A Room of My Own: All the Feelings Tanka

I was told

to hide all the feelings

once grown --

carrying this silver casket

I shed tears for her, and me

FYI: This could be read as a sequel to my tanka below:

with each sob

his body convulses …

in the hospital

for the first time

I embrace a man

Ribbons, 7:4, Winter 2011

Added:

my brain humming 

with scraps of Sappho  

while Eros stirs ...

"I'll be a poet," I confess

to my river reflection

Added: This Brave New World, CXXVIII

another lineup

round the block near a foodbank

wall-mounted TV

blasting "sunlight on demand"

"orbiting data centers"

FYI: The Tyee, July 23 2026: 

Reflect Orbital's giant mirror to create “sunlight on demand” was just approved by the United States Federal Communications Commission, or FCC,

In February, SpaceX filed with the FCC for one million more satellites, for “AI data centers.”

Added:

dust motes  

in slanted moonlight—  

I settle  

into what remains

after bankruptcy

A Room of My Own: War and Peace Haiku

leafing War and Peace

front to back, back to front

summer whiffle

Added:

hillside and valley

flecked with cloud shadows ...

smell of sunshine

Added:

farmers' market

tasting a strawberry

then her lips

Added:

the ripe tangle

of wild strawberries ...

an urge to love 

Added:

overlapping hearts

on a summer train window

our reflections

Added:

first outing

after the breakup

on the beach

I trip on a heart

made of stones

Added:

alone again

on the moonlit shore ...

my shadow

stretches closer, closer

to lapping waves

Added: No More Fairy Tales, LVI

What has been will be again

Acrid black columns choke the morning sun. Trapped in a valley of smoke, cars barrel past leaping tongues of fire. Across Northern Ontario, wildfires burn hotter, bigger, and deadlier than ever. More than one thousand miles away, their smoke casts an orange haze over New York's crawling traffic.

Meanwhile, silhouetted against smoky skies, the Premier’s mouth opens and closes for the camera lights, broadcasting word after word into the heat.

tongues of forest fire

there is no Plan[et] B, the rest

blah, blah, blah...

FYI: Canada’s climate-change-charged wildfires are becoming a horrific annual event. 

Over 800 wildfires are burning across Canada, with one entirely destroying the northern Indigenous community of Namaygoosisagagun. 

Back in 2023, Emma Paling reported that the same Indigenous communities that gave early warnings against burning fossil fuels are among the first to be permanently displaced by climate change.

The Breach, August 24, 2023: First Nations say they’re not wildfire evacuees, but climate refugees

Indigenous communities that first warned against burning fossil fuels are now facing permanent displacement caused by climate breakdown

A Room of My Own: Before Jesus Tanka

a bare heart

and a humbled mind

before Jesus --

patch by patch filtered sunlight

slips beyond the chapel door

FYI: This could be read as a prequel to my tanka below:

in the chapel

I pray to Jesus

hour after hour

finally tired of me

Time leaves me alone

NeverEnding Story, September 15, 2017

Added:

The air in here twice-breathed, the taste of stale water in the waiting room. 

trapped wasp

thumping at the pane 

doctor’s gaze

Added:

Awake after a late muggy afternoon nap.

alone

yet the looping

of this fly

FYI: This could be read as a prequel to my senryu below:

summer cottage

after killing the last fly

I am alone

Failed Haiku, 2:16, 2017

And this could be read as a prequel to my senryu below:

summer cottage

everywhere the echo 

of me

Cattails, October 2025

Added:

By the lake of my mind, flower by flower ...

first homecoming

where wild bluebells bloomed

stacked townhouses

Added: No More Fairy Tales, LV

wildfires

hotter, bigger, deadlier

than before—

orange haze over Toronto

as multi-lane traffic crawls

FYI: This is a sequel to my tanka below:

No More Fairy Tales, XXXII

silhouetted

against the smoky forest

far away yet near ...

the Premier's mouth opens, closes

opens before cameras

NeverEnding Story, August 15 2024

A Room of My Own: Lovers' Quarrel Haiku

lovers' quarrel  

in the summer twilight  

knotted branches sway

FYI: This could be read as a sequel/counter-poem to my haiku below:

dappled trail 

a summer breeze humming

our sweet nothings 

NeverEnding Story, June 28 2025

Added:

summer stars 

tangled in my love's hair: 

skinny-dipping 

Added:

starry midnight ...

summer rain

into the silence

Added:

rippling sunset

the far-off sound

of a fishing boat

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

summer dusk

fishing boats set their nets

around the sun

First Place, Fifth Setouchi Matsuyama Photo Haiku Contest

Marietta Jane McGregor

Added:

late afternoon light

the snarl 

of lawn mowers

Added:

monsoon rain

my toddler wanders

from room to room

A Room of My Own: Drifting in White Ribbons Tanka

Re-Homing in the Maple Land, XLIII

written on Canada Day Eve

twilight mist

drifting in white ribbons

over the river ...

thoughts of staying or going

tangled in my immigrant past

FYI: This could be read as a sequel to the following gembun

Re-Homing in the Maple Land, XLII

A new life in this promised land of milk and honey, where my veil of forgetfulness drapes like a shroud.

shoppers come and go

“I used to be” in the folds

of my Walmart smile

NeverEnding Story, December 14 2025

This gembun could be read as a sequel to my tanka below:

at winter twilight

should have, could have, would have

are a boulder

rolling down the hill of life

I push it up, and yet ...

Gusts, 39, Spring/Summer 2024

And this tanka could be read as a sequel to my tanka prose below:

The Point of No Return

On the day of my emigration to Canada, a land of maple leaves and snowflakes that will eventually bury my past.

a parting

of summer clouds

mother

lets go of my hand

. . . and of my heart

Ribbons, 16:1, Winter 2020

Added: Re-Homing in the Maple Land, XLIV

a fork in the road —  

thoughts of returning

to my homeland

as a blue butterfly veers

into the narrower trail

A Room of My Own: Oriole Song Haiku

hiking alone

I'm lost except for

oriole song

FYI: This is a sequel to my haiku below:

the scent 

of dappled sunlight

redwood hike

Autumn Moon Haiku Journal, 5:2, Spring/Summer 2022

Added:

weeks since the layoff 

I step out of myself 

into bluebird song

Added:

me in her eyes

the bite

of a strawberry

Added:

red juice dripping

from her lip to my tongue —

strawberry moon

Added:

strawberry moon

rippling on the ocean —

with wing-soft strokes

my love and I skinny-dip

through its silver path

Added: Trump Empire, Inc., XCV

the White House roof

shadowed against sunset skies

America First banner

A Room of My Own: Orphanage Gate Tanka

hand-me-down shirts

with elbows worn thin

in dim twilight

each boy's gaze tracks the couple 

past the orphanage gate

Added:

this fresh morning

I wake alone to the world

of broken dreams ...

yet outside new leaves bud

from an oak stump

Added:

alone

in California golden light

slanted through the room ...

I close my eyes, listening

to the child in my mind's corner

Added:

I waved at her

beyond the departure gate 

yet she didn’t turn ...

memories of her packed

into the folds of my mind

Added:

across the sky

streaks of orange, pink, and violet ...

burning letters

I wrote to her years ago

but never sent

Added: Politics of Distraction, XV

"peace deal" news on mute—

fold after fold

of ceasefire-strike thoughts

into a thousand

rainbow origami cranes

FYI: This tanka is a sequel to mine below:

Politics of Distraction, XII

flip-flopping

on the ceasefire deal

amid camera clicks --

a dove's feather caught spinning

in the White House's wire fence

NeverEnding Story, June 12 2026 

Added: Politics of Distraction, XVI

smell of muggy noon -- 

the Reflecting Pool's blue sky 

turns algae green

A Room of My Own: Bigger Splash Tanka

In memory of David Hockney (9 July 1937 – 11 June 2026)

Inspired by "A Bigger Splash" (1967)

a cloud of droplets

from the blue swimming pool

and the diver gone ...

how long a life can linger

after the one who made it 

FYI: The New Yorker, June 16 2026: David Hockney’s Hidden Depths: Remembering a master of color and light who understood life’s shadows.

One of his best-known paintings, “A Bigger Splash,” which Hockney made in 1967 and which became part of the permanent collection of the Tate in 1981, shows a modernist house flanked by a pair of skinny palm trees, before which extends a brilliant-blue swimming pool equipped with a yellow diving board. There is no one in sight, but the surface of the water bursts with evidence of someone having just dived in, disappearing into the cool aqueous depths. The painting is suggestive of heat, with the palm trees offering no shade, and of a full-body relief from that heat: someone—probably male, probably young, almost certainly beautiful—is about to emerge from the pool’s sublimity, gasping with pleasure.

...what Hockney’s best works can make a viewer feel: the splash of water that, in reality, takes seconds to dissipate, captured over weeks of careful brushwork, then held in place forever on the canvas. Just as Hockney did, these works draw us in with their winning superficies only to hold us rapt with their enduring depths.

Added: Politics of Distraction, X

At an outdoor briefing, "military operation," "little excursion," "self-defense strikes" amid camera clicks in unseasonal heat.

smoky haze

war after war

of this wor(l)d

FYI: NBC News, June 11, 2026: Trump says U.S. will hit Iran ‘very hard’ tonight and take ‘total control’ of Iran’s oil industry.

And this gembun is a sequel to the following:

Politics of Distraction, IX:

blocking the blockade

to break the strait blockade ...

in gathering dark

a gin-soaked flight to nowhere

through the un/truth of this war

NeverEnding Story, April 18 2026

Added: Politics of Distraction, XI

the flat TV

mounted on the side wall

of a bookstore

blasting, a great deal! ...

layers of dust on Trump books

Added: Politics of Distraction, XII

flip-flopping

on the ceasefire deal

amid camera clicks --

a dove's feather caught spinning

in the White House's wire fence

Added: Politics of Distraction, XIII

this golfball-brained man

behind the Resolute Desk

loves inflation ...

a MAGA sign, Donald Trump

                              $20,28 per gallon

The New Verse News, June 12 2026

FYI: The Hill, June 10, 2026: Trump embraces May price spikes amid Iran war: ‘I love the inflation’

Added: Politics of Distraction, XIV

smoky haze ...

the 40th deal to end

the war of this wor(l)d

FYI: ABC News, June 16: US-Iran agreement confirms Trump trend on the art of the deal

The agreement between the United States and Iran fits with a pattern from Donald Trump where the signing of a deal appears to be the major goal and the details often seem a distant secondary consideration. 

Added:

thunder rumbling

his talk of war turns dark

then darker still

Added:

a skinny girl

drags her Disney Princess

by its hair ...

the doll’s eyeless face turns 

to the orphanage window

Added:

lying on her back

arms and legs splayed open …

a refugee dead

then the shelter left alone

with its rows of empty beds

A room of My Own: Lopsided Moon Haiku

lopsided moon ...

eyes fixed on my wife

straddling me

FYI: This haiku could be read as a sequel and a prequel to the following ones respectively:

butterflies mating

my wife's hand made to fit

inside my palm

Haiku Foundation's Per Diem, March 14 2023

And 

beads of sweat

between my wife's breasts

yet this impulse ...

NeverEnding Story, January 14, 2020

Added:

slanted moonlight

slow, slow curving of her breast

into my dream

Added:

a box of letters

in dusty attic light

I recover

my young self once caught

in someone's love bonfire

Added:

a queue for gas

out of the blue call answered

by tree swallow song

FYI: A small and striking songbird, the tree swallow is renowned for its acrobatic flight and dazzling plumage. It features glossy, iridescent blue-green upperparts that gleam in the sunlight.

Added:

a white raven

back and forth, back and forth 

distant sirens

FYI: White ravens are exceptionally rare in the wild—occurring in roughly 1 in 30,000 birds. North America's two main hotspots for these sightings include:

1 Vancouver Island, British Columbia: The coastal area around Qualicum Beach and Parksville is widely considered the unofficial "White Raven Capital". 

2 Anchorage, Alaska: White ravens are occasional, viral sensations in Anchorage.

Added:

sunlit hillside

a tumbling waterfall

of scarlet

Added:

time to live 

with what remains ...

blossom rain

reprinted in  The Mainichi, July 15, 2026

A Room of My Own: Parting Words Tanka

so much of life

grows clearer with the years —

her parting words

yet grit like sand in my mouth

whenever I repeat them

Added: 

newly divorced

I stare at a blue moon

through the skylight—

still her side of our bed

holds the hollow shape

Added:

an alley stray

howling at the blue moon

nostalgia

like a drunken shadow

that dogs my immigrant past

Added:

blue moon rippling …

on the Pacific shore

I wonder:

the life I left behind,

the life I struggle with

Added: 

words fall short 

of what the heart can tell —

yet on my tongue

that first hidden love's name

leaps into the spring air

A Room of My Own: Stock Ticker Tanka

Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, CCXCVI: "stock ticker "

a bruised girl’s hand

clutches a slice of bread

in pixels—

a stock ticker flashes past

Lockheed Martin up red-hot

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

May 24 2026: Israel's Destruction of Gaza Mapped Using Digital Archive of Wartime Footage

Built from geolocated videos, photographs and social media posts, the website – called Genocide Live – compiