary by Bill Kenney:   moon / mirrors / mind / mirrors / moon

Mirrors as noun: "moon is objective, "mind" subjective; "mirrors" in between: objects in which we look for ourselves. Structure of the line puts "mirrors" precisely where it belongs.

Mirrors as verb: Does the mind mirror the moon, or is it the other way around, or both? "mirror" structure of the line invites the question.

These two ways of reading interact to form a complex, dynamic unity.

When I said "intriguing" I didn't mean it dismissively or condescendingly. We all have a healthy suspicion of haiku that seem ("merely," as we often say) intellectual. But this is more than that. It's intelligent.

And, if it doesn't foreground feeling, it does give us something to feel about.

Monday, November 6, 2017

Butterfly Dream: Hallway Mirror Haiku by Simon Hanson

English Original

hallway mirror
a vase of flowers
made of light

First Place, 2016 Jane Reichhold International Prize

Simon Hanson


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

走廊鏡子
一個花瓶內的花朵
由光做成

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

走廊镜子
一个花瓶内的花朵
由光做成


Bio Sketch

Simon Hanson lives in sub-tropical Queensland, Australia where he enjoys his proximity to the Pacific Ocean and areas of rainforest.  He is a committee member of the Australian Haiku Society and is published in various journals and anthologies. https://australianhaikusociety.org/

Thursday, December 22, 2016

One Man's Maple Moon: Birthday Tanka by LeRoy Gorman

English Original

still alive
for another birthday
a man with a crooked smile
stares me down
from the mirror

A Hundred Gourds, 5:1, December 2015

LeRoy Gorman


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

仍然活著
過另一個生日
一個有歪嘴笑容的人
從鏡子裡
久久地瞪著我

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

仍然活著
过另一个生日
一个有歪嘴笑容的人
从镜子里
久久地瞪著我


Bio Sketch

LeRoy Gorman writes mostly minimalist and visual poetry.  His most recent book, fast enough to leave this world, is one of tanka collections published by Inkling Press, Edmonton.  More information on his writing can be found at the American Haiku Archives where he served as the Honorary Curator for 2012-2013

Thursday, December 15, 2016

One Man's Maple Moon: Mirror Tanka by Thomas Martin

English Original

how can I be
so angry
over her remark ...
look long in the mirror
see my father staring back

Thomas Martin


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

我怎能
對她的評論
如此生氣 ...
久久地注視鏡子
看到父親盯著我

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

我怎能
对她的评论
如此生气 ...
久久地注视镜子
看到父亲盯著我 


Bio Sketch

Thomas Martin was raised on a farm in the Piedmont of North Carolina and graduated from the University of North Carolina.He has been writing poetry since his teen years, though haiku and tanka only since 2000.  He lives with his beautiful spouse, Joyce, in Beaverton, OR, USA

Wednesday, September 21, 2016

One Man's Maple Moon: Mirror Tanka by Shloka Shankar

English Original

these eyes
staring back from the mirror
no longer mine...
when did I start living
in denial?

Chrysanthemum, October 2014

Shloka Shankar


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

從鏡子裡
回瞪的這些眼睛
不再是我的 ...
什麼時候我開始生活
在否認之中? 

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

从镜子里
回瞪的这些眼睛
不再是我的 ...
什麽时候我开始生活
在否认之中?


Bio Sketch

Shloka Shankar is a freelance writer residing in India. Her work appears in over two dozen international anthologies. Her poems, erasures, 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

Wednesday, January 1, 2014

A Room of My Own: Revelations

a haiku set for Elizabeth Roxas-Dobrish who returned to the stage yesterday to perform Revelations.

When you're younger, you have everything - you have the flexibility, you have no fear. But you don't savor every step, every movement of every fingertip, every beat of the music. I feel like I'm tasting food for the first time.

--Elizabeth Roxas-Dobrish on dancing Alvin Ailey's Revelations again at age 55.


the new year begins
with the same rising sun...
me in the mirror

(Serbian Translation

pocinje Nova Godina
s istim izlazecim suncem…
ja u ogledalu

New Year Haiku, Diogen, January 1 2014)

New Year's morning dew...
old age happened to me
yesterday


Note: This short film (02:50), Returning to the Stage, At 55, directed by Natalia V. Osipova, tells a riveting story about a former Alvin Ailey superstar and a current artificial-hip owner, Elizabeth Roxas-Dobrish, who returns to the stage to perform Revelations, the company's best-known work.

Thursday, August 1, 2013

Butterfly Dream: Bedroom Mirror Haiku by Rita Odeh

English Original

bedroom mirror --
the coldness of that dangling
single breast

Third prize, Sharpening the Green Pencil Haiku Contest

Rita Odeh


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

臥室鏡子 --
單個乳房晃來晃去
的寒冷

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

卧室镜子 --
单个乳房晃来晃去
的寒冷


Bio Sketch

Rita Odeh is from Nazareth, Israel. She comes from a christian Palestinian  family. She has B.A. in English and Comparative Literature from Haifa University. She has published 6 books of poetry,one book of short stories, three electronic novels, one e-book of Haiku. Her poetry has been published in several international publications. Rita is Co-Editor of International Haiku. Her haiku and haiga artwork are featured in her Catching The Moment blog.

Sunday, February 10, 2013

A Room of My Own: Year of the Snake Haiku

Chinese New Year's Eve ...
staring at the mirror
long before

tenth New Year
Chinese fried dough
... and black coffee

Thursday, January 17, 2013

Butterfly Dream: Mirror Haiku by Rita Odeh

English Original

being at one
with my mirror reflection ...
50th birthday

Honorable Mention, 16th Mainichi Haiku Contest (2012)

Rita Odeh


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

與我的鏡影
合一 ...
五十歲生日

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

与我的镜影
合一 ...
五十岁生日


Bio Sketch

Rita Odeh is from Nazareth, Israel. She comes from a christian Palestinian family. She has B.A. in English and Comparative Literature from Haifa University. She has published 6 books of poetry,one book of short stories, three electronic novels, one e-book of haiku. Her poetry has been published in several international publications. Rita is Co-Editor of International Haiku. Her haiku and haiga artwork are featured in her "Catching The Moment" blog.

Wednesday, January 2, 2013

A Room of My Own: New Year Tanka

first sunlight
on the Snake Calendar
one by one
I peel my images
from the bathroom mirror

Published in Eucalypt Challenge, #12, 2013