One Man's Maple Moon: Wheat Fields Tanka by Debbie Strange

English Original

wheat fields
tousled by fingers
of wind
I tuck a strand of hair
behind your ear

Honorable Mention, 2018 Sanford Goldstein International Tanka Contest

Debbie Strange


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

微風
輕輕地吹拂
麥田
我將你的一根頭髮
撥到耳朵後面

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

微风
轻轻地吹拂
麦田
我将你的一根头发
拨到耳朵后面


Bio Sketch

Debbie Strange is an award-winning Canadian short form poet, haiga artist, and photographer. Keibooks released her second full-length poetry collection, Three-Part Harmony: Tanka Verses in 2018, and Folded Word published her haiku chapbook, A Year Unfolding in 2017. An archive of publications may be accessed at http://debbiemstrange.blogspot.com/

One Man's Maple Moon: Poppies Tanka by A A Marcoff

English Original

           poppies
           again
           & again
           & again
the open fields & the sky

Blithe Spirit, 28:4, 2018

A A Marcoff


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

   一大片罌粟花
        一次
       又一次
       又一次
開闊的田野和天空

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

   一大片罂粟花
       一次
       又一次
       又一次
开阔的田野和天空 


Bio Sketch

A A Marcoff is an Anglo-Russian poet, born in Iran, who has lived in Africa, Iran, France and Japan. He is a much-published mainstream poet as well as a writer of tanka. He lives near the beautiful River Mole in Surrey, England.

Butterfly Dream: Pride Parade Haiku by Kishor Matte

English Original

Pride Parade --
searching the colours
inside me

Kishor Matte


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

同志大遊行 --
尋找我內心中
各種的顏色

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

同志大游行 --
寻找我内心中
各种的颜色 


Bio Sketch

Kishor Matte is new to short form poetry. He has published one poem in Jar of Stars and four haiku on NeverEnding Story. Some of his poems were posted on Twitter. He also writes short poems in both Hindi and Marathi.

One Man's Maple Moon: Address Book tanka by Margaret Chula

English Original

year’s end
so many cross-outs
in my address book
squirrels scratch for nuts
in the frozen ground       

Just This, 2013

Margaret Chula


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

年底到了
在我的通訊錄中
有如此多的名字被劃掉
一群松鼠在凍土上
不斷地刮取堅果

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

年底到了
在我的通讯录中
有如此多的名字被划掉
一群松鼠在冻土上
不断地刮取坚果 


Bio Sketch

Margaret Chula has published two collections of tanka: Always Filling, Always Full and Just This. She has promoted tanka through her one-woman dramatization, “Three Women Who Loved Love”, which traveled to Krakow, New York, Boston, Portland, Ottawa, and Ogaki, Japan. And from 2011 to 2015, Maggie served as president of the Tanka Society of America.

Butterfly Dream: Fortress Wall Haiku by Michael Dylan Welch

English Original

spring lightning --
a flower’s shadow
against the fortress wall

The Sleepless Planet, 2018

Michael Dylan Welch


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

春天的閃電 --
堡壘牆上一朵花
的陰影

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

春天的闪电 --
堡垒墙上一朵花
的阴影


Bio Sketch

Michael Dylan Welch is the founder of the Tanka Society of America (2000), and co-founder of Haiku North America conference (1991) and the American Haiku Archives (1996). In 2010 he also started National Haiku Writing Month (NaHaiWriMo), which takes place every February, with an active Facebook page. His personal website is www.graceguts.com, which features hundreds of essays, reviews, reports, and other content, including examples of his published poetry.

