Butterfly Dream: Neighbors Haiku by LeRoy Gorman

English Original

scattered leaves

the neighbors

I never bothered with

Stratified Layers, 2022

Leroy Gorman

Chinese Translation (Traditional)

散落的樹葉

這些鄰居

我從來沒有交往過

    

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

散落的树叶

这些邻居

我从来没有交往过

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

A Room of My Own: Stick Figures Tanka

This Brave New World, CXX

spots of dried blood

in a soldier's diary:

a stick-figures sketch

shows recruits as "bait"

to shoot down a sniper drone

Added: Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, CLIX: "breaking news" 

breaking Gaza news

my friend's kin, far away

in death as in life

FYI: This is a sequel to the following entry, CXXII: "bombed schools"

a drift of olive leaves ...

my Gazan friend's kin living

in various bombed schools

NeverEnding Story, November 4 2024

France 24, Jan. 10, 2025: Gaza death toll 40 percent higher than recorded, Lancet study estimates

A study in the medical journal The Lancet estimated that 64,260 people have been killed in Gaza since the start of the Israel-Hamas war, which would mean the health ministry in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip had under-reported the number of deaths to that point by 41 percent.

And Democracy Now, Jan.16: Israel Kills at Least 70 More Palestinians in Hours After Ceasefire Deal Announced

Added: Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, CLX: "the weight of winter rain"

pause between fireballs

the weight of winter rain

on ripped tents

Added: Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, CLXI: "skeletal school"

silhouetted

against Gaza's ashy skies ...

a skeletal school

FYI: Democracy Now, Jan.6: American Historical Association Votes Overwhelmingly for Resolution to Oppose Scholasticide in Gaza

Butterfly Dream: Snow Storm Haiku by Bill Pauly

English Original

snow storm ...

unbuttoning

her in the dark

Walking Uneven Ground: Selected Haiku, 2021

Bill Pauly

Chinese Translation (Traditional)

暴風雪 ...

在黑暗中我解開

她的衣服

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

暴风雪 ...

在黑暗中我解开

她的衣服

Bio Sketch

Bill Pauly published two small books of haiku: Wind the Clock by Bittersweet (1977) and Time from His Bones (1978), but later his work appeared mainly in the haiku journals. And his collection of haiku,Walking Uneven Ground: Selected Haiku, won a a Touchstone Distinguished Books Honorable Mention. 

Butterfly Dream: Winter Stars Haiku by Peggy Willis Lyles

English Original

he comes to bed

clean-shaven ...

winter stars

Where Rain Would Stay , 2022

Peggy Willis Lyles

Chinese Translation (Traditional)

他上床睡覺

把鬍子刮得乾乾淨淨的 ...

冬日星辰

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

他上床睡觉

把胡子刮得干干净净的 ...

冬日星辰

Bio Sketch

Peggy Willis Lyles was born in Summerville, South Carolina, on September 17, 1939. She died in Tucker, Georgia on September 3, 2010. A former English professor, she was a leading haiku writer for over 30 years -- helping bring many readers and writers into the haiku community.

Poetic Musings: First Light Haiku by Chen-ou Liu

first light

a tai chi master pushes

and pulls the breeze

Second Place, 2023 San Francisco International Competition for Haiku, Senryu, and Tanka

Chen-ou Liu

Judge's Commentary: I've always been fascinated by the concept of 'first light,' and here, it illuminates the tai chi master and his movements. Isn't that the impression tai chi gives to observers? It seems as if its practitioners and students are pushing and pulling the breeze.

 

Tai chi, a deeply meditative exercise, unfolds slowly and mindfully. Some liken it to mindfulness on wheels or meditation in motion.

 

The prevailing aesthetic nuance here is toriawase. Often misinterpreted as juxtaposition, Susumu Takiguchi suggests that “Combination would have been a better English word to choose, as toriawase means mixing or joining two or more things together to form a single whole.”

 

Consider two storytelling techniques employed by filmmakers: Mise-en-scène, meaning "to put into scene" or "staging an action," and Montage, the art of selecting, editing, and piecing together film sections to create a cohesive whole. The poet has expertly applied these techniques here, and I believe further interpretation is unnecessary. The mastery lies in the seamless execution of these elements.

And it might be interesting to do a thematic comparison reading of my haiku below:

light of dawn

a tai chi master

pushes the silence 

Japanese Translation

夜明けの薄明り

太極拳の先生が

沈黙を押し返す

Grand Prize, First Morioka International Haiku Contest, 2019

FYI: For more about the cinematic techniques employed in writing haiku, see To the Lighthouse: Arranged Marriage of Haiku and Cinema.

