Showing posts with label Special Feature. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Special Feature. Show all posts

Saturday, July 4, 2026

Special Feature: Selected Poems for Reflections on America 250

On the Brink of Trumperica, XII

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



The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is an initiative by the second Trump administration in the United States. It was first suggested to Donald Trump by Elon Musk in 2024, and was officially established by an executive order on January 20, 2025

And

The New Yorker, July 2 2026: The Unprecedented Profiteering Revealed by Donald Trump’s Financial Disclosure

Donald Trump released a 927-page personal-financial-disclosure report for 2025. It recorded more than $2.2 billion in earnings.

The President cashed in on his office to the tune of billions of dollars last year, largely through the sale of crypto tokens. His investors weren’t so fortunate...The fine print revealed that seventy-five per cent of proceeds from token sales went into the pockets of Trump and his family.


Politics of Distraction, XVII

In the land of the free, dreaming ...
To American midterm-election voters

The poor and middle class pay taxes, the rich pay accountants, the super-rich pay lawyers, and the ultra-rich pay politicians.

smell of muggy noon —
the Reflecting Pool's blue sky
turns algae green

Trump news on mute ...
in the soup kitchen mirror
a twentysomething's stare



The Atlantic, June 26 2026: Trump’s Peeling Green Gift to America
The Reflecting Pool fiasco says everything about how the Trump administration operates.

Donald Trump, trying to renovate the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool for America’s 250th birthday and, instead, scoring a tax-payer-funded, $14 million-over-[close to $15 million-dollar] budget own goal in the form of a cracked and peeling, green-algae-riddled, potentially duck-killing militarized zone in the nation’s capital. One of the firms hired for the renovation is named Greenwater Services.

And

University of California, Riverside/UCR study, April 17, 2023: [Cumulative] Poverty is the 4th greatest cause of U.S. deaths: Only heart disease, cancer, and smoking were associated with a greater number of deaths.


Trump Empire, Inc., XCV

the White House roof
shadowed against sunset skies
America First banner



From this day forward, it’s going to be only [Me] First. [Me] First.

-- Donald Trump, 2017 & 2025 Inaugural Addresses

The Guardian News Clip, June 30, 2026: How Trump is making the US's 250th anniversary about himself

... there's something more insidious too, which is Trump and his allies are seizing on this as an opportunity to rewrite American history, to make it a story of heroic white male Christian men on some providential journey pursuing their destiny. That's what American greatness is about....

And

DW News, July 4 2026: How Donald Trump is rewriting the history of US independence

the White House is rewriting history.

We are watching in real time as they remove the history of slavery from national parks. They're trying to remove a lot of content and things from the African-American History Museum as well.


Trump Empire, Inc., XCVI 

Pursuit of Happiness
for MAGA cult and Christian Nationalists in Trumperica

gated cul-de-sac
lined with wavy green oaks
in golden sunlight
diverse shapes and heights
of white picket fences

whitewashed fence
taller by two feet this year …
neighbors equipped
with security cams, bulldogs
and stars-and-stripes rifles


FYI: Stars-and-Stripes rifles refer to limited-edition or custom American flag-themed firearms. 

And "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness" is a well-known phrase from the United States Declaration of Independence. Like the other principles in the Declaration of Independence, this phrase is not legally binding, but has been widely referenced and seen as an inspiration for the basis of government.


Added: Trump Empire, Inc., XCVII

an eagle spirals
into the gathering dark
this fireworks night
a one-armed veteran
stares beyond his front yard flag


Added: Trump Empire, Inc., XCVIII

Culmination

From the blood-stained sport on the White House lawn, to the pigeons-more-than-visitors fiasco of the “Great American State Fair,” to the fenced-in, algae-green reflecting pool on the National Mall, to the knock-the-hell-out-of-Iran recycled speech:

rainbow flowers
bloom in the July 4th sky
a war veteran
takes aim at the enemy
still fighting in his head


FYI: CNBC News, July 4 2026: Trump hails U.S. exceptionalism before veering into darkly political speech to usher in America’s 250th anniversary

Communism is a mortal threat to American liberty.

-- Donald Trump, America 250 speech
Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , ,

Sunday, June 28, 2026

Special Feature: Selected Poems for Reflections on UN's Report on Israel Committing Genocide and Other War Crimes

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

Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, CLXXXVIII: "A Gazan baby"
written in response to Haaretz, May 20, 2025: Opposition MK Says Israel Risks Pariah Status, "Sane State Doesn't Kill Babies as Hobby"



a Gazan baby
the glitter 
in a sniper's eye



first frost …
a Gazan baby’s face
in pixels



a dull-eyed baby
with loose skin over bone ...
red glow of Gazan skies




On June 18, 2026, the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry published a major report titled “The essence of childhood has been destroyed: Israel’s deliberate targeting of Palestinian children in the Occupied Palestinian Territory since 7 October 2023”. 