One Man's Maple Moon: Persona Tanka by Sally Biggar

English Original

sheets
of birch bark
peel so easily ...
I cling to my persona
much too tightly

Moonbathing, Autumn/Winter 2015

Sally Biggar


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

一片片
白樺樹皮
輕易地剝離 ...
我過度堅持扮演
我的公眾角色

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

一片片
白樺樹皮
輕易地剝離 ...
我過度堅持扮演
我的公众角色


Bio Sketch

Sally Biggar recently (and very reluctantly) left Port Townsend, Washington and moved back to her native state of Maine. She delights in re-discovering the peninsulas and coves of the Maine coast after being away for 25 years. Her tanka can be found in the usual places online, and in print journals and anthologies.

A Room of My Own: Quiet, all alone

Eighty-Third Entry, Coronavirus Poetry Diary

on the edge of this quarantined world, 120 square feet of attic space

yet again, I try

to wipe my drunken shadow

off the wall

but can't erase this shadow

of an infected mind

Note: The eighty-third entry is a sequel to the seventy-seventh entry:

quarantined

for two more weeks

in the attic

we're all alone together:

me, my shadow and my echo

PoemHunter. June 10 2020

One Man's Maple Moon: Leaf Tanka by Munira Judith Avinger

English Original

a leaf
twists in the wind
then falls --
another day
without a  call

Gusts, Spring/Summer 2012

Munira Judith Avinger


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

一片樹葉
在風中扭曲
然後掉落下來
又一天
沒有人打電話給我

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

一片树叶
在风中扭曲
然后掉落下来
又一天
没有人打电话给我


Bio Sketch

Munira Judith Avinger is an author living in the Eastern Townships of Quebec. She has published three bilingual poetry books, one novel and a memoir. She is also a mentor and leader of the Dances of Universal Peace. www.munirabooks.com

Butterfly Dream: Lights Out Haiku by Peggy Willis Lyles

English Original

summer night
we turn out all the lights
to hear the rain

To Hear the Rain: Selected Haiku of Peggy Lyles, 2002

Peggy Willis Lyles


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

夏天的夜晚
我們關掉所有的燈
傾聽雨聲

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

夏天的夜晚
我们关掉所有的灯
倾听雨声


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.

One Man's Maple Moon: Heart-to-Heart Tanka by Elisa Theriana

English Original

a heart-to-heart
with my mother
for the first time
the gibbous moon
waxing ... or waning

Elisa Theriana


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

第一次
與我的母親
真心對談
凸狀的月亮
逐漸接近滿月... 或是消逝不見

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

第一次
与我的母亲
真心对谈
凸状的月亮
逐渐接近满月... 或是消逝不见

Bio Sketch

Elisa Theriana, from Bandung, Indonesia, working as a computer programmer. Haiku and tanka lover and photography  enthusiast.

Special Feature: Selected Haiku and Tanka for Father's Day

                                                                                                           Father's Day

                                                                                                           the newborn's hand

                                                                                                           curled in his

My Dear Friends:

Today is Father's Day, I would like to share with you a set of selected haiku and tanka that  show the many/changing faces of fatherhood and challenge readers to rethink the influence of fathers in society.

Selected Haiku and Tanka:

her tiny voice --
the apartment fills
with dad-dads

John Hawk

crayon map
my son shows me the way
to Neverland

John McManus

father's advice
... the faded blue
of his ball cap

Elliot Nicely

family dinner dad's stony gaze bursts in my mouth

Ken Sawitri

on a shelf
in her dining room ...
the red truck
her father bought
hoping for a boy

Ken Slaughter

father poses
in his first suit
of lifelong desire --
lightness of being him
in my wedding

Ramesh Anand

a plastic bank
in the thrift store
takes me back
to when I last saw him ...
I inhale my father

Mary Davila

twilight chill ...

on the street corner

a young man

yells at his father

who is not there

Chen-ou Liu

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

It is a wise father that knows his own child.

