English Original
twin towers
repeating their absence
day after day
World Haiku Review, January 2007
Bill Kenney
Chinese Translation (Traditional)
世貿中心雙子塔
日復一日
重複它們的消失不在
Chinese Translation (Simplified)
世贸中心双子塔
日复一日
重复它们的消失不在
Bio Sketch
Born and raised in the Boston area, and living for over 50 years in New York City, Bill Kenney was a professor for many years in the English Department at Manhattan College. He started writing haiku in 2004, a month before his 72nd birthday, and became an active participant in the New York City Spring Street Haiku group. His haiku were published in numerous journals and anthologies. And his collection of haiku, keep walking, won the 2021 Touchstone Distinguished Book Awards.
Bill's haiku, written "4 months 5 years after the September 11 attacks," effectively builds, line by line, to an thematically significant and psychologically poignant ending that reveals the theme of "perpetual loss."
ReplyDeleteThe following two poems, one haiku and one tanka, could be read as sequels to Bill's:
two light beams shining
where there were once twin towers --
my son, my daughter
Grand Prize, 15th International “Kusamakura” Haiku Competition, "2010"
Jack Galmitz, USA
inspired by the 9/11 Memorial Fountain
at the footprint
of each tower that once stood
vast emptiness
( loss and grief ) surrounded
by four walls of water
NeverEnding Story, "September 12 2016"
Chen-ou Liu
FYI: The memorial is located at the World Trade Center site, the former location of the Twin Towers.