The paper describes the deliberate targeting and killing of Palestinian children, including post-ceasefire since the October 2025 Gaza peace plan. The Commission also examines a sharp increase in violence perpetrated by members of Israeli settlers against Palestinian children in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.



Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, CIII: "settler violence"

          under        slate-gray            skies

                                   |                          
a settler aims his gun | a boy throws his rock
                                   |

          tank track marks on the grass



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 Anthology 20


Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, CXC: "ghostly memory"
inspired by a short documentary, Severed: The Story of a Boy From Gaza,  premiering on The Nation Magazine website this week for free.

awake alone
with the ghostly memory
of skeletal houses ...
this one-legged Gazan teen stares
into the borderless sky



Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, CLXXXIX: "Heaven and Gaza's ruins"

an armless boy's stare
midnight lightning links Heaven 
and Gaza's ruins ...




The United Nations has officially placed and kept the Israeli military on its annual "blacklist" (formally known as the Children and Armed Conflict report annex) for committing grave violations against children, including killing, maiming, and attacking schools and hospitals



Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, XLIV, "hospitals destroyed"
written in response to the destruction of Gaza's biggest hospital, Al Shifa

between blood of birth
and blood of death
a new life
on the hospital floor ...
a Gazan mother's last look



collapsed school wall
a butterfly
in shades of charcoal




To conclude today's "Special Feature" post, I would like to share the latest entry of Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, CCXCIX: "Ceasefire: You Cease, I Fire"

Ceasefire: You Cease, I Fire

Boom, boom, boom ... trailed by intermittent night-piercing screams, near and far. 

an armless boy's stare
midnight lightning links Heaven 
and smoky ruins 

hazy day moon
an orphaned girl, her world
of paper cranes



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"

And

There comes a time when silence is betrayal.

Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.

-- Martin Luther King, Jr.


Added: Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, CCC: "one thousand cranes"

cherry blossoms
and yet Gazan children ... 
one thousand cranes
Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , , ,

Sunday, June 21, 2026

Special Feature: Selected Poems for Father's Day

My Dear Readers and Friends:

Today is Father’s Day. To celebrate, I’m sharing a curated selection of haiku and tanka. These poems capture the changing faces of fatherhood and challenge us to rethink the impact of fathers in our world.


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

John Hawk

a toddler climbs
onto father's shoulders
to reach the kite

Goda V. Bendoraitiene

the foster girl
colors me into her life
Father's Day card

Chen-ou Liu

father's newspaper
a constant refuge
from conversation

Mike Gallagher

all that remains --
dad's Chevy leaving
a trail in the dust

Marion Alice Poirier

shooting star -- 
father’s ring
slips off my finger

H. Gene Murtha

I’ve this memory --
riding my father’s shoulders
into the ocean,
the poetry of things
before I could speak

Michael McClintock

fifty years on ...
dad's old guitar and me
get in tune at last

Natalia Kuznetsova

withering
the sunflowers still
in offering
at my father’s tomb --
it’s shorter than I

Kaleidoscope, 2007 

Shuji Terayama


To conclude today's Special Feature post, I would like to share with you the following tanka written for my late father:


alone again
on this winding road home
in slanted moonlight
I try to imagine my place
in the world without Father


FYI: This is a sequel to my tanka below:

Father's breath
fades into forever ...
I gaze out 
his hospice window
at the moon, its fullness

Haiku Page, 11, 2025
Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , ,

Sunday, June 7, 2026

Special Feature: Selected Poems for Reflections on LGBTQ Rights in Trumperica

My Dear Readers and Friends:

On this first Sunday of June, I’m sharing a few poems reflecting on warning, struggle, and the joy of resistance in Trumperica:


On the Brink of Trumperica, IX

the White House
pronounces, only two sexes ...
trans youth trapped
between black-and-white Kansas
and rainbow-colored Oz



The following gembun is its sequel:

Trump Empire, Inc., XCIII

A Family Values banner tangled with the flagpole atop the White House roof, silhouetted against the sunset.

only two sexes ...
clouds drift through bands
of hazy gray


And the following is the sequel to the gembun:

Trump Empire, Inc., XCIV inspired by The Guardian, May 31, 2025: Four queer business owners on Pride under Trump: ‘Our joy is resistance’

near the White House gate
a rainbow-haired teen's waist 
wrapped in a flipped flag
under the guards' dark-glassed stare
she pirouettes timelessly
Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , , ,

Tuesday, April 14, 2026

Special Feature: Selected Poems on Donald Trump's Attacks on Pope Leo XIV

We are growing accustomed to violence, resigning ourselves to it, and becoming indifferent, indifferent to the deaths of thousands of people.