Butterfly Dream: Crowded Waiting Room Haiku by Al Fogel

English Original

crowded waiting room

the one without a smartphone 

stares at us

Holding Hand-Helds, 2013

Al Fogel

Chinese Translation (Traditional)

擁擠的候診室

這個沒有智慧型手機的人

盯著我們

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

拥挤的候诊室

这个没有智慧型手机的人

盯着我们

Bio Sketch

Al Fogel, 79, began his haiku journey about 14 years ago and has been writing haiku, senryu, tanka and haibun ever since. Some of his work has appeared in leading haijin journals around the globe. He has recently published two books: So Little Time and  Holding Hand-helds

One Man's Maple Moon: Wisteria Tanka by Masaoka Shiki

English Original

a tuft of wisteria

arranged in a vase

was too short

it couldn't reach

the surface of the tatami

Japanese Hermeneutics, 2002 

edited by Michael F. Marra and translated by Haga Toru

Masaoka Shiki

Chinese Translation (Traditional)

一簇紫藤

插在花瓶裡

卷鬚太短了

無法碰觸

榻榻米的表面

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

一簇紫藤

插在花瓶里

卷须太短了

无法碰触

榻榻米的表面

 

 

Bio Sketch

Masaoka Shiki (October 14, 1867 -- September 19, 1902) was a Japanese poet and literary critic in Meiji period Japan. Shiki is regarded as a major figure in the development of modern haiku, and he also published articles on the reform of tanka. Some scholars and poets consider Shiki to be one of the four great haiku masters, the others being Matsuo Bashō, Yosa Buson, and Kobayashi Issa.

A Room of My Own: Valley of Smoke Tanka

No More Fairy Tales, XL

the morning sun

choked out by columns of black ...

car after car 

driving through the valley of smoke

as tongues of fire leap behind

FYI: My haiku below could be read as a sequel:

No More Fairy Tales, VI

tongues of forest fires 

there's no Plan[et] B, the rest

blah, blah, blah ...

NeverEnding Story, November 21 2022 

Added: No More Fairy Tales, XLI

morning sun barely seen street after street charred by the frames

Added: No More Fairy Tales, XLII

tongues of flame

grow longer and wilder

with raging hate and lies ...

a raven's kraa-kraa-kraa

atop the Mar-a-Lago flagpole

Added: No More Fairy Tales, XLIII

a stairway

what remains of a burned house ...

Pacific Coast sunset

FYI: The following haiku with a prefatory note could be read as a sequel: 

On my return from Tsukushi at the close of March, I found that my hut had been destroyed by fire. Looking at the ruins, I composed this verse.

violets here and there

in the ruins 

of my burnt house

Haiku Mind: 108 Poems to Cultivate Awareness and Open Your Heart

Shokyu-ni

Added:

patches of fog

shroud this orphanage ...

un/knowing the past

FYI: This haiku could be read as a sequel of my haiku below:

jigsaw puzzle:

group-home kids piece together

“American Dream”

Touch of a Moth: 2012 Haiku Canada Members' Anthology

(Note: American Dream is FX Schmid's award-winning 750-piece jigsaw puzzle)

hand-me-down dream

twilight laughter drifting

from the orphanage

Whispers, Oct. 2015

Special Feature: Selected Poems on Scholasticide in Gaza

Democracy Now, Jan.6: American Historical Association Votes Overwhelmingly for Resolution to Oppose Scholasticide in Gaza

The American Historical Association, the oldest learned society in the United States, has adopted the “Resolution to Oppose Scholasticide in Gaza,” condemning Israel’s “intentional effort to comprehensively destroy the Palestinian education system.” 

The vote was a vote of 428 in favor and 88 opposed. And the resolution was written by Historians for Peace and Democracy. There were four abstentions. 

The American Historical Association’s Resolution to Oppose Scholasticide in Gaza reads, quote, “Whereas the US government has underwritten the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) campaign in Gaza with over $12.5 billion in military aid between October 2023 and June 2024. Whereas that campaign, beyond causing massive death and injury to Palestinian civilians and the collapse of basic life structures, has effectively obliterated Gaza’s education system; Whereas in April 2024, UN experts expressed 'grave concern over the pattern of attacks on schools, universities, teachers, and students in the Gaza Strip' including [quote] 'the killing of 261 teachers and 95 university professors … which may constitute an intentional effort to comprehensively destroy the Palestinian education system, an action known as scholasticide,'” unquote.

