Special Feature: Selected Poems on the Normalization of Genocide of Palestinians

There is no ceasefire in Gaza; the world has normalized the genocide of Palestinians.

-- Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur on Palestine and author of UN Report, Anatomy of a Genocide

War Is Peace

pyramid

after pyramid of rubble ...

again "ceasefire" strikes

fireball by fireball ...

the length

of a Gazan night

smoky twilight

a cry sinks into the sound

of a gunshot

skeletal houses

these layers of silence

upon silence

The New Verse News, November 9 2025

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

Feb. 4 2026: 24 Palestinians Killed by Israeli Fire [in one Day] in Gaza in Ongoing Wave of Strikes, Medics Say

Israeli strikes and artillery shelling were reported throughout Wednesday, wounding dozens and killing at least eight children and a paramedic. 

Jan. 29 2026: IDF Accepts Gaza Health Ministry Death Toll of Over 71,000 Palestinians Killed During the War

Although many international experts have accepted the Health Ministry's data as reliable, and even conservative relative to the true death toll, Israel had refused to accept the Health Ministry's count until now

The IDF has accepted the estimate of the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry that approximately 71,000 Palestinians were killed during the Israel-Gaza war, noting that the number does not include missing residents who are potentially buried under rubble.

No state should join any initiative except those led by the United Nations or mandated by it, and those based on international law and the Palestinian right to self determination. 

The Peace Council fails on both counts. States committed to the rule of law should push to dismantle it immediately, not join it.

-- Francesca Albanese

Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, CCLXXI: "Phase Two"

The ink barely dry on the paper, and Phase Two of the ceasefire plan announced to the clicking of cameras.

these dark blue lips

as frost thickens on cracked panes

Gazan sky tinged red

NeverEnding Story, January 19 2026

Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, CCLXXIII: "Saharan desert warbler"

written in response to Haaretz, Jan. 25 2026: A West Bank Bus Trip Through 'the Best Documented Ethnic Cleansing in History'

A Saharan desert warbler spotted in Haifa, only the second ever to be seen in Israel.

West Bank town fenced in ...

a rifle silhouette

against the boundless sky

NeverEnding Story, January 26 2026

Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, CCLXXIV: "the Nakba"

The Nakba pictures in black and white; now this week in the color of smoky red.

fire's mouth

consumes the last farmhouse ...

settlers' roaring

NeverEnding Story, January 26 2026

 

Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, CCLXXV: "New Gaza"

New Gaza: a coastal strip, replete with high-rises and resorts.

newsfeed scroll:

ripped tents after ripped tents

in freezing rain

NeverEnding Story, January 27 2026

To conclude today's "Special Feature" post, I would like to share with you the latest entry of Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, CCLXXVII: "Groundhog Day loop"

Phase two of the Gaza ceasefire plan rolls on the news ticker. 

fireball by fireball

day and night, night and day:

Groundhog Day loop

FYI: "Groundhog Day Loop:" a plot in which the character is caught in a time loop, doomed to repeat a period of time (often exactly one day) over and over..." Watch the time loop scene from 1993 Groundhog Day.

Added: Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, CCLXXVIII: "cart of bodies"

Drones buzzing against Gaza's sky tinged orange-red.

a fork in the road

lined with smoky rubble ...

a cart of bodies

Added: Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, CCLXXIX: "outstretched hands"

A crowd of kids with outstretched hands, metal bowls gleaming in the dust.

a girl's empty stare 

grains scraped from the cracked pot

tumble past the bowl 

Butterfly Dream: Flag Haiku by André Surridge

English Original

evening breeze

a flag releases

its stars

Janice Bostok International Haiku Award 2012

André Surridge 

Chinese Translation (Traditional)

晚風

旗幟飄揚

釋出星辰

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

晚风

旗帜飘扬

释出星辰

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

One Man's Maple Moon: White Hare Tanka by Fumi Saito

English Original

a white hare

from a snow-covered mountain

when it came out

it was killed

with eyes still open

White Letter Poems, 1998

Fumi Saito

Chinese Translation (Traditional)

來自一座白雪皚皚的山

的一隻白兔

當它跑出來時

就被殺死了

它的眼睛仍然睜著

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

来自一座白雪皑皑的山

的一只白兔

当它跑出来时

就被杀死了

它的眼睛仍然睁着

 

 

Bio Sketch

Daughter of a military officer who was noted for his verse-writing talent, Fumi Saito began writing poetry in the traditional 31-syllable tanka form in her early teens. Her first book of tanka, Fish Songs, published in 1940, immediately established her as a brilliant young poet. She was inducted into the Japan Art Academy in 1993 and invited to serve as meshiudo (a position similar to the Poet Laureate's) at the Imperial Palace in 1997.