-- Pope Leo XIV


peace talks stalled
I hold onto the long half
of a wishbone


Politics of Distraction, VI:

Make America Great Again

After the failed peace talks, leaning over the Resolute Desk toward the camera lights, the man vows with a meaty smile, "I'll block ships crossing the Strait of Hormuz."

block the blockade
to break the blockade ...
in the briefing room
silence broken only
by a buzzing fly



At a White House press conference, Donald Trump responded to a question on whether God supports U.S. actions in the war, saying, “I do because God is good, and God wants to see people taken care of"


God does not bless any conflict. Anyone who is a disciple of Christ, the Prince of Peace, is never on the side of those who once wielded the sword and today drop bombs... God does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war.

I have no fear neither of the Trump administration, nor of speaking out loudly about the message of the Gospel... I do believe the message of the Gospel—‘blessed are the peacemakers’—is the message that the world needs to hear today

-- Pope Leo XIV


Politics of Distraction, VII:

In Broad Daylight 

Any resemblance to current events or actual locales, or to living persons, is NOT coincidental. 

a poll sign
against the White House fence: 
"Pope vs Dope" 
a mangy stray corks its leg 
marks "Dope" with a yellow stream


FYI: The Nation Magazine, April 13 2026: Trump’s Deranged, One-Way Feud With Pope Leo: He’s finally met someone he can’t bully.


To conclude today's "Special Feature" post, I would like to share with you Pope Leo's post on X, April 14:

God’s heart is torn apart by wars, violence, injustice and lies. But our Father’s heart is not with the wicked, the arrogant, or the proud. God’s heart is with the little ones and the humble, and with them He builds up His Kingdom of love and peace day by day. Wherever there is love and service, God is there.


Stand with Pope Leo XIV. End the Iran War.


Added: Politics of Distraction, VIII:

Blocking the Blockade to Break the Blockade

      Donald Trump
            $ 20,28
          per gallon

White House entrance
         No Parking 

          all     quiet
              on
        frontal lobe


FYI: The third smol, “all quiet on the frontal lobe,” playfully echoes the iconic anti-war novel All Quiet on the Western Front, which depicts the realities of World War I. The idiom “all quiet on the Western Front” has since come to suggest that an outward sense of calm may conceal deeper, and sometimes troubling, underlying realities.
Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , , ,

Sunday, March 8, 2026

Special Feature: Selected Poems for Reflections on Many Faces of Womanhood

UN Secretary-General’s message on International Women’s Day: rights, justice and action for all women and girls.


Below are my poems selected for reflections on the many faces of womanhood: 

hazy twilight ...
rain washing a mother's blood
into her children's blood


New Life

cellar shelter
her newborn suckles
in sleep 

smoke-filled sky
beyond the cellar window ...
look on her baby's face

another 
night of artillery fire
her breastmilk runs dry


the burning photo
of gold-crowned Donald Trump ...
the flame licks upward
then a Nenee Good lookalike
lights her cigarette


vigil candlelight
flickers in a woman’s eyes
No Means No


a red handprint
across the young woman's  mouth ...
she stands alone
on scattered maple leaves
in the divorce court's shadow


a girl
pirouetting alone
in the cherry blossom rain
as if tomorrow
has yet to find her


dewdrops on the tip of a leaf
the ballerina holds her pose


a box of letters
beneath the attic lamplight
other side of Mother
Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , ,

Tuesday, February 24, 2026

Special Feature: Selected Poems for Reflections on the Fourth Anniversary of Russia's Invasion of Ukraine


Four years ago today, Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, bringing devastation, heartbreak and senseless loss of life.

Every day since, the courage and determination of Ukrainians defending their homeland have continued to inspire people around the world. I have had the honour of meeting refugees who left everything behind to seek safety in Canada, and I am continually inspired by their resilience and strength.


Independence 

"Dear Chen-ou, I hope this email finds you well. Share with you my family photo, which was taken this glorious morning." 

In the photo, my friend, his wife and two daughters, wrapping themselves in the flags of blue and yellow, stand with arms linked before a row of rusty Russian tanks on Liberation Square. 