My Dear Friends:

I would like to share with you the following published entries, LXXII, LXXXVII, LXXXIV and CXXII of  Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words to reflect on these relentless and indiscriminate Israeli strikes on Palestinian basic life structures and education system:

a girl convulsing 

on the bloodstained classroom floor

smell of Gaza's  air

screams cut off ...

another day, another school

bombed out

slanted moonlight

on a half-collapsed school wall

chalk poppies bloom

(FYI: "The Palestinian poppy (Anemone coronaria) is a non-official but more recognizable national symbol of Palestine. It's red, with black center and green leaves, evoking the primary colors of the Palestinian flag. And it symbolizes the relationship between Palestinians and their land, the bloodshed they have endured, as well as their resistance against Israeli occupation.")

a drift of olive leaves ...

my Gazan friend's kin living

in various bombed schools

To conclude today's post with the following newest entry:

Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, CLVIII: "silence upon silence"

ruins after ruins ...

these layers of silence

upon silence

We Cannot Be Bystanders to Genocide.

-- Chen-ou Liu

Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.

-- Martin Luther King Jr. 

Butterfly Dream: Dawn Moon Haiku by Marian Olson

English Original

dawn moon

quiet mind, quiet

embers in the ash

Mann Library’s Daily Haiku, May 9, 2014

Marian Olson

Chinese Translation (Traditional)

黎明月亮

心靜則靜

灰燼中的餘燼

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

黎明月亮

心静则静

灰烬中的余烬

Bio Sketch

Marian Olson, non-fiction writer and widely published international poet, was the author of nine books of poetry, including the award winning haiku in Songs of the Chicken Yard, Desert Hours, Consider This, and Moondance. Published in 2017, The Other and Kaleidoscope were her first books of tanka.

Butterfly Dream: Winter Wind Haiku by Laryalee Fraser

English Original

deep winter 

I walk the wind

into twilight

Roadrunner, 02, 2009

Laryalee Fraser 

Chinese Translation (Traditional)

深冬

我隨風而行

步入黃昏

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

深冬

我随风而行

步入黄昏

Bio Sketch

A resident of British Columbia, Canada, Laryalee Fraser was actively engaged in online poetry forums from the mid-1990’s until her death in 2013. Her poetry has been widely published in haiku and tanka journals, and  in 2006, she compiled an online anthology of haiku, "a procession of ripples."

Special Feature: Selected Poems on January 6th U.S. Capitol ATTACK

in memory of John Lewis (February 21, 1940 -- July 17, 2020, Atlanta, Georgia), American civil rights leader and politician best known for his "Good Trouble" remark:

Democracy is not a state. It is an ACT … Ordinary people with extraordinary vision can redeem the soul of America by getting in what I call "good trouble, necessary trouble."  

In the Wake of Defeat 

alone

before the long wall

of U.S. flags ...

bubbles of spit frothing 

from the President's mouth

piercing cries

of count every vote

and stop the steal ...

MAGA fans white with rage

against the dying of the light

NeverEnding Story, November 15 2020

Jan.6th: A Day Of Things To Come

the Capitol 

two-meter high fencing topped

with a sun-bleached flag

behind steel fences

night shadows etch the facade

of the Supreme Court

NeverEnding Story, January 6 2024

in dim light

I'm half awake, half asleep ...

blonde-haired old man

draped in a red-white-and-blue

cloak of impunity

NeverEnding Story, January 6 2024

(FYI: The Guardian, Jan. 5: Brett Kavanaugh will ‘step up’ to keep Trump on ballots, ex-president’s lawyer says: Trump lawyer ‘has faith’ in US supreme court justice appointed by the former president, though the court hasn’t said if it will weigh in)

Between Heaven and Hell, XVII

the winter woods

dark and deep into my dream

January 6th

(FYI: Ls 1&2 ironically allude to the concluding staza of "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" by Robert Frost

The woods are lovely, dark and deep,   

But I have promises to keep,   

And miles to go before I sleep,   

And miles to go before I sleep.

Axios, Dec. 26, 2024: Trump's first day: 59 things he promised to do on "day one:" one of 59 things is "pardons for Jan. 6 rioters"

And Daily Beast, Jan.5, 2025: This is Sickening’: Trump Slammed for Jan. 6 Take at Secret Mar-a-Lago Bash)

Between Heaven and Hell, XVIII

Making America Trump Again

alone, soul-exiled

from Trumpland with its lies

and hush money,

I binge hour after hour...