To the Lighthouse: Smols , A Haiku Inspired Form

The word smol is an internet slang term derived from small, used affectionately to describe something or someone that is tiny, fragile, and exceptionally adorable. Smols, a haiku-inspired genre created by NeverEnding Story contributor Roberta Beach Jacobson, are ultra-short poems—no more than five words—built on effective juxtaposition.

Selected Smols:

redacting the free wor(l)d

Roberta Beach Jacobson

supernova an explosion of daffodils

Vandana Parashar

inkblot shapeshifting my shadow

Hifsa Ashraf

Arctic snap, sound of white

Chen-ou Liu

dizzying  ...                      

the Tru(mp)-man show

Oscar Luparia

FYI: L2 alludes to the 1998 movie, The Truman Show, about Truman Burbank, an ordinary man who discovers that his entire life, from his hometown to his relationships, is a massive, 24/7 reality television show broadcast globally, with everyone he knows being actors.

sunrise

the thunder

in light

Bonnie J Scherer

snowbound

and still

no vodka

Florin C. Ciobîcă

Added:

hands starfished 

against windows

flicker

Added:

roof icicle

dripping dawnlight

cascade 

Added:

chain-link

  life after 

MAGA Dream

Added:

White House entrance

         No Parking 

A Room of My Own: Winter Stars Haiku

half awake, alone ...

winter stars upon stars 

upon stars

FYI: This haiku could be read as a prequel to the following:

more darkness

more stars

moving on

Frogpond, 34:2, Spring/Summer 2011

Sandra Mooney-Ellerbeck

Added:

the river

curves through winter mist

a man at its edge

Added:

the sound

of screeching tires

twilight chill

Added:

hilltop cross ...

the shape

of this misty night

Butterfly Dream: Last Goodbye Haiku by Laryalee Fraser

English Original

the distance 

light reflects ...

his last goodbye

A Hundred Gourds, 3:1, December 2013

Laryalee Fraser 

Chinese Translation (Traditional)

燈光反射

的距離

他最後的告別

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

灯光反射

的距离

他最后的告别

Bio Sketch

A resident of British Columbia, Canada, Laryalee Fraser was actively engaged in online poetry forums from the mid-1990’s until her death in 2013. Her poetry has been widely published in haiku and tanka journals, and  in 2006, she compiled an online anthology of haiku, "a procession of ripples."

Butterfly Dream: Spring Equinox Haiku by Dru Philippou

English Original

spring equinox

a crack splits

the frozen river

tinywords, 25:1, March 24, 2025

Dru Philippou

Chinese Translation (Traditional)

春分

冰封的河流裂開

一道裂縫

Chinese Translation (Simplified) 

春分

冰封的河流裂开

一道裂缝

Bio Sketch

Dru Philippou lives in northern New Mexico, where hiking in the desert wilderness nourishes her spirit and her writing. Her haibun “Afterlife” won first place in the Haiku Society of America’s 2021 Haibun Awards. Also, her haibun “Pilgrimage” won first place in 2023 in the same contest. She is the author of A Place to Land, a tanka prose memoir.

Hot News: New Milestone, 3 M Pageviews and Call for Submissions

My Dear Friends:

NeverEnding Story reached a new milestone early this morning: 3 M pageveiws (FYI: On "August 20," 2025, it reached 2.5 M pageviews) 

I’m grateful to everyone who has shared this poetry journey. NeverEnding Story now seeks haiku and tanka with teeth—poems that bite hard.

[Poetry] should afflict the comfortable and comfort the afflicted.

Our Republic and its [poetry] will rise or fall together. 

-- paraphrasing Joseph Pulitzer, prominent journalist, newspaper publisher and creator of the Pulitzer Prizes

The accepted haiku and tanka will be translated into Chinese and posted on NeverEnding Story and X. And you are welcome to follow me on X at @ericcoliu (4 following, 5,060 followers).

on the windowsill

two canaries singing

to each other

I tweet and retweet

NeverEnding Story  😋

A writer is somebody for whom writing is more difficult than it is for other people.

-- Thomas Mann

coffee gone cold

as the cursor blinks

all night long

I stare out at snowflakes

that never settle

A professional writer is an amateur who didn’t quit. 

-- Richard Bach

coffee ring on ring ...

I type five lines, five lines

then delete all

start again as robins sing

sing up the morning sun

And

Every time a poem is written, every time a short story is written, it is written not by cunning, but by belief. The beauty, the something, the little charm of the thing to be, is more felt than known.

