Thursday, February 12, 2026

Butterfly Dream: Old Guitar Haiku by Natalia Kuznetsova

English Original

fifty years on ...
dad's old guitar and me
get in tune at last

"Haiku Dialogue," The Haiku Foundation, October 8, 2025

Natalia Kuznetsova


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

五十年過去了 ...
爸爸的老吉他和我
終於合拍了

Chinese Translation (Simplified) 

五十年过去了 ...
爸爸的老吉他和我
终于合拍了


Bio Sketch

Living in Moscow, Russia, Natalia Kuznetsova is a teacher of English and freelance interpreter. Before discovering the haiku world, she wrote poetry in Russian. She started writing tanka and mostly haiku in English in 2007, and participated in numerous competitions worldwide and won some awards. She contributes regularly to World Haiku ReviewAsahi Haikuist NetworkDaily HaikuPoetry Pea and other traditional and on-line publications. She was included on the list of "European Top 100 Most Creative Haiku Authors" from 2010 to 2023.

Wednesday, February 11, 2026

Butterfly Dream: Absence Haiku by Daniela Misso

English Original

waking 
to the silence of snow …
his absence

Outstanding Haiku, 2nd Oku-no-hosomichi Sōka Matsubara International Haiku Competition

Daniela Misso


Chinese Translation (Traditional) 

醒來
面對落雪的寂靜 ...
他不在身邊

Chinese Translation (Simplified) 

醒来
面对落雪的寂静 ...
他不在身边


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.

Tuesday, February 10, 2026

One Man's Maple Moon: Breasts and Toes Tanka by Kirsty Karkow

English Original

the sound
of splashing in the tub!
the longing
to rush in and soap
your floating breasts and toes
                                    
Eucalypt, 5, 2008

Kirsty Karkow


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

浴缸裡
嘩啦嘩啦的水聲
渴望
衝進去用香皂擦洗
你浮起的乳房和腳趾

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

浴缸里
哗啦哗啦的水声
渴望
冲进去用香皂擦洗
你浮起的乳房和脚趾


Bio Sketch

Kirsty Karkow lived in Waldoboro, Maine, where she wrote haiku, sijo, tanka, and other short forms. Lyrical, poignant, and spare, her poetry reflected a rich and deep sense of place and spirit. Her haiku have won the Mainichi and the R.H Blyth Award and placed in other contests. And she had two best-selling books in print: water poems: haiku, tanka and sijo and shorelines: haiku, haibun and tanka , published by Black Cat Press.

Monday, February 9, 2026

Biting NOT Barking: War Crime Haiku by Garry Eaton

English Original

war crime
he puts a gun to his head
and kills them all

Kamesan's World Haiku Anthology on War, Violence and Human Rights Violation, 2017

Garry Eaton


Chinese Translation (Traditional) 

戰爭罪行
他用槍指著自己的頭
然後殺死他們所有的人

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

战争罪行
他用枪指着自己的头
然后杀死他们所有的人


Bio Sketch

Garry Eaton was a Canadian poet from British Columbia. He started writing haiku in 2006 and was published occasionally in the major haiku magazines. He volunteered as the digital librarian for The Haiku Foundation Digital Library.

Sunday, February 8, 2026

A Room of My Own: Gazan Child's Stare Haiku

Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, CCLXXXI: "smoky gray and child's stare"

part of winter sky
where pale white turns smoky gray
a Gazan child's stare


Added:

one glass, then two ...
this winter night darkens
as distant sirens wail


Added:

ten hours of winter
tick-tock still stretching
in the ER clock


FYI: This is a sequel to my haiku below:

waitingroom  t h e  s   t   r   e   t   c   h  o f  t e n  h o u r s



Added:

three-week cold snap ...
my heart and mind stretched
by this longing
for blooming snowdrops
and red-winged blackbirds


