Biting NOT Barking: Flag-Covered Coffin Haiku by Nick Virgilio

English Original

flag-covered coffin:

the shadow of the bugler

slips into the grave

Selected Haiku, 1988

Nick Virgilio

Chinese Translation (Traditional)

覆蓋國旗的棺材：

一位吹號手的影子

滑入墳墓

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

覆盖国旗的棺材：

一位吹号手的影子

滑入坟墓

Bio Sketch

Nick Virgilio (June 28, 1928 – January 3, 1989) was an internationally acclaimed poet who played a pivotal role in popularizing haiku in the United States. Following his debut publication in American Haiku in 1963, Virgilio composed thousands of poems over a career spanning more than two decades. His seminal 1988 collection, Selected Haiku, remains one of the most influential volumes in American haiku history. To explore his legacy further, read Cor van den Heuvel’s 1990 essay, "Nick Virgilio and American Haiku: Creating Haiku and an Audience," originally prepared for the International Haiku Forum in Matsuyama, Japan.

Special Feature: Selected Poems for Reflections on LGBTQ Rights in Trumperica

My Dear Readers and Friends:

On this first Sunday of June, I’m sharing a few poems reflecting on warning, struggle, and the joy of resistance in Trumperica:

On the Brink of Trumperica, IX

the White House

pronounces, only two sexes ...

trans youth trapped

between black-and-white Kansas

and rainbow-colored Oz

NeverEnding Story, January 27 2025

The following gembun is its sequel:

Trump Empire, Inc., XCIII

A Family Values banner tangled with the flagpole atop the White House roof, silhouetted against the sunset.

only two sexes ...

clouds drift through bands

of hazy gray

And the following is the sequel to the gembun:

Trump Empire, Inc., XCIV inspired by The Guardian, May 31, 2025: Four queer business owners on Pride under Trump: ‘Our joy is resistance’

near the White House gate

a rainbow-haired teen's waist 

wrapped in a flipped flag

under the guards' dark-glassed stare

she pirouettes timelessly

A room of My Own: Lopsided Moon Haiku

lopsided moon ...

eyes fixed on my wife

straddling me

FYI: This haiku could be read as a sequel and a prequel to the following ones respectively:

butterflies mating

my wife's hand made to fit

inside my palm

Haiku Foundation's Per Diem, March 14 2023

And 

beads of sweat

between my wife's breasts

yet this impulse ...

NeverEnding Story, January 14, 2020

Added:

slanted moonlight

slow, slow curving of her breast

into my dream

Added:

a box of letters

in dusty attic light

I recover

my young self once caught

in someone's love bonfire

Added:

a queue for gas

out of the blue call answered

by tree swallow song

FYI: A small and striking songbird, the tree swallow is renowned for its acrobatic flight and dazzling plumage. It features glossy, iridescent blue-green upperparts that gleam in the sunlight.

Added:

a white raven

back and forth, back and forth 

distant sirens

FYI: White ravens are exceptionally rare in the wild—occurring in roughly 1 in 30,000 birds. North America's two main hotspots for these sightings include:

1 Vancouver Island, British Columbia: The coastal area around Qualicum Beach and Parksville is widely considered the unofficial "White Raven Capital". 

2 Anchorage, Alaska: White ravens are occasional, viral sensations in Anchorage.

Butterfly Dream: Village Night Haiku by Adjei Agyei-Baah

English Original

village night out

the lamps of fireflies

everywhere

Afriku, 2016

Adjei Agyei-Baah

Chinese Translation (Traditional)

鄉村之夜

螢火蟲的燈光

無所不在

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

乡村之夜

萤火虫的灯光

无所不在

Bio Sketch

Adjei Agyei-Baah (June 29, 1977 -- December 18, 2023) was the co-founder of the Africa Haiku Network and The Mamba and author of afriku: haiku and Senryui from Ghana, 2016, Finding the Other Door, 2021 and Scaring Crow, 2022. 

One Man's Maple Moon: White Lilies Tanka by Kozue Uzawa

English Original

something

inside me is weeping

white lilies keep

dropping yellow pollen

on the night table

Co-Winner, Tanka Splendor 2006

Kozue Uzawa

 

Chinese Translation (Traditional)

一陣低聲哭泣

來自我的內心深處

在床頭櫃上

白色百合花不停地

掉落黃色花粉

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

一阵低声哭泣

来自我的内心深处

在床头柜上

白色百合花不停地

掉落黄色花粉

 

 

Bio Sketch

Kozue Uzawa is a retired university professor. She works as editor of the English tanka journal GUSTS. She composes tanka both in Japanese and English. She also translates Japanese tanka into English and co-published Ferris Wheel: 101 Modern and Contemporary Tanka (Boston: Cheng & Tsui, 2006), and Kaleidoscope: Selected Tanka of Shuji Terayama (Tokyo: Hokuseido Press, 2008). Ferris Wheel received the 2007 Donald Keene Translation Award for Japanese Literature from Columbia University.