My friend used to be a Surrealist poet, known for his purposeful use of "obscure and unwieldy verbiage." He sent me the following poem at the end of his lengthy and furious email a week after the Russian invasion.

in smoky twilight
the head of I cut off
the roof of M falling through --
I paint poetry with screams, 
the last phase of lyricism

His emails now are short and straight to the point, and often attached with photos to speak for his mood or state of mind, like the one he sent me today. Under his family photo, there is a caption that reads:

If Russia stops fighting, there will be no more war.
If Ukraine stops fighting, there will be no more us.

no man's land 
between barbed wire fences
the kraa-kraa-kraa 
of ravens scratching 
at the soldiers' hearts

Ribbons, 19:3, Fall 2023

every day
passes in an endless stream
of breaking news
in a huddle of children
the blind boy quiet ... quieter

Gusts, 36, Fall/Winter 2022



Volodymyr Zelensky says Vladimir Putin "has not achieved his goals" and Ukraine will do everything to achieve peace and justice, on the fourth anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion

It has been a long, hard and deadly four years. Ukraine is under pressure from Trump’s America to give up strategic land that Russia has failed to capture despite sacrificing thousands of its troops.

At least 55,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed since 24 February 2022 according to Zelensky, but the toll is likely to be higher. BBC analysis estimates Russian military deaths could range from 243,000 and 352,000...


my Kyiv friends and I
tiptoe around the jagged edge
of sorrow
at last the silence
envelopes each of us



To conclude today's Special Feature post, I would like to share with the following tanka set:


Grinding on ...

the wind moans
through snow-laden branches
shadows on their cheeks
white-haired Ukrainians peer
behind shelter windows

in the cold snap
a neon-lit billboard
above Kursk's mall:
men in work suits hold AKs
framed against tricolors


FYI: Kursk is a city in southwestern Russia near the Ukrainian border. And my tanka below could be read as its sequel:

the butcher
throwing more meat
into his grinder 
the wall-mounted TV blasts
war after war ...

Ribbons, 20:1, Winter 2024


Added:

Journey, Not Here and Now

Donbas teen's gaze
at a row of church spires ...
sunrise tinged gray

Behind him, the roofline sinks lower with each step, until only the cross atop the church shows above the trees. Ahead, the road bends where he cannot see.

what ifs …
beneath shadowed skies
the border pass


FYI: The vast majority of the Ukrainian region, the Donbas, is now occupied by Russia
Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , ,

Tuesday, February 17, 2026

Special Feature: Selected Poems for Reflections on Chinese New Year of the Fire Horse

My Dear Readers:

Today, the 2026 Lunar New Year welcomes the Year of the Fire Horse—a rare, high-energy convergence in the 60-year zodiac cycle, uniting the dynamic Yang Fire element with the Horse’s innate qualities of speed, independence, and fierce passion. It is a year charged with momentum and transformation, opening wide the door to bold, self-directed action. Yet such intensity carries its own cautions: the risk of burnout, volatility, and sudden upheaval.

I would like to share with you the following new year reflection poems:

Personal:

I run with the horse
toward sunlight through storm clouds
new year's dream, yet lives


Geopolitical: 

Bloody New Year

war news on mute ...
I scream into the dark
yet the night
swallows my fury
in snow-shrouded stillness

No blue sky, no green field — only snow falling. This sound of white on white. The day goes on ...


It is the best of years; it is the worst of years; it is the age of wisdom; it is the age of foolishness; it is the epoch of belief; it is the epoch of incredulity; it is the season of light; it is the season of darkness; it is the spring of hope; it is the winter of despair. We have everything before us, and we have nothing before us.

— Paraphrased from Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities


Added:

New Year noodles
slip off my chopsticks ...
eating alone,
this bittersweet taste
of hometown memories


Added:

I color-code
my New Year's to-do-list
snow on snow ...


Added:

at China Gala
robot after robot lunges
backflips, spins around
jumps, dances to Happy New Year ...
my silence, cold as steel


FYI: The Guardian, Feb. 18 2026:  China’s dancing robots: how worried should we be?
Eye-catching martial arts performance at China gala had viewers and experts wondering what else humanoids can do

Developed by several Chinese robotics firms, the robots performed a range of intricate stunts, including kung fu, comedy sketches and choreographed dance moves alongside human performers.

Clips circulating online quickly drew comparisons with last year’s lunar new year broadcast, which also featured dancing robots but with noticeably simpler movements.
Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , ,

Friday, February 6, 2026

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



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.



