Sunday, November 29, 2015

Hot News: Featured Poet and Award Winning Haiku

My Dear Friends:

I'm excited to share the following good news with you all: I'm the Featured Poet of the November issue of Einunddreissig, and I won two haiku awards in this lucky month of mine.

(Updated, Dec. 1: another piece of good news:

the rice song
mother sang to me ...
first spring rain

Editors' Choice , The Heron's Nest, 17:4, December 2015

Updated, Dec 2: one more piece of good news:

moving day . . .
cherry petals floating
on a pool of sky

Honourable Mention, 2015 Haiku Invitational)


Featured Tanka (translated by Tony Böhle):

sudden news                                            plötzlich die Nachricht
of her breast cancer...                              von ihrem Brustkrebs…
I add                                                         in meinen Morgenkaffee
one more lump of sugar                           gebe ich
to my morning coffee                                noch einen Würfel Zucker

coming home                                            auf dem Weg nach Haus
from the night shift...                                 von der Nachtschicht…
a blanket                                                   eine Decke
of snowy loneliness                                   verschneiter Einsamkeit
covers my shadow and me                        bedeckt meinen Schatten und mich

our laughter flows                                      unser Gelächter
from one street block                                 von einem Straßenzug
to another...                                               zum anderen ...
mother's garden hose                                Mutters Gartenschlauch
spouting a rainbow                                     speit einen Regenbogen

after love                                                   nach der Liebe
our bodies resume                                     ziehen sich unsre Körper in
their boundaries...                                      ihre Grenzen zurück…
the sound of dripping water                        der Klang tröpfelnden Wassers
becomes louder and louder                        wird lauter und lauter

spider hammocks                                        Spinnenweben
suspended in dried corn stalks...                aufgespannt in getrockneten Maisstängeln…
the deadly silence                                       die tödlichee Stille
between migrant workers                            zwischen den Wanderarbeitern
on the way to work                                      auf dem Weg zur Arbeit

I'm a poet!                                                  Ich bin Dichter!
announced at New Year's dinner...             kundgetan beim Sylvesteressen…
a faint smell                                                ein schwacher Geruch
of disapproval                                             von Missbilligung
lingering in the room                                   bleibt im Raum zurück

a shooting star                                            eine Sternschnuppe
across the pub windows...                           zieht durch die Kneipenfenster…
coins clatter                                                 Münzen klingeln
into the tray                                                 in die Schale
of a slot machine                                         des Spielautomaten

you're not tuned                                          du bist nicht mehr
into me anymore...                                      auf meiner Wellenlänge…
I take her hand                                            ich nehme ihre Hand
as the traffic noise                                       als der Verkehrslärm
filters over us                                               sich über uns legt

three words                                                drei Worte
then an awkward silence                             und dann ein betretenes
between us...                                              Schweigen zwischen uns…
the woodpecker's knock                             das Klopfen des Spechts
echoing through the trees                           hallt durch die Bäume

before the ceremony                                    vor der Zeremonie
I stand in front of the mirror…                      stehe ich vor dem Spiegel…
my Chinese self                                           mein chinesisches Ich
here in yesterday's dream                            hier aus den Träumen von Gestern
gone in today's mist                                     gegangen in den Nebel von Heute
            (for naturalized Canadians)                                 (für eingebürgerte Kanadier)


And on November 7, I was awarded a “Distinguished Poet”  by the Italian Haiku Society for the following haiku:

alone
this starless night
tasting black

in twilight
cherry petals fall
without a sound

snow on snow...
her words fall onto
my silence

In this lucky month of mine, I also won a "Honorable Mention" in the 2015 World Haiku Competition:
                
snowed in ...
( this longing
deep inside )

7 comments:

  1. Congratulations! So beautiful tanka and haiku!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sunita Agarwal and Steliana Cristina Voicu:

      Many thanks for your warm congratulations and kind words.

      Chen-ou

      Delete
  2. Replies
    1. Dear Jan Benson:

      Many thanks for your kind words.

      Chen-ou Liu

      Delete
  3. Butterflies are certain
    as poems are
    a trembled sigh of the sky
    Congratulations!
    Adriana

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dear Adriana:

      Thanks for your warm congratulations.

      I wish you a happy and creative new year.

      Chen-ou

      Delete