-- William Shakespeare

Happy Father's Day

Chen-ou

One Man's Maple Moon: Rocky Slope Tanka by Mary Vlooswyk

English Original

on a rocky slope
a steady clink, clink, clink
from stone
they chisel by hand
someone else's dream

Mary Vlooswyk


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

來自岩石斜坡上
持續地敲打石頭
的叮噹聲
他們用手挖鑿
別人的夢想

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

来自岩石斜坡上
持续地敲打石头
的叮当声
他们用手挖凿
别人的梦想

Bio Sketch

Mary Vlooswyk is from Calgary, Canada.  She is a poet and cellist who also likes to dabble in visual arts. Her haiku and tanka has been published in the book, A Pebble In My Shoe and various international magazines.

A Room of My Own: Juneteenth Fireworks Haiku

barbecue smoke billowing

across the white picket fence

Juneteenth fireworks

FYI: "Despite the lack of federal recognition, Juneteenth, also known as Freedom Day or the Black Fourth of July, has lived on through rich traditions, including lively celebrations in the form of festivals and parades with local bands playing, storytelling, picnics, fireworks and a Juneteenth staple — barbecues."

One Man's Maple Moon: Illness Tanka by Pamela A. Babusci

English Original

another illness
another unknown mountain
to climb
lighting a thousand candles
in my comfortless room

Grand Prix Award, 2018 Mt. Fuji Tanka Contest

Pamela A. Babusci


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

另一種疾病
另一座未知的山
需要攀登
在我毫不舒適的房間裡
點燃一千支蠟燭

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

另一种疾病
另一座未知的山
需要攀登
在我毫不舒适的房间里
点燃一千支蜡烛


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.

Butterfly Dream: Cricket Haiku by George Swede

English Original

creek 
cricket 
creaking

micro haiku: three to nine syllables, 2014

George Swede


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

溪邊
的蟋蟀
吱吱作響

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

溪边
的蟋蟀
吱吱作响


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).

One Man's Maple Moon: Lighthouse Beam Tanka by Michael Dylan Welch

English Original

warm summer night --
our first kiss
lingers long enough
for the lighthouse beam
to flash again

Red Lights, 3:1, 2007

Michael Dylan Welch


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

溫暖的夏天夜晚 --
我們的初吻
持續足夠久的時間
燈塔的光束
再一次閃爍

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

温暖的夏天夜晚 --
我们的初吻
持续足够久的时间
灯塔的光束
再一次闪烁 


Bio Sketch

Michael Dylan Welch is the founder of the Tanka Society of America (2000), and co-founder of Haiku North America conference (1991) and the American Haiku Archives (1996). In 2010 he also started National Haiku Writing Month (NaHaiWriMo), which takes place every February, with an active Facebook page. His personal website is www.graceguts.com, which features hundreds of essays, reviews, reports, and other content, including examples of his published poetry.

Poetic Musings: Syrian Child Refugee Tanka by Chen-ou Liu

the dervish

of first snowflakes…

a Syrian

child refugee talking

to the foreign sky

Runner-Up, 2019 British Haiku Society Awards

Chen-ou Liu

Judge's Commentary: This is a well-crafted tanka that begins with snow falling, identifying who sees it, where and their reaction to it. The use of “dervish” refers to the meditative movements of disciples of Sufism. The snow is moving and so is the child, a Syrian refugee in a new land. One wonders what the child makes of all this.

Note: The tanka could be read as a sequel to my poem below:

A Home Away From Home 

where the sky

meets the winter desert ...

refugee tents

Arzu walks out of the tent to meet her friends, waiting in line with hundreds of others for water distribution. A wisp of cloud drifts by. It reminds her of the camp teacher's departing words, "Those puffy, sheep-like clouds you're looking at come from Syria. You will all return home one day, I promise."