Added:

squeak, squeaking
of an empty porch swing
the bank notice flips

Saturday, February 7, 2026

Poetic Musings: Battle Haiku by Masaoka Shiki

the pear blossoming 
after the battle
this ruined house

The Haiku Handbook, 1985

Masaoka Shiki

Commentary: This wartime haiku effectively employs what William J. Higginson terms the “zoom-lens effect” (The Haiku Handbook, p. 116). Its visual focus shifts from a tight close-up on the “pear blossoming” (L1) to a wider frame that reveals the aftermath of conflict in “after the battle / this ruined house” (Ls 2&3). This movement from intimate natural detail to human devastation deepens its emotional resonance without explicit commentary.

The juxtaposition of “pear blossoming” with “after the battle / this ruined house” suggests the continuation of life in an ordinary, almost indifferent manner. The blossoms do not function as symbols of hope so much as evidence of nature proceeding unperturbed, heightening the quiet brutality of the human ruin beside them.

Finally, the demonstrative “this” in L3 anchors the haiku in an immediate, lived moment rather than an abstract or symbolic landscape. The narrator is not surveying distant ruins but standing directly before one, implicating the reader in the scene and reinforcing the poem’s stark intimacy.


Shiki's haiku reminds me of the following haiku about a burnt house:

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

For detailed comments, see "Poetic Musings: Burnt House Haiku by Shokyu-ni

Friday, February 6, 2026

Special Feature: Selected Poems on the Normalization of Genocide of Palestinians

There is no ceasefire in Gaza; the world has normalized the genocide of Palestinians.

-- Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur on Palestine and author of UN Report, Anatomy of a Genocide


War Is Peace

pyramid
after pyramid of rubble ...
again "ceasefire" strikes

fireball by fireball ...
the length
of a Gazan night

smoky twilight
a cry sinks into the sound
of a gunshot

skeletal houses
these layers of silence
upon silence



FYI: "Israel's oldest dailyHaaretz," which was was sanctioned by the Israeli government on Nov. 24, 2024

Feb. 4 2026: 24 Palestinians Killed by Israeli Fire [in one Day] in Gaza in Ongoing Wave of Strikes, Medics Say

Israeli strikes and artillery shelling were reported throughout Wednesday, wounding dozens and killing at least eight children and a paramedic. 

Jan. 29 2026: IDF Accepts Gaza Health Ministry Death Toll of Over 71,000 Palestinians Killed During the War

Although many international experts have accepted the Health Ministry's data as reliable, and even conservative relative to the true death toll, Israel had refused to accept the Health Ministry's count until now

The IDF has accepted the estimate of the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry that approximately 71,000 Palestinians were killed during the Israel-Gaza war, noting that the number does not include missing residents who are potentially buried under rubble.



No state should join any initiative except those led by the United Nations or mandated by it, and those based on international law and the Palestinian right to self determination. 

The Peace Council fails on both counts. States committed to the rule of law should push to dismantle it immediately, not join it.



Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, CCLXXI: "Phase Two"

The ink barely dry on the paper, and Phase Two of the ceasefire plan announced to the clicking of cameras.

these dark blue lips
as frost thickens on cracked panes
Gazan sky tinged red



Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, CCLXXIII: "Saharan desert warbler"
written in response to Haaretz, Jan. 25 2026: A West Bank Bus Trip Through 'the Best Documented Ethnic Cleansing in History'

A Saharan desert warbler spotted in Haifa, only the second ever to be seen in Israel.

West Bank town fenced in ...
a rifle silhouette
against the boundless sky



Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, CCLXXIV: "the Nakba"

The Nakba pictures in black and white; now this week in the color of smoky red.

fire's mouth
consumes the last farmhouse ...
settlers' roaring


 
Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, CCLXXV: "New Gaza"

New Gaza: a coastal strip, replete with high-rises and resorts.

newsfeed scroll:
ripped tents after ripped tents
in freezing rain



To conclude today's "Special Feature" post, I would like to share with you the latest entry of Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, CCLXXVII: "Groundhog Day loop"

Phase two of the Gaza ceasefire plan rolls on the news ticker. 

fireball by fireball
day and night, night and day:
Groundhog Day loop


FYI: "Groundhog Day Loop:" a plot in which the character is caught in a time loop, doomed to repeat a period of time (often exactly one day) over and over..." Watch the time loop scene from 1993 Groundhog Day.