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



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



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


 
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



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 


Added: Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, CCLXXX: "wall of fire"

In four minutes, a farmhouse in the West Bank village enveloped in a wall of fire.

blood-stained olive leaves
cinder through the smoky air
laughter greets laughter
Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , ,

Monday, January 26, 2026

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 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



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
Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , , , , ,

Wednesday, January 21, 2026

Special Feature: One Year in Poems: Trumperica, Revisited

My Dear Readers:

I would like to share with you my published poems below for reflections on the impacts of one year of Trumperica:


I Before American Carnage

Election Campaign:

just a dream, and yet ...
the mountain lion roaring
to flocks of sheep,
once elected as your King
I'll be vegetarian

my pitbull
chasing her Siamese cat ...
Trump on TV blasts
If you go after me
I'm coming after you!


Election Victory:

USADecides:
TheSecondDumbing 
theredhotheadline
morphsintomarching
phalanxafterphalanx


II Trumpocalypse Now!

Post-Election

Trump this, Trump that ...
with this news-punched mind
I sound-bathe in silence

Trump news blackout
the calm between us holds
a world unspoken

trapped in the nightmare
of four more years of this man-child ...
we wake each morning
as if we're living
the Groundhog Day loop


Inauguration

the downward tilt
of his chin and forehead
and the knitted eyebrows ...
Convicted Felon's official portrait
[l]awfully like his mug shot


Day One Promises and Crimes

American dream
somewhere over the rainbow
detention camps

this man-child fullmouths
frack and drill, baby, frack and drill
with a meaty smile ...
I turn off the TV, gazing
at cracked corners of my world

No more climate alarmist talk.

flashfloodingweareallinthistogether
floodafterfloodweareallinthis t o ge t h e r a gain

the White House
pronounces, only two sexes...
trans youth trapped
between black-and-white Kansas
and rainbow-colored Oz

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

one, big, beautiful bill ...
a hushed silence
sweeps the briefing room
then a loud fart 
echoes, echoing

trade war news
a spiderweb on the eaves
sagging with raindrops

sleepless again ...
I count Trump's crimes backwards
into oblivion

think, feel and act
while they're still "legal"
chant after chant
no more DOGEy business
drop this small dick(tator)

tariffs today
TACO tomorrow ... in heat
a stray chases its tail 

in red twilight
one stray trying to outbark
the other ...
the Trump-Musk feud grows
loud, louder and dark, darker

at the steps 
of the Statue of Liberty
each of these names
of the disappeared read out loud...
a breath, a wound, and a warning

Epstein files news
the rasp, rasping
of cicadas

In a 2011 email to Ghislaine Maxwell, “… that dog that hasn’t barked is Trump.”

a pink-haired girl
seen through a telescope
of age-spotted hands

the footfalls
of MAGA intruders
stir clouds of dust ...
the Wall of Free Speech in twilight
sentineled with talk show hosts

in dim light
staring at the TV talk show
Donald Trump holds 
a remote control with buttons:
Power, Pause, Mute, Sack, Deport

ka-kis-to-cracy ...
my English teacher's voice
quivering
as U-S-A! chants get louder
from the crowd outside the school
(FYI: The first part of kakistocracy comes from the Greek kákisto(s), meaning “worst.” Therefore, kakistocracy means “government by the WORST.”)

No Kings Protest:
chant after chant of fried truth
eggflation
scrambled justice, poached rights,
cracked democracy... Trump, Fuck Off

in gathering dark
the entrance to Mar-a-Lago
No Parking Any Time  😎

the burning photo
of gold-crowned Donald Trump ...
the flame licks upward
then a Nenee Good lookalike
lights her cigarette


Foreign Policies:

Land of the Crazed --> USA
Canada <-- Home of the Brave
giant road sign
at the corner of the border
as flocks of geese fly north

in Toronto sunshine
with the scent of early spring
and freedom
two Americans meet and part:
one draft dodger, one Trump evader

the Don posed 
behind the Resolute Desk
with fingers cocked
for the cameras' rapid fire ...
a map crossed with red X’s


Russian Invasion of Ukraine:

the barrage 
of blaring lies and shit-words
from his meaty mouth ...
between Trump's pauses 
Vance's thunderous echo-fart

wave after wave
of blue-and-yellow flags
in bitter cold
atop the White House Fencing
a hand-drawn sunflower


Gaza Genocide

the man who bombed kids
gives a golden dove statue
to the man
who sent him planeloads of bombs:
war is peace, peace is war ...