Honorable Mention, 2015 United Haiku and Tanka Society Samurai Haibun Contest

Judge's Commentary: Amidst unceasing news of overwhelming number of people fleeing the conflict-torn regions in the Middle East, Chen-ou Liu’s Honorable Mention haibun is both timely and compassionate in his presentation of a young girl’s plight. The poet’s imagery of a ‘wisp of cloud’ is laden with significance. It evokes poignantly the fragility of Arzu’s hope for a safe return to her native land and also works as a ‘beacon’ of light in the otherwise drab and desperate tents-filled camp. What I find particularly powerful is how Chen-ou turns on its head, the largely negative media representations of how refugees threaten the civilizations of the host countries in which they seek asylum. There is quiet dignity in both Arzu and her teacher who holds out the promise of a return to their homeland.

Butterfly Dream: Cabbage Moths Haiku by Mark Dailey

English Original

double helix
the mating swirl
of cabbage moths

Frogpond, 40:3, 2017

Mark Dailey


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

雙螺旋
交配的捲心菜蛾
在空中漩渦式地飛舞
  
Chinese Translation (Simplified)

双螺旋
交配的卷心菜蛾
在空中漩涡式地飞舞


Bio Sketch

Mark Dailey is an anthropology professor living and working in rural Vermont, USA. He has studied, lived, and researched in mainland China, and has a lifelong interest in Chinese language and poetry. He has devoted his poetry writing to haiku since 2013.

One Man's Maple Moon: Morning Star Tanka by Cynthia West

English Original

when you showed me
how to see a star
in the morning sky
I never guessed
you would disappear as fast

Gusts, 27, Spring/Summer 2018

Cynthia West


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

當你向我展示
如何觀賞天空中
的晨星
我從未想到
你會迅速地消失不見了

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

当你向我展示
如何欣赏天空中
的晨星
我从未想到
你会迅速地消失不见了


Bio Sketch

Cynthia West is known for painting, photography, digital imaging, and book arts. Her works are in collections world wide. Visit her web-site: www.westvision.us. She is the author six collections of poetry. For Beauty Way, 1990, and 1000 Stone Buddhas, 1993, published by  Inked Wingbeat, Santa Fe. Rainbringer, 2004, The New Sun, 2007, In the Center of the Field, 2010,  A Clear Drop, 2015, the last four published by Sunstone Press, Santa Fe. She is currently gathering poems for the next volume.

One Man's Maple Moon: Bowls of Rice Tanka by Sanford Goldstein

English Original

my son heaps
bowl on bowl
with rice,
head down
he devours the world

This Short Life: Minimalist Tanka, 2014

Sanford Goldstein


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

我的兒子
堆放一碗米飯
在另一碗上
然後低下頭
他吞噬了整個世界

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

我的儿子
堆放一碗米饭
在另一碗上
然后低下头
他吞噬了整个世界


Bio Sketch

Sanford Goldstein has been publishing tanka for more than fifty years.  He was born in 1925 and is now 95 years old.  Long ago, he wrote haiku, but decided to focus on tanka. His latest books, three in the last two years, have each said this would be his last.

A Room of My Own: Is to mask or not to mask your question?

Seventy-Ninth Entry, Coronavirus Poetry Diary

A notice posted on the large window at the entrance to American Beauty Salon reads:

Dear Customers: If you FEEL (not think) that you need to wear a mask, please stay home until you FEEL that it is safe to be out in public without one. No Mask Allowed.

business as usual ...

a masked woman mutters

to herself

Note: The seventy-ninth entry is a sequel to the fifty-first entry:

business as usual

giant Stars-and-Stripes flapping

over a salon

NeverEnding Story, May 9, 2020

One Man's Maple Moon: Morning Glory Tanka by Ikuyo Yoshimura

English Original

my mother
forgets morning glory ...
sitting by the window
she grows the flower
in her heart

Gusts, 24, 2016

Ikuyo Yoshimura


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

我的母親
忘了喇叭花的樣子 ...
坐在窗邊
在她的心裡栽種
她自己的喇叭花

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

我的母亲
忘了喇叭花的样子...
坐在窗边
在她的心里栽种
她自己的喇叭花


Bio Sketch

Ikuyo Yoshimura was born in Kyoto, Japan in 1944. Poet, translator and researcher on R.H.Blyth and world haiku.  She is a retired professor. She founded the writing English haiku group, “EVERGREEN” in 1987.