-- Robert Frost

Look forward to reading your poetry

Chen-ou

Butterfly Dream: Refugee Camp Haiku by Neha Singh Soni

English Original

tents go dark

in the refugee camp

winter moon

Autumn Moon Haiku Journal, 9:1, 2025/26

Neha Singh Soni 

Chinese Translation (Traditional)

難民營的帳篷

一片漆黑

冬月

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

难民营的帐篷

一片漆黑

冬月

Bio Sketch

Neha Singh Soni is a chartered accountant from India with a deep love for poetry especially haiku. Her poetry has been published in many international journals. Through her poems Neha aims to celebrate life's simple moments and connect with the readers on a profound level. 

Poetic Musings: Heated Bodies Tanka by Jane Reichhold

almond nails 

pressed into brown skin

a faint perfume 

of two heated bodies

touching light as petals 

A Gift of Tanka, 1990

Jane Reichhold

Commentary: Jane's tanka offers a richly multi-sensory depiction of lovemaking that is both intimate and restrained. Cinematic in effect, it unfolds like a series of close-up shots: “almond nails / pressed into brown skin,” Ls 1&2, immediately foreground touch and sight, while also implying racial difference between the lovers. The tactile pressure of the nails suggests desire tempered by gentleness, setting the tone for a sensuality that is attentive rather than urgent.

As the tanka progresses, scent (“a faint perfume,” L3) and heat (“two heated bodies,” L4) deepen the sensory field, creating a layered experience of physical closeness. The final line, “touching light as petals,” L5, softens the erotic charge through natural imagery, emphasizing delicacy, mutual awareness, and emotional attunement. The comparison to petals reframes touch as something fleeting and tender rather than possessive.

When evaluated within its historical and sociopolitical context—written in the 1980s and published in 1990—this tanka’s portrayal of an interracial relationship is quietly radical. Rather than foregrounding conflict or transgression, it normalizes intimacy across racialized bodies through sensory immediacy and lyric restraint. Its focus on embodied perception allows desire to emerge as both physical and emotional, affirming connection through subtle, evocative detail rather than overt declaration.

FYI: Interracial marriage was de-criminalized throughout the entire United States on June 12, 1967. 

On that day, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously in the landmark case of Loving v. Virginia that state-level bans on interracial marriage (known as "anti-miscegenation" laws) were unconstitutional. 

A Room of My Own: Thoughts Pacing Gembun

Another night of shifting, flipping the pillow, and counting sheep …

my thoughts pacing 

in moonlit dark, one stray 

outbarks the rest

Added: This Brave New World, CXXVII

round after round

pink slips slide across desks—

warehouse aisles hum

as robots pick and place parcels

on time, 24/7

FYI: CBC News, Jan. 28 2026: 

Amazon is slashing about 16,000 corporate jobs — the second round of mass layoffs for the e-commerce company in three months...The latest reductions follow a round of job cuts in October, when Amazon said it was laying off 14,000 workers. 

Added: Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, CCLXXV: "New Gaza"

New Gaza: a coastal strip, replete with high-rises and resorts.

newsfeed scroll:

ripped tents after ripped tents

in freezing rain

FYI: The Nation, January 30 2026: Jared Kushner’s “Plan” for Gaza Is an Abomination

Kushner is pitching a “new,” gleaming resort hub. But scratch the surface, and you find nothing less than a blueprint for ethnic cleansing.

And this is a sequel to my gembun below:

Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, CCLXXI: "Phase Two"

The ink barely dry on the paper, and Phase Two of the ceasefire plan announced to the clicking of cameras.

these dark blue lips

as frost thickens on cracked panes

Gazan sky tinged red

NeverEnding Story, January 19 2026

Added: Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, CCLXXV: "skeletal houses"

raven by raven

skeletal houses in Gaza

darkening

Added: Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, CCLXXVI: "Rafah refugee camp"

tents go dark

in Rafah refugee camp

moon-filled puddles

Added: Trump Empire, Inc, LXXIV

written in response to The Daily show, Jan. 30 2026: the best bribe disguised as a documentary goes to... "Melania"

in the near-dark room

less than a dozen viewers

glance back and forth …

Melania Trump’s mouth

rarely opens on screen

FYI: The Nation Magazine, Feb. 2 2026: The Melania in Melania Likes Her Gilded Cage Just Fine

The $45 million advertorial abounds in unintended ironies.

Melania, this documentary makes perfectly clear, likes her gilded cage just fine. After all, it lets her produce this movie starring her clothes, her hair, her shoes, and her complexion, and how many women can say the same?