Added: Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, CCLXXVIII: "cart of bodies"

Drones buzzing against Gaza's sky tinged orange-red.

a fork in the road
lined with smoky rubble ...
a cart of bodies


Added: Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, CCLXXIX: "outstretched hands"

A crowd of kids with outstretched hands, metal bowls gleaming in the dust.

a girl's empty stare 
grains scraped from the cracked pot
tumble past the bowl 


Added: Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, CCLXXX: "wall of fire"

In four minutes, a farmhouse in the West Bank village enveloped in a wall of fire.

blood-stained olive leaves
cinder through the smoky air
laughter greets laughter

Thursday, February 5, 2026

Butterfly Dream: Flag Haiku by André Surridge

English Original

evening breeze
a flag releases
its stars

Janice Bostok International Haiku Award 2012

André Surridge 


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

晚風
旗幟飄揚
釋出星辰

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

晚风
旗帜飘扬
释出星辰


Bio Sketch

André Surridge was an award-winning playwright and poet who immigrated to New Zealand from Yorkshire, England in 1972. He was President of the Playwrights Association of New Zealand from 1998-2000. Widely published, some of his awards included: 1995 Minolta Playwriting Award,  2007 Elizabeth Searle Lamb Award, 2008 Tanka Splendor Award, and 2010 Jane Reichhold International prize. And his first collection of haiku ans senryu, one hundred petals, was critically acclaimed in 2019.

Wednesday, February 4, 2026

One Man's Maple Moon: White Hare Tanka by Fumi Saito

English Original

a white hare
from a snow-covered mountain
when it came out
it was killed
with eyes still open


Fumi Saito


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

來自一座白雪皚皚的山
的一隻白兔
當它跑出來時
就被殺死了
它的眼睛仍然睜著

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

来自一座白雪皑皑的山
的一只白兔
当它跑出来时
就被杀死了
它的眼睛仍然睁着
 
 
Bio Sketch

Daughter of a military officer who was noted for his verse-writing talent, Fumi Saito began writing poetry in the traditional 31-syllable tanka form in her early teens. Her first book of tanka, Fish Songs, published in 1940, immediately established her as a brilliant young poet. She was inducted into the Japan Art Academy in 1993 and invited to serve as meshiudo (a position similar to the Poet Laureate's) at the Imperial Palace in 1997.

Tuesday, February 3, 2026

To the Lighthouse: Smols , A Haiku Inspired Form

The word smol is an internet slang term derived from small, used affectionately to describe something or someone that is tiny, fragile, and exceptionally adorable. Smols, a haiku-inspired genre created by NeverEnding Story contributor Roberta Beach Jacobson, are ultra-short poems—no more than five words—built on effective juxtaposition.


Selected Smols:

redacting the free wor(l)d

Roberta Beach Jacobson


supernova an explosion of daffodils

Vandana Parashar


inkblot shapeshifting my shadow

Hifsa Ashraf


Arctic snap, sound of white

Chen-ou Liu


dizzying  ...                      
the Tru(mp)-man show

Oscar Luparia

FYI: L2 alludes to the 1998 movie, The Truman Show, about Truman Burbank, an ordinary man who discovers that his entire life, from his hometown to his relationships, is a massive, 24/7 reality television show broadcast globally, with everyone he knows being actors.