Jan. 6th hearings

once blood-stained

the Capitol's arched portal ...

in two weeks

the Convicted Felon will take

(the oath and) the Power

51st state

the Gulf of America

buying Greenland...

with mind-punched news turned off

I stumble into the dark

the Arctic tap 

wide open to send chill after chill

as far south 

as the Gulf of "Trumperica" ...

long lineup at Mar-a-Lago

(FYI: Watch the 10-day Jan. 6th Committee Full Hearings.  and The New York Times, Jan. 5: ‘A Day of Love’: How Trump Inverted the Violent History of Jan. 6

The president-elect and his allies have spent four years reinventing the Capitol attack — spreading conspiracy theories and weaving a tale of martyrdom to their ultimate political gain)

Only God, if there is one, can save America from itself

Chen-ou

Added: Between Heaven and Hell, XIX

Trump this, Trump that ...

with this news-punched mind

I sound-bathe in silence

Added: Between Heaven and Hell, XX

unconditional discharge ...

I walk with winter gales

into the gathering dark

One Man's Maple Moon: Procession Tanka by James Tipton

English Original 

at the head 

of the procession 

an old man 

balances on one hand 

the tiny white coffin 

Take Five: Best Contemporary Tanka, III, 2011

James Tipton

 

Chinese Translation (Traditional)

在葬禮隊伍

的前頭

一位老人

僅用一隻手保持平衡

小小的白色棺材

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

在葬礼队伍

的前头

一位老人

仅用一只手保持平衡

小小的白色棺材

 

Bio Sketch

James Tipton lived in Ajijic, Mexico, on the shores of Lake Chapala, where he wrote poetry and enjoyed village life. His work is widely published, including credits in The Nation, Southern Humanities Review, and American Literary Review. He is also included in various anthologies and other works, most recently Haiku: A Poet’s Guide and Erotic Haiku.

A Room of My Own: Five Shekels Tanka

Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words,  CLV: "five shekels" 

a telescope 

mounted on a hilltop ...

five shekels (FYI: 1.37 USD)

to see rubble after rubble

under Gaza's smoky skies

FYI: The Guardian, July 20,2024:Israelis gather on hillsides to watch and cheer as military drops bombs on Gaza

People drink, snack and pose for selfies against a background of explosions as Palestinian death toll mounts in ongoing offensive

And Der Spiegel, Dec. 23, 2024: "Within a Year, We Will Be Living in Gaza"

The Israeli army is systematically destroying towns in northern Gaza and expelling the population. It is laying the groundwork for a military occupation - and for the possible construction of new Jewish settlements.

There is a telescope mounted on a hilltop outside the Gaza Strip. Here, on the outskirts of the Israeli city of Sderot, you can pay five shekels to watch the war at a magnification of 25x.

Added: Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words,  CLVI: "war tourism" 

clouds of smoke and fire ....

through the telescope viewfinder

on a hilltop

Israeli tourists don't see the war

but vision a future of houses

FYI:  Der Spiegel, Dec. 23, 2024: "Within a Year, We Will Be Living in Gaza"

The Fenton family at the hilltop viewpoint near Sderot...When one detonation sends up a particularly large cloud of smoke, Fenton exults: "How beautiful! How beautiful! How beautiful! Thanks be to God!”

"The path we are being led down is one of conquest, annexation and ethnic cleansing,” warned the former Israeli general, Netanyahu’s defense minister during the 2014 Gaza War, Moshe Ya’alon in an early December television interview. "There is no Beit Lahiya anymore, no Beit Hanoun, the army is intervening in Jabaliya, and in truth, the land is being cleansed of Arabs.” Israel is threatening to become a "corrupt and leprous fascist messianic state.”

Added: Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words,  CLVII: "Palestine sunbirds" 

the pause between fireballs ...

a burst of colors

Palestine sunbirds in flight 

FYI: The Palestine sunbird is the national bird of Palestine, a symbol of Palestinian resistance and freedom

Added:

Chinese fried dough

crumbled into black coffee ...

home away from home

Butterfly Dream: Winter Mountains Haiku by Pamela A. Babusci

English Original

winter mountains

i lose myself

in whiteness

Third Place, Anita Sadler Weiss Memorial Haiku Awards 2009

Pamela A. Babusci

Chinese Translation (Traditional)

冬季山脈

在無盡的一片純白中

我迷失了自己

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

冬季山脉

在无尽的一片纯白中

我迷失了自己

 

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.