Butterfly Dream: Freckles Haiku by Debbi Antebi

English Original

summer break
the sun scatters
my freckles

Modern Haiku, 49:2, Summer 2018

Debbi Antebi


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

放暑假
陽光撒落在我的
雀斑臉上

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

放暑假
阳光撒落在我的
雀斑脸上 


Bio Sketch 

Debbi Antebi exhales oxygen while writing poems. Her work has appeared in a variety of print and online journals and anthologies. She lives in London, UK with her husband and books.

One Man's Maple Moon: Pebbles Tanka by Martha Magenta

English Original

the pebbles
I throw into the lake
sink without a ripple
his cold words
fall into silence

Moonbathing, 18, Spring/Summer 2018

Martha Magenta


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

我扔進湖裡
的小石頭
直接下沉沒有一絲漣漪
他冷淡的話
落入我們之間的沉默

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

我扔进湖里
的小石头
直接下沉没有一丝涟漪
他冷淡的话
落入我们之间的沉默


Bio Sketch

Martha Magenta lived in England, UK. Her haiku and tanka had appeared in a number of journals, and anthologies. She was awarded Honourable Mentions for her haiku in The Fifth Annual Peggy Willis Lyles Haiku  Awards, 2017, and in the 71st Basho Memorial English Haiku Contest, 2017, and for her tanka in UHTS  “Fleeting Words” Tanka Contest 2017.

One Man's Maple Moon: Dickinson or Whitman Tanka by Patricia Prime

English Original

the way the sun slants
breaking through a café window
lighting a page
of Dickinson or Whitman
from a second-hand bookshop

Gusts, 28, 2018

Patricia Prime


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

太陽斜照
陽光穿入咖啡館的窗戶
照亮一頁
二手書店的狄金森
或惠特曼

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

太阳斜照
阳光穿入咖啡馆的窗户
照亮一页
二手书店的狄金森
或惠特曼


Bio Sketch

Patricia Prime is the co-editor of Kokako, reviews/interviews editor of Haibun Today and writes reviews for Takahe and for several Indian journals. She recently completed an interview on the history of Kokako to be published in Takahe and an interview with an Indian editor who is also considering a collection of her poems for publication

Butterfly Dream: Oncology Ward Haiku by Marilyn Humbert

English Original

laughter mingles
with beeping machines
oncology ward

Creatrix, 43, 2018

Marilyn Humbert


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

笑聲和機器的嘟嘟聲
交融在一起
腫瘤病房

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

笑声和机器的嘟嘟声
交融在一起
肿瘤病房


Bio Sketch

Marilyn Humbert lives in the Northern suburbs of Sydney NSW Australia. Her tanka and haiku appear in international and Australian journals, anthologies and online. Her free verse poems have been awarded prizes in competitions and some have been published.

A Room of My Own: Black Rage Tanka

in memory of Malcolm X

the White House
in scorching heat
waves of black rage
against this Great Wall
of riot shields

One Man's Maple Moon: Ad Balloon Tanka by Fumiko Nakajo

English Original

far in the sky
is there happiness?
what is it like?
even an ad balloon
pulls on a rope

Breasts of Snow, 2004

Fumiko Nakajo


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

在遙遠的天空中
會存在幸福嗎？
它是什麼樣的感覺？
甚至廣告氣球
都有一根繩子在牽掣

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

在遥远的天空中
会存在幸福吗？
它是什麽样的感觉？
甚至广告气球
都有一根绳子在牵掣

Bio Sketch

Fumiko Nakajo (中城ふみ子, 1922-54) was a strong-willed woman who lived a tragic life. She died from breast cancer at the age of 32, just few months after her first collection of 50 tanka, titled Chibusa Soshitsu (The Loss of Breasts), won the first prize in a nationwide contest sponsored by a major magazine. She is, though almost unknown outside of Japan, considered to be the third in the three most famous Japanese female poets in the last century, right up there with Akiko Yosano and Machi Tawara.

Butterfly Dream: Shades of Purple Haiku by Elliot Nicely

English Original

darkness edges in
the shades of purple
in the killdeer's call

Modern Haiku, 49:1, 2018

Elliot Nicely


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

黑暗逼進
一隻美國千鳥啼叫聲中
的紫色陰影

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

黑暗逼进
一只美国千鸟啼叫声中
的紫色阴影 


Bio Sketch

Elliot Nicely is the author of two chapbooks: The Black Between Stars (Crisis Chronicles Press, 2017) and Tangled Shadows: Senryu and Haiku (Rosenberry Books, 2013). He resides in Lakewood, Ohio in the United States.

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

English Original

spring afternoon
white petals keep falling
in haste
I still cannot decide
to fall in love again

Moonbathing, 10, Spring/Summer 2014

Kozue Uzawa


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

春天的下午
白色的花瓣匆忙地
不斷飄落
我仍然不能決定
再次墜入愛河

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

春天的下午
白色的花瓣匆忙地
不断飘落
我仍然不能决定
再次坠入爱河


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.

A Room of My Own: Fog of Tear Gas Haiku

for veterans of the civil rights movement

the fog of tear gas ...
a black boy on the shoulders
of his grandfather

A Room of My Own: Silhouettes Tanka

written in response to Donald Trump's "tone-deaf" Bible photo-op

anger floods

over the three-meter fence

in smoky twilight

silhouettes in a window

of the White House

Added: written in response to Justin Trudeau's response to Donald Trump's vow to dominate the streets by calling in military

21-second silence

photogenic PM mutters, 

we  all   watch...

One Man's Maple Moon: Campfire Tanka by Keitha Keyes

English Original

pouring water
on our campfire
... the hiss
of steam rises
with your anger

Gusts, 26, 2017

Keitha Keyes


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

將水倒在
我們的營火堆上
... 蒸汽上升
的嘶嘶聲
以及你的怒火

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

将水倒在
我们的营火堆上
...蒸汽上升
的嘶嘶声
以及你的怒火

Bio Sketch

Keitha Keyes lives in Sydney, surrounded by antique irons and ship models. She enjoys writing tanka, haiku, senryu, cherita and related genres. Her work is published in many journals and anthologies in Australia and overseas.

A Room of My Own: Her Fist Up Tanka

the White House
silhouetted against the sunset —
with her fist up
while facing lines of riot police
a black woman takes a knee

Note: This tanka is inspired by the 14th and 17th photos in this collection of 25 Of The Most Powerful Photos From Anti-Racism Marches Following The Death Of George Floyd, and written in response to Donald Trump's "vicious dogs" and "ominous weapons" tweet.  And it is a sequel to my haiku below published on NeverEnding Story this past Saturday:

gathering dark

White House encircled by chanting,

black lives matter ...

Added: written in response to comments on my political poetry

you're too sensitive
lingering in the cold air
the smell of tear gas

Butterfly Dream: Shelter in Place Haiku by Kanchan Chatterjee

English Original

shelter in place
jacaranda blooms on top
of one another

Kanchan Chatterjee


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

在家避難
盛開的藍色喇叭花
一朵壓在另一朵之上

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

在家避难
盛开的蓝色喇叭花
一朵压在另一朵之上


Bio Sketch

Kanchan Chatterjee writes haiku, tanka and haibun and has won several international awards. He has been published regularly in various online haiku and other poetry journals. His haiku appeared regularly in NHK Japan's "Haiku Masters." His poems were featured in some Indian poetry anthologies, such as Beyond the Fields. His first book of haiku, Scattered Leaves, was published in January, 2020.