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

these dark blue lips
as cracked window frost thickens
Gazan sky tinged red


One Year On

A notice pinned to the community library’s message board: The Post-Apocalyptic Fiction Section has been moved to Current Affairs.

Apocalypse Now
spine bent, margins yellowed …
on its last page
Trump 2028
inked in a shaking hand


Reflection

alone, putting
the Trump-raged world on mute
I take a sip
of morning black coffee
and listen to the snowfall


To conclude today's "Special feature" post, I would like to share with you the latest entry of Trump Empire, Inc, LXXI: 

a gembun written in response to Mark Carney's Davos speech on the first anniversary of the Convicted Felon sitting behind Resolute Desk:

Clapping of hands and thumping of feet to the claim: "If we're not at the table, we're on the menu."

my black cat returns
with a bloodied bird in mouth
drums of a trade war


Added: Trump Empire, Inc, LXXII

Canada lives
because of the US, Trump claims 
fart on fart in Davos


Added: Trump Empire, Inc, LXXIII

In the end, we have only whistles and the ICE agents have guns.

freezing cold ...
snapped from school to trap parents
five-year-old as bait


Added: Trump Empire, Inc, LXXVI

rings of five colors
link continents as one
outside the stadium
fists, voices rising as one:
"ICE out and justice for all"
Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , , ,

Monday, January 19, 2026

To the Lighthouse: Selected Poems for Reflections on Phase Two of the "Ceasefire" Plan

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

Analysis, January 18, 2026: Beneath the Bombast, Trump's Cease-fire Plan in Gaza Is on the Rocks

U.S. President Donald Trump proclaimed last week, with characteristic bombast and ham-fistedness, that the Gaza cease-fire arrangement had advanced to its second phase.


Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, CCLIII: "'ceasefire' strikes"

heavenward
                    rising
fireballs
               fireballs
                              falling
heavenward



FYI: Socialist Project, Oct. 28, 2025: The Illusion of a Ceasefire: Gaza Still Under Continuous 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



On Saturday, the president named the first members of the Board of Peace, which will ostensibly oversee the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip. (Heads of state may join, according to the organization's charter, for the price of $1 billion; additional members are slated to be announced during the World Economic Forum in Davos this week).


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


FYI: Haaretz, Jan. 19, 2026: Trump Invites Putin to Board of Peace, EU States to Decline Invitation, Diplomats Say

Jan. 19, 2026: 'Gaza Is Ours': Israel's far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich Calls to Cancel Trump's Board of Peace, Israel to Resettle Gaza

And Jan. 20 2026: Trump: If France Doesn't Join Board of Peace, 'I'll Put 200% Tariff on Wine and Champagne'


Added: Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, CCLXXII: "Gazan newborn"

a young woman
gazing long at her newborn
but his eyes
never open to the light—
Gaza's morning frost thickens


FYI: Haaretz, Opinion, Jan. 19 2026: What Is Happening to Mothers and Babies in Gaza Should Leave Us Deeply, Collectively Ashamed

As maternal mortality surges in post-war Gaza, and newborns face cold, infection and malnutrition, pregnancy and childbirth are daily fights for survival. Women and their babies, universally noncombatants, are suffering disproportionately – and serve as a measure of our moral failure
Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , ,

Wednesday, December 31, 2025

Special Feature: Selected Poems for End-of-Year Reflections

My Dear Readers:

Today marks the last day of 2025, a year lived dangerously—or precariously—for countless people around the world.

written in response to The Guardian, December 31: Sydney New Year’s Eve strikes sombre tone as fireworks follow minute’s silence for Bondi Beach Victims

"Peace, Unity"
lit on the bridge’s high pylon
while Sydney pauses ...
rainbow flowers of light
bloom in the midnight sky

Chen-ou Liu
(FYI: The Pacific island nations of Tonga, Samoa, and Kiribati are the first to ring in the New Year. New Zealand is next, followed by Australia, Japan, and South Korea)


I offer the following haiku, tanka, and remarks as invitations to imagination and reflection, in the hope of ringing out the old and the harmful, and welcoming what is new and still becoming.


The ending of a year is like closing a window. Even though it is shut, fresh light will still shine through.

-- Jennifer L. Betts


loneliness
after the fireworks
a falling star 

Masaoka Shiki

firework-lit skies ...
each year different, yet
each year the same

Chen-ou Liu

the new year
begins with sky rockets
like them
who can tell
where we will land

Beverley George


Year’s end is neither an end nor a beginning but a going on, with all the wisdom that experience can instill in us.