Butterfly Dream: Gardener Haiku by Garry Eaton

English Original

summer evening

the gardener mows on

into shadow

The Heron's Nest, 14:4, December 2012

Garry Eaton

Chinese Translation (Traditional) 

夏日傍晚

園丁繼續割草

直入陰影

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

夏日傍晚

园丁继续割草

直入阴影

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.

Butterfly Dream: Election Night Haiku by Elliot Nicely

English Original

election night

lighting a cigarette

with another

Frogpond, 42:1, 2019

Elliot Nicely

Chinese Translation (Traditional)

選舉之夜

用一支香煙點燃

另一支

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

选举之夜

用一支香烟点燃

另一支

Bio Sketch

Elliot Nicely is the author of Sine Qua Non (Red Moon Press, 2024). He resides in Lakewood, Ohio.

Poetic Musings: Color of Love Tanka by Izumi Shikibu

in this world

love has no color --

yet how deeply

my body

is stained by yours

The Ink Dark Moon, 1990

Izumi Shikibu

Commentary: In this tanka, Izumi Shikibu demonstrates a masterful use of the “tanka twist,” pivoting from a broad philosophical claim to an intimate, embodied realization. 

Ls 1&2, “in this world / love has no color,” present a familiar, almost axiomatic idea of love as universal and abstract, something beyond physical qualities; however, this expectation is immediately unsettled by the turn in L3. The tanka shifts from abstraction to corporeality in Ls 3-5: “yet how deeply / my body / is stained by yours.” The verb “stained” is especially striking. It introduces a sense of permanence and physicality that contradicts the supposed “colorlessness” of love. What was initially framed as pure and intangible becomes something that marks, alters, and lingers on the body.

The movement from the generalized “love” to the specific “my body” gives the tanka its emotional force. “Stained” also carries layered connotations—intimacy, passion, and even a hint of transgression—suggesting that love is not merely an abstract ideal but an experience that leaves tangible, and perhaps irreversible, traces. In this way, the tanka doesn’t simply describe love; it reveals its paradox: though said to be without color, it nevertheless leaves the deepest impressions.

A Room of My Own: Parting Words Tanka

so much of life

grows clearer with the years —

her parting words

yet grit like sand in my mouth

whenever I repeat them

Added: 

newly divorced

I stare at a blue moon

through the skylight—

still her side of our bed

holds the hollow shape

Added:

an alley stray

howling at the blue moon

nostalgia

like a drunken shadow

that dogs my immigrant past

Added:

blue moon rippling …

on the Pacific shore

I wonder:

the life I left behind,

the life I struggle with

Added: 

words fall short 

of what the heart can tell —

yet on my tongue

that first hidden love's name

leaps into the spring air

Butterfly Dream: Bombing and Doves Haiku by Tim Dwyer

English Original

bombing resumes—

the collared doves return

to our garden   

Tim Dwyer 

Chinese Translation (Traditional)

轟炸再次開始—

一群斑鳩重返

我們的花園

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

轰炸再次开始—

一群斑鸠重返

我们的花园

Bio Sketch

Tim Dwyer’s debut full collection of longer poetry, Accepting The Call (templarpoetry.com), won the Straid Collection Award. In 2025 he was among the Europe Top 100 Haiku Authors. His poetry appears in Irish, UK and international journals. Originally from Brooklyn, NY, he lives in Bangor, Northern Ireland.

One Man's Maple Moon: Tree Tanka by Steve Neumann

English Original

you ask why

I laugh at such heavy things

to survive —

a tree needs its blossoms

as much as its roots

Steve Neumann

Chinese Translation (Traditional)

你問為什麼

我會微笑面對如此沉重的事情

企求生存 —

一棵樹需要它的花朵

正如需要它的根一樣

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

你问为什么

我会微笑面对如此沉重的事情

企求生存 —

一棵树需要它的花朵

正如需要它的根一样

Bio Sketch

Steve Neumann is a freelance writer living in New Jersey, USA. His haiku have appeared in Modern Haiku, Frogpond, Cattails, and Acorn. 

Biting NOT Barking: Prayer Plant Haiku by Barbara Sabol

English Original

another shooting

leaves of my prayer plant

unfurl

Modern Haiku, 53:1, Winter/Spring  2022

Barbara Sabol

Chinese Translation (Traditional)

又一次槍擊

我的祈禱樹葉

一片片展開

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

又一次枪击

我的祈祷树叶

一片片展开

Bio Sketch

Barbara Sabol’s most recent collection, Connections: core & all, was published by Bird Dog Press in 2022. She is the associate editor of Sheila-Na-Gig online. Barbara conducts poetry workshops through Literary Cleveland. She lives in Akron, Ohio with her husband and wonder dogs. 

Butterfly Dream: Steady Spring Rain Haiku by Bruce Ross

English Original

steady spring rain —

a tree takes shape

at dawn

among floating duckweed, 1994

Bruce Ross

Chinese Translation (Traditional)

春雨綿綿 —

在黎明時分一棵樹

逐漸成形

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

春雨绵绵 —

在黎明时分一棵树

逐渐成形

Bio Sketch

Bruce Ross, Ph.D., former president of the HSA, was the editor of anthologies such as the seminal Haiku Moment and, more recently, co-editor of A Vast Sky. He was the founding editor of the online Autumn Moon Haiku Journal, and he authored many collections of haiku and haibun.

To the Lighthouse: Ghost Imagery

Ghost imagery captures the instant after action disappears, emphasizing what lingers rather than what occurred. It evokes absence through residual cues—sound, motion, light, and atmosphere—forcing the reader to perceive the aftermath instead of the event itself.

For example:

empty basketball court

the faint sound of a swaying net 

in smoky twilight

In this haiku, L 1, “empty basketball court,” frames a space stripped of action, while L 2 preserves its echo through the lingering movement of the net. L 3, “in smoky twilight,” completes the ghost imagery by visually diffusing the scene. Smoke softens the edges of perception while twilight dissolves clarity itself. Together, they create an atmosphere of dispersal and aftermath. The emptiness feels consequential, as though something vital has only just vanished from view.

Another example:

her side of the bed

a hollow still visible

in moonlit dust

L 1, “her side of the bed,” establishes both a physical location and a human absence. The phrase creates a negative space: a territory defined entirely by someone who is no longer there, yet remains structurally central to the scene.

Ls  2 & 3 function together as a single perceptual mechanism: “a hollow still visible / in moonlit dust.” Here, “a hollow” is not an object, but a residual form—a shape created through subtraction. The mattress indentation is never directly described; instead, its existence is inferred through the way the surrounding space behaves.

The phrase “moonlit dust” becomes the medium through which absence is rendered visible. Rather than illuminating solid surfaces, the moonlight catches suspended particles, briefly revealing an otherwise invisible geometry. The drifting dust gives texture to emptiness itself.

The result is not the depiction of a memory, but the materialization of absence. The “ghost” is not a phantom figure, but the way empty space remains momentarily structured by what has just left it.

Added:

moonlit playground

swing chains sway in the echo

of far laughter

Added:

winter fishing pier

the slow knock of loose ropes

against pilings

Added:

empty bus stop 

the flutter of a ticket

in streetlamp light

Added:

vacant alley court

the backboard shining

in police lights

Added:

closed dog park

one tennis ball rolling back

through bloodied leaves

Added:

carnival grounds

ticket stubs against the fence

in misty rain

A Room of My Own: Stock Ticker Tanka

Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, CCXCVI: "stock ticker "

a bruised girl’s hand

clutches a slice of bread

in pixels—

a stock ticker flashes past

Lockheed Martin up red-hot

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

May 24 2026: Israel's Destruction of Gaza Mapped Using Digital Archive of Wartime Footage

Built from geolocated videos, photographs and social media posts, the website – called Genocide Live – compiles footage of Israeli airstrikes, military manoeuvres, and destruction from across Gaza, the West Bank and the wider regional war, including in Lebanon, Syria, Iran and Qatar.

May 25 2026: Humanitarian Conditions in Gaza Deteriorating Again, Aid Groups Warn

The groups report a resurgence in malnutrition among Gazan children, as well as deaths resulting from a failure to provide medical evacuations, collapsing sewage systems, a spike in pest infestations and a serious shortage of medical equipment, among other problems.

And Kavout, Stock Analysis: Is Global Conflict Driving a New Era for Defense Stocks

Key Takeaways

Global defense spending, now at an estimated $3 trillion, is surging due to escalating geopolitical tensions, creating a robust tailwind for defense contractors and drone technology firms.

Lockheed Martin (LMT) offers investors a stable, blue-chip play on this trend, benefiting from strong demand for its established platforms and a substantial backlog, despite its premium valuation. 

Added: Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, CCXCVII: "Eid al-Adha"

Eid al-Adha

shrouded in smoky dust

armless Gazan child

FYI: Eid al-Adha (May 26–30) is the Feast of Sacrifice, the largest of the two main Islamic festivals celebrated worldwide. It is traditionally marked by clean clothes, festive meals, and charity.

Added:

her only son's photo

as he was

Memorial Day

Added:

in breezy sunshine

tulip bulbs tucked in the earth

last autumn

begin to murmur awake ...

will our hope for peace take root?

FYI: Vision of Humanity: Highest number of countries engaged in conflict since World War II

Added:

the edge

of this dappled trail

shadow and me

Added:

gazing out

at this borderless spring sky 

thoughts pass through

Added:

kitchen secret

in the slanted moonlight

onions unpeeled

Added:

half-sleep, half-wake 

my hand across the bed

finds a hollow

Added:

sultry beach night

my body finds the spot

where hers once lay

Added:

solar eclipse

a church bell’s echo slips

into the dark