And The New Yorker, Feb. 2 2026: 

In the film, the First Lady comes across as brittle and materialistic; her interactions with her son and husband are stiff. Instead of baby photos or family mementos, viewers get so many shots of Melania in high heels that it starts to feel “like an OnlyFans account crossed with that meme of Kim Jong Un visiting factories,” Caroline Mimbs Nyce writes in her delightfully cutting review, The Melania Documentary Is “Exceedingly Mid"

Added: Trump Empire, Inc, LXXV

on silver screen

Melania walking, walking

to nowhere ...

viewers awake when the light's on

all give ¼ star

Special Feature: Selected Poems for Reflection on "Annexation on Steroids" in the West Bank, Palestine

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

Jan. 27: Settlers Rampage Through South Hebron Villages, Torch Homes and Steal Livestock.

Jan. 27: The Israeli Ethnic Cleansing Militias in the West Bank Have Suceeded Once Again

Jan. 27: "Ordinary, Decent Israelis" Still Think That What Happens in the West Bank Stays in the West Bank

FYI: Jan. 27: Netanyahu Government Ban on Haaretz Is Unlawful, Attorney General Tells Israel's Top Court)

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

contemporary haibun online, 20:2, 2024

Contemporary Haibun Anthology 20

Atlantic Council, Dec. 2025: All West Bank annexation proposals are illegal—and put core international principles at risk

Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, CLXVI: "military watch"

burning olive groves ...

the weight of thick gray and black

blanketing

over the West Bank families

under military watch

NeverEnding Story, March 11 2025

Haaretz:

 Jan. 25 2026: A West Bank Bus Trip Through 'the Best Documented Ethnic Cleansing in History'

"'What has been going on here in the West Bank is, to me, just like the Germans' actions in Poland between 1939 and 1943. The IDF can expel the residents – poor, weak shepherds – in one week, but the state has been doing it by proxy through an army of minors and criminals, some of them sheep thieves. There are no police,' says Amir Pansky of the group Looking the Occupation in the Eye. 'This is the best documented ethnic cleansing in history. We're recording everything in real time...

According to Ofran and Mizrachi, in the last three years we've been seeing "an annexation on steroids," which includes the expulsion of the local people, the building of hundreds of kilometers of roads and mammoth funding for settlements.

And Jan. 26 2026: Excess Soil From Tel Aviv Construction Sites Used to Expand West Bank Farms and Outposts

Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, CCLXXIII: "Saharan desert warbler"

A Saharan desert warbler spotted in Haifa, only the second ever to be seen in Israel.

West Bank town fenced in ...

a rifle silhouette

against the boundless sky

Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, CCLXXIV: "the Nakba"

The Nakba pictures in black and white; now this week in the color of smoky red.

fire's mouth

consumes the last farmhouse ...

settlers' roaring

Butterfly Dream: Lore Haiku by Elmedin Kadric

English Original

the lore

in a breeze

dandelion seeds

Frogpond, 47:3,  Autumn 2024

Elmedin Kadric 

Chinese Translation (Traditional)

傳說

在微風中

蒲公英種子

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

传说

在微风中

蒲公英种子

Bio Sketch

Elmedin Kadric was born in Novi Pazar, Serbia, but writes out of Helsingborg, Sweden. His first collection, buying time (2017), was published by Red Moon Press.

One Man's Maple Moon: Shooting Star Tanka by Aya Yuhki

English Original

in the wake

of a shooting star

a brightness

resembling love

shines in me awhile

White Flowers in the Sky, 2005

Aya Yuhki 

Chinese Translation (Traditional)

一顆流星

劃過天際之後

一道光芒

如愛般

在我心中閃耀片刻

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

一颗流星

划过天际之后

一道光芒

如爱般

在我心中闪耀片刻

Bio Sketch

Aya Yuhki was born and now lives in Tokyo. She started writing tanka more than thirty years ago and has expanded her interests to include free verse poetry, essay writing, and literary criticism. Aya Yuhki is Editor-in-Chief of The Tanka Journal published by the Japan Poets’ Society. Her works are featured on the homepage of the Japan Pen Club’s Electronic Library.

Butterfly Dream: Vacant House Haiku by Theresa A. Cancro

English Original

vacant house ...

light snow shrouds

the eaves

Theresa A. Cancro

Chinese Translation (Traditional)

空屋 ...

薄雪覆蓋

屋簷

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

空屋 ...

薄雪覆盖

屋檐

Bio Sketch

Theresa A. Cancro has been writing modern English-language haiku, senryu, tanka, haibun, and tanka prose since 2012. Dozens of her poems have been published in print and online journals as well as numerous anthologies. Theresa is currently a THF board member and Second Vice President of the Tanka Society of America. She resides in Wilmington, Delaware.