-- Hal Borland


last day of the year
poems I could have written ...
a bulbul follows
drifting leaves
to the stone cairn

Sonam Chhoki

a fresh leaf
white in the winter
of a new year;
it seems a shame
to mar it with words

M. Kei


For last year’s words belong to last year’s language. And next year’s words await another voice.

-- T.S. Eliot


New Year’s Day
looking back I am lonely
as an autumn evening

Basho

new year saké ...
the gradual dimming
of your flaws

Roberta Beary 

first sunrise
of the year
the unexpected journey
of a child
from her womb

Ernesto P. Santiago 


New Year’s Day is every man’s birthday.

-- Charles Lamb


To conclude today's "Special Feature" post, I would like to share with the following haiku sequence about my reflection on this coming new year, 2026 and Michael Altshule's New Year remark.


Old and New, New ... Then Old ?

home alone
I listen to the snowlight
from last year

another new year
I meet the stranger’s gaze
in the mirror

the same resolution
with a different weight
first sunrise tinged gray

New Year’s fireworks …
the room quiet before
quieter after


The bad news is time flies. The good news is you’re the pilot.

-- Michael Altshuler


All the best for New Year, 2026

Chen-ou


Added: 

On the Threshold

firework-lit skies ...
each year the same, and yet
each year different

first sunrise gleaming 
I high-five my reflection
in the new mirror
Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , ,

Thursday, December 25, 2025

Special Feature: Selected Poems for Reflections on "One Christmas, Worlds Apart"

(Added: Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, CCLXII: "a bridge of bones"
written in response to Al Jazeera, December 25: Palestinian charity single "Lullaby" tops UK Christmas charts, raising funds for Gaza

Gaza’s night sky
lighted with streaks of red…
a voice in shadow,
I wish my bones could form a bridge
and carry you to our home


FYI: Watch Together For Palestine's Lullaby (official music video). Filmed in the Strip and occupied East Jerusalem, “Lullaby” reimagines a traditional resistance song: 

Yamma, sing for me, mama, 
Mama, sing to the wind

I wish my bones could form a bridge
And carry you to the other side
To our home, our homeland; to our pride ...

The song ends with the following lines:

They tried to bury use;
They didn't know we were seeds


Added: Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, CCLXIII: "freezing rain and wind gusts"

freezing rain and wind gusts  ...
the length
of another Gazan night

)



This Brave New World, CXXXII
written in response to Palestinian Pastor Munther Isaac's Christmas sermon, 2023: “Christ in the Rubble”

In these last two months, the psalms of lament have become a precious companion to us. We cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken Gaza? Why do you hide your face from Gaza?”

my God, my God
why have you forsaken me?
bloodied Jesus
trapped under Gaza rubble
in the Christmas cold



This Brave New World, CXXXIII
written in response to Issa's "Hell haiku" (motto of Czeslaw Milosz," whom the Swedish Academy called in its 1980 Nobel Prize citation a writer who "voices man's exposed condition in a world of severe conflicts."

this world of rockets
this world of missile flashes ...
yet a Christ thorn plant



FYI: Issa's Hell haiku is included in Czesław Miłosz's free verse poem, titled "Reading the Japanese Poet Issa (1762–1826)," (functioning like a poetic commentary/reflection on three of Issa 's haiku)

In this world
we walk on the roof of Hell
gazing at flowers

And "the Christ thorn, also known as the crown of thorns, is a pretty succulent plant that can bloom almost year-round, even indoors. According to a religious legend, the crown of thorns worn by Jesus Christ at the crucifixion was made from the stems of this plant, therefore its common name."


Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, CCXIII: "Christ's thorn"

dew clings
to Christ's thorn leaves
                 each drop
                         a window
to the war-torn sky



Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, CXLII: "blood stained wooden Jesus" 
inspired by Rev. Dr. Munther Isaac's Christmas sermon, 2024: “Christ is Still in the Rubble”

Christmas Eve
blood stained wooden Jesus 
still in Gaza's rubble



Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, CCLVIII: "fairyland reindeers and Gaza mules"

a dream and yet ...
Rudolph guides Santa Claus's sleigh
through smoky skies
then past Gaza mules hauling
a flatbed cart of bodies


FYI: Reuters, December 25, 2025: In first Christmas sermon, Pope Leo decries conditions for Palestinians in Gaza

Leo, the first U.S. pope, said the story of Jesus being born in a stable showed that God had "pitched his fragile tent" among the people of the world.

"How, then, can we not think of the tents in Gaza, exposed for weeks to rain, wind and cold?" he asked.