sunrise
the thunder
in light

Bonnie J Scherer


snowbound
and still
no vodka

Florin C. Ciobîcă


Added:

hands starfished 
against windows
flicker


Added:

roof icicle
dripping dawnlight
cascade 


Added:

chain-link
  life after 
MAGA Dream


Added:

White House entrance
         No Parking 

Monday, February 2, 2026

A Room of My Own: Winter Stars Haiku

half awake, alone ...
winter stars upon stars 
upon stars


FYI: This haiku could be read as a prequel to the following:

more darkness
more stars
moving on

Frogpond, 34:2, Spring/Summer 2011

Sandra Mooney-Ellerbeck


Added:

the river
curves through winter mist
a man at its edge


Added:

the sound
of screeching tires
twilight chill


Added:

hilltop cross ...
the shape
of this misty night

Sunday, February 1, 2026

Butterfly Dream: Last Goodbye Haiku by Laryalee Fraser

English Original

the distance 
light reflects ...
his last goodbye

A Hundred Gourds, 3:1, December 2013

Laryalee Fraser 


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

燈光反射
的距離
他最後的告別

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

灯光反射
的距离
他最后的告别


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."

Saturday, January 31, 2026

Butterfly Dream: Spring Equinox Haiku by Dru Philippou

English Original

spring equinox
a crack splits
the frozen river

tinywords, 25:1, March 24, 2025

Dru Philippou


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

春分
冰封的河流裂開
一道裂縫

Chinese Translation (Simplified) 

春分
冰封的河流裂开
一道裂缝


Bio Sketch

Dru Philippou lives in northern New Mexico, where hiking in the desert wilderness nourishes her spirit and her writing. Her haibun “Afterlife” won first place in the Haiku Society of America’s 2021 Haibun Awards. Also, her haibun “Pilgrimage” won first place in 2023 in the same contest. She is the author of A Place to Land, a tanka prose memoir.

Friday, January 30, 2026

Hot News: New Milestone, 3 M Pageviews and Call for Submissions

My Dear Friends:

NeverEnding Story reached a new milestone early this morning: 3 M pageveiws (FYI: On "August 20," 2025, it reached 2.5 M pageviews) 

I’m grateful to everyone who has shared this poetry journey. NeverEnding Story now seeks haiku and tanka with teeth—poems that bite hard.


[Poetry] should afflict the comfortable and comfort the afflicted.

Our Republic and its [poetry] will rise or fall together. 

-- paraphrasing Joseph Pulitzer, prominent journalist, newspaper publisher and creator of the Pulitzer Prizes


The accepted haiku and tanka will be translated into Chinese and posted on NeverEnding Story and X. And you are welcome to follow me on X at @ericcoliu (4 following, 5,060 followers).

on the windowsill
two canaries singing
to each other
I tweet and retweet
NeverEnding Story  😋


A writer is somebody for whom writing is more difficult than it is for other people.

-- Thomas Mann


coffee gone cold
as the cursor blinks
all night long
I stare out at snowflakes
that never settle


A professional writer is an amateur who didn’t quit. 

-- Richard Bach


coffee ring on ring ...
I type five lines, five lines
then delete all
start again as robins sing
sing up the morning sun


And

Every time a poem is written, every time a short story is written, it is written not by cunning, but by belief. The beauty, the something, the little charm of the thing to be, is more felt than known.

-- Robert Frost


Look forward to reading your poetry

Chen-ou

Thursday, January 29, 2026

Butterfly Dream: Refugee Camp Haiku by Neha Singh Soni

English Original

tents go dark
in the refugee camp
winter moon

Autumn Moon Haiku Journal, 9:1, 2025/26

Neha Singh Soni 


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

難民營的帳篷
一片漆黑
冬月

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

难民营的帐篷
一片漆黑
冬月


Bio Sketch

Neha Singh Soni is a chartered accountant from India with a deep love for poetry especially haiku. Her poetry has been published in many international journals. Through her poems Neha aims to celebrate life's simple moments and connect with the readers on a profound level.