Wednesday, February 19, 2025

Butterfly Dream: Sleeping Towns Haiku by Deborah P Kolodji

English Original

highway
of sleeping towns
the milky way

Highway of Sleeping Towns, 2016

Deborah P Kolodji 


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

高速公路
沿線的沉睡城鎮
銀河

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

高速公路
沿线的沉睡城镇
银河


Bio Sketch

Deborah P Kolodji was the California Regional Coordinator for the Haiku Society of America and moderated the Southern California Haiku Study Group. Her first full length book of haiku, highway of sleeping towns, is available from Shabda Press.

Tuesday, February 18, 2025

One Man's Maple Moon: Tin Box Tanka by Carole MacRury

English Original

in this tin box
of unmatched buttons
one baby tooth --
her lifelong attachment
for things detached
Carole MacRury 


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

在這個錫盒
裝有不匹配的鈕釦中
發現一顆乳牙 --
她對於疏離事物
一生的依戀

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

在这个锡盒
装有不匹配的钮扣中
发现一颗乳牙 --
她对于疏离事物
一生的依恋


Bio Sketch

Carole MacRury resides in Point Roberts, Washington, a unique peninsula and border town that inspires her work.  She is the author of In the Company of Crows: Haiku and Tanka Between the Tides (Black Cat Press, 2008, 2nd Printing, 2018) and The Tang of Nasturtiums, an award-winning e-chapbook (Snapshot Press 2012).  

Monday, February 17, 2025

Butterfly Dream: Pink Clouds Haiku by Lorraine Pester

English Original

a tornado-twist
of pink clouds ...
this time of life

Lorraine Pester


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

龍捲風扭曲
的粉紅色雲彩 ...
人生的這個階段

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

龙卷风扭曲
的粉红色云彩 ...
人生的这个阶段


Bio Sketch

Being curious and staying open to possibility is Lorraine Pester’s way of keeping her haikai fresh. She shies from no topic that presents itself. Her deliberate interactions with birds while dog walking is a frequent theme. She lives with her husband and  Abbey schnauzer in south Texas. 

Sunday, February 16, 2025

Hot News: Two Tanka Prose Included in Contemporary Haibun Anthology 20

My Dear Friends:

Two of my tanka prose about Israel's war on Gaza are included in Contemporary Haibun Anthology 20, an "annual anthology showcasing a state-of-the-art selection of haibun, tanka prose, and haiga from journals around the world."


The Smell of Sorrow

all day rain ...
the puddles outside
and inside
these ripped plastic shelters
at the edge of Rafah

After the rain, at a camp located roughly a mile away from sandy terrain, strewn with rubbish and debris, men, women and children carry buckets of sand back and forth, back and forth, between their tents and the sandy area. A girl suddenly drops her bucket, then sits on the muddy groud, crying. For a moment, she stares up at the sky as if someone were listening.

Ribbons, 20:1, Winter 2024
(also nominated for the Pushcart Prize by the Tanka Society of America)


it’s peaceful now

M-16 rifles are blooming, 2000-pound bombs singing, and Merkava tanks sweeping the streets.

Gaza is cleaner than ever, clean of blood-covered children. Yet, somewhere among the rubble the only moving thing is a boy’s eyes that look up to Heaven.

a mural
on the separation wall
of the West Bank:
in midair a girl grasps
a bunch of rainbow balloons



Chen-ou

Saturday, February 15, 2025

A Room of My Own: Crescent Moon and Midnight Train Haiku

I'm still still
with this crescent moon ...
midnight train passing


FYI: The following haiku could be read as its prequel:

at the crescent moon
the silence
enters the heart

Chiyo-ni 


Added: Re-Homing in the Maple Land, XXXVI

high-rise skyline
a balloon drifts up and down
as I'm evicted


Added: Instant Weather, Feb. 15: Strongest Snowstorm in Years to Bury Southern Ontario in Up to 50cm of Snow on Sunday

I huff and puff
to clear away all the snow
on my driveway
after a snowplow comes by
a wall of snow blocks my way


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

meditating
while shovelling my driveway --
snow is just snow
yet sometimes not snow
but in the end snow

Ribbons, 5:1, Spring 2009 


Added: written on Canada's Flag Day

round after round
of shovelling snow ...
the Maple Leaf 
atop the snow wall between me
and the American neighbor

Friday, February 14, 2025

Special Feature: Selected Poems for Valentine's Day

Today is Valentine's Day, typically a day of chocolate, flowers, and "all things love." I would like to share with you the following poems to explore many/different kinds of love that cover a gamut of emotions:

valentine’s day --
a glimpse of the shop girl’s
red bra strap

Paul Hodder

as if seeing love
for the first time
you bring me
white peonies
wet with morning dew

Pamela A. Babusci

After Dusk

asleep
the firefly
is fueling

sparks
however small
light lovers

our bodies
listen
to light

Raymond Roseliep

evening 
between her breasts 
sugar to lick off 
the cocktail glass 
rim 

ai li

on her skin he writes              
invisible love letters
each word
a little warmer
than the next

Claudia Coutu Radmore

this winter night 
you inside 
all of my curves 

Inside the Mirror, 2005

Karina Young

leaving my loneliness     inside her

George Swede 

I fight the urge 
to ask them 
how to make love last 
old couple holding hands 
where the waves break 

Roberta Beary


To conclude today's Special Feature post, I would like to share with you the following Valentine's Day haiku:

those three words uttered ...
our bodies nestle, listening
to Valentine's starlight


Added: 

my affair ends
with a tired face emoji
she used to say
the power of love begins
with the silence of words

Thursday, February 13, 2025

Butterfly Dream: Goodbye Haiku by George Swede

English Original

waving goodbye
to the father     a clothesline
of children's shirts

Almost Unseen, 2000

George Swede


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

揮手告別
父親       一條晾衣繩
的兒童襯衫

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

挥手告别
父亲       一条晾衣绳
的儿童衬衫


Bio Sketch

George Swede's most recent collections of haiku are Almost Unseen (Decatur, IL: Brooks Books, 2000)Joy In Me Still (Edmonton: Inkling Press, 2010) and micro haiku: three to nine syllables (Inspress, 2014). He is a former editor of Frogpond: Journal of the Haiku Society of America (2008-2012) and a former Honorary Curator of the American Haiku Archives (2008-2009).

Tuesday, February 11, 2025

One Man's Maple Moon: Upward Spiral Tanka by André Surridge

English Original

jasmine tendril
stretching in an upward spiral
I too
grasp for a hold
on the future                                    

Honorable Mention, 2009 World Tanka Competition

André Surridge


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

茉莉花的卷鬚
螺旋式
向上
伸展
我也是
想一把抓住
未來

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

茉莉花的卷须
螺旋式
向上
伸展
我也是
想一把抓住
未来


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 and senryu, one hundred petals, was critically acclaimed in 2019.

Monday, February 10, 2025

Butterfly Dream: Cloud Shadow Haiku by Michael McClintock

English Original

across the sands
the rippling quiet
cloud shadow

The Haiku Anthology, 1999

Michael McClintock


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

穿越沙漠
這漣漪般的寧靜
一片雲影

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

穿越沙漠
这涟漪般的宁静
一片云影


Bio Sketch

Michael McClintock's lifework in haiku, tanka, and related literature spanned over four decades. His many contributions to the field included six years as president of the Tanka Society of America (2004-2010) and contributing editor, essayist, and poet for dozens of journals, anthologies, landmark collections and critical studies. McClintock lived in Clovis, California, where he worked as an independent scholar, consultant for public libraries, and poet. Meals at Midnight [tanka], Sketches from the San Joaquin [haiku] and Streetlights: Poetry of Urban Life in Modern English Tanka, were some of his recent titles.

Sunday, February 9, 2025

Poetic Musings: Starlings Haiku by Alan Peat

sunset starlings shifting dunes
 
Honorable Mention, 2022 San Francisco International Competition
                        
Alan Peat
                        
Commentary: The sound in this one-liner reflects the hush of wings and swirl of sand at sunset, and the quick pace of its one-line format visually enhances the thematic focus.

Saturday, February 8, 2025

A Room of My Own: The Cover

On the Brink of Trumperica, XII
inspired by/written in response to Time Magazine, Feb. 7: Inside Elon Musk's War on Washington

The Cover

behind the Resolute desk
flanked by a spray of flags
the Richest Man
moans, I love Trump as much
as a straight man could

the people of Trump
                  by the people of Musk
                  for the people of the SuperRich ...
sun-bleached stars and stripes
atop the Capitol fencing


FYI: Daily Beast, Feb. 7: Trump Reveals Melania’s Reaction to Musk’s ‘Straight Man’ Love Confession

Donald Trump suggested the First Lady was willing to share him after Elon Musk declared his “straight man” love for the president on Friday.

While apparently taking a break from his bid to remake the federal government, the tech billionaire confessed on X, “I love @realDonaldTrump as much as a straight man can love another man.”


Added: On the Brink of Trumperica, XIII

woke mind virus ...
this double-masked man mumbles
in the psych ward


Added: Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, CLXIII: "suffocating peace"

my friend laments
this suffocating peace 
saddled with anxiety ...
in Gaza, Time feels endless
yet none of it belongs to you


Added: reading between the lives and writing between the lines, XCI

the pastor intones
about all these virtues
of "love is patient"...
another faint bruise
under his wife's right eye


Added: On the Brink of Trumperica, XIV
written in response to Jezebel, Feb. 12: It’s Pretty Clear Who’s Running the Show Here
On Tuesday night, Elon Musk, donning a black midi-dress over One Direction-era skinny jeans, held a press conference with Donald Trump to assure the public not to worry because he’s investigated himself and has done nothing wrong.

his four-year-old
riding on his shoulders
the Richest Man
stands over the Convicted Felon
behind the Resolute desk

Friday, February 7, 2025

Hot News: Two Haiku Included in Haiku 21.2

My Dear Friends and Readers:

Two of my haiku below are included in Haiku 21.2,  a new anthology that presents examples of the best haiku being written in the second decade of the 21st century as Haiku 21 presented the first. It is edited by Lee Gurga and Scott Metz and published by Modern Haiku Press. 


I

remarried
the taste of pinot noir
left open overnight

Frogpond, 40:3, Fall 2017

And my free verse below could be read as its prequel:

Pickled Sorrow

I slice my sorrow,
pickle the cutlets,
and closet them in a jar.

When hungry,
I'll have a slice
with pinot noir.



II

a white lie
to cover another
early snowfall

Failed Haiku, 5:58, October 2020
jar of rain: The Red Moon Anthology of English-Language Haiku 2020
Haiku 2021

Commentary: Like the falling snow, white lies are pleasing to the senses, but too much of each may do more harm than good. This deceptively simple haiku seems like a cautionary tale, reminding readers to watch their words, even if well intended... review of jar of rain by Joanne Morcom

And my haiku below could be read as its prequel:

snow drifting ...
all her colorful words
about love



FYI: Haiku 21: an anthology of contemporary English-language haiku is the Winner of the “Best Anthology” award from the Haiku Society of America and the Haiku Foundation Touchstone Award.

Thursday, February 6, 2025

Butterfly Dream: Sakura Blossoms Haiku by Neal Whitman

English Original

sakura blossoms
loose in an envelope
priority mail

USA Winner, Haiku Invitational, 2019

Neal Whitman 


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

盛開的櫻花
寬鬆地裝在信封裡
優先郵件

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

盛开的樱花
宽松地装在信封里
优先邮件


Bio Sketch

Neal Whitman lives with his wife, Elaine, in Pacific Grove, California, where he is a docent at Point Pinos Lighthouse. Visitors who come there from near and far inspire him to write poetry that takes the “particular" to convey the “universal". Neal is Vice President of the United Haiku and Tanka Society.

Wednesday, February 5, 2025

Butterfly Dream: Bodies and Light Haiku by Raymond Roseliep

English Original

our bodies
    listen
    to light

Listen to Light, 1980

Raymond Roseliep


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

我們的身體
      傾聽
      晨光

Chinese Translation (Simplified) 

我们的身体
     倾听
     晨光


Bio Sketch

Raymond Roseliep (August 11, 1917 – December 6, 1983) was a Catholic priest and a haiku poet. He has been described as "the John Donne of Western haiku." He won the Haiku Society of America Harold G. Henderson award in 1977 and 1982. Two of his better known collections of haiku are The Still Point – Haiku of Mu, 1979 and Listen to Light, 1980 

Tuesday, February 4, 2025

Butterfly Dream: Nursing Home Haiku by Natalia Kuznetsova

English Original

primroses
at the nursing home
another spring

Asahi Haikuist Network, June 07, 2024

Natalia Kuznetsova


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

安養院
的報春花
又一個春天

Chinese Translation (Simplified) 

安养院
的报春花
又一个春天


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.