Added: Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, CCLIX: "a skeletal house"

jagged pieces of sky
in a skeletal house
Gaza's smoky twilight

reprinted in Triya, Basant, 2026

Hindi Translation

छिन-भिन्न आसमान
कंकाल सा खड़ा घर
गाज़ा की धुंधली शाम 


FYI: Middle East Eye, December 25 2025: Israeli strikes and demolitions reported in north and south Gaza


Added: Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, CCLXI: "ceasefire strikes"

thin as paper  
a baby's chest rises  
then falls …  
ceasefire exists on the news  
as the sky turns smoky gray


Added: Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, CCLX: "a skeletal house"

Gaza news on mute
blood-red dots spattered
on my canvas


FYI: Haaretz, December 25, 2025: Defense Minister Again Vows Gaza Settlements, Says Israel 'De Facto' Annexing West Bank

Israel Katz said IDF bases and a yeshiva should be established in northern Gaza, despite a flip-flop on the issue earlier this week after a similar statement. Katz also hailed Israel's West Bank policy as 'de facto annexation' – expanding settlements while expelling Palestinians from 'terror camps'
Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , , ,

Tuesday, December 9, 2025

Special Feature: Selected Poems for Reflections on Reporters Without Borders' Report: "The Israeli Army Is the Worst Enemy of Journalists"

The first casualty, when war comes, is truth.

-- Hiram Johnson (1866-1945)


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

(FYI: Ranked 101st in 2024's World Press Freedom Index, Israel fell to 112 (score: 51. 055) during 2025, sandwiched between Haiti and Madagascar

Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, XLIII: "covering the war"

Covering the War

you, a reporter
hide behind the headlines
of deaths and famine ...
I mourn this Dead-Sea-wide chasm 
bombed out by your contextless words 

beware, beware
of my hunger and anger
as airstrikes rage 
I drop fake-news-busting wordbombs
on the spokesmen for Israel



Dec. 9, 2025: IDF Strikes Responsible for Nearly Half of Journalists Killed Over the Past Year, Report Finds

The Gaza Strip remained the world's most dangerous region for reporters in the past 12 months...

The Paris-based organization's annual report covers the period of December 1, 2024 through December 1, 2025. Its report found that 67 journalists were killed around the world during that time – 29 of them, or 43 percent, in Gaza.

"The Israeli army is the worst enemy of journalists," the report states, adding that a total of 220 journalists have been killed in Gaza since Hamas' attack on October 7, 2023, and the subsequent two-year war waged in the Strip...

(FYI: Reporters Without Borders' report, December 9: 

2025 ROUND-UP: of journalists killed, detained, missing and held hostage worldwide)


written in response to Democracy Now, DECEMBER. 20, 2023: [NewYork-based, American NGO] Committee to Protect Journalists: Israel Is Killing Media Workers at Unprecedented Pace

smoky rubble
a bullet-riddled helmet
marked PRESS



Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, CL: "first casualty of war"

              the
           bloodied
             man
nailed to a wooden cross
               in
               a
             press
              vest

2026 Haiku Canada Members’ Anthology 


To conclude today's "Special Feature" post, I would like to share wth you the latest entry of Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, CCLVI: "blood libel"

Gaza famine!?
It's blood libel, blood libel ...
flanked by Flags of Zion
the P/Crime Minister rumbles
to cameras' rapid fire


FYI: The Times of Israel, August 23 2025: Netanyahu’s office calls Gaza famine declaration a ‘modern blood libel’

After a UN hunger monitor on Friday, August 22 declared for the first time that famine had struck northern Gaza, Israel vehemently denied the reports as “lies” and “modern blood libel.” 


And Haaretz, October 31, 2025: Inside the Israeli Media's 'Shocking Self-censorship' of the Horrors of Gaza

Throughout the Gaza war, the tremendous difference between international coverage and Israeli media coverage was obvious to anyone exposed to both.

In a new report, media scholar Dr. Ayala Panievsky's research quantifies precisely how pronounced that difference was...

"The professional journalists, people who Israelis spend their entire lives trusting to tell them the truth, rallied around the military in many ways – any criticism of what our soldiers were doing was just out of bounds. It wasn't part of the conversation."

Opinion, December 11, 2025: Save Israel's Self-censoring 'Free Press' - From Itself

The greatest blow to responsible freedom of expression comes from the media itself. It is not the government that silenced it during the past two years: The media silenced itself, and there was no opposition from inside. The media willingly censored itself; it mobilized to conceal the truth, out of fear and commercial considerations, in order not to annoy its customers.
Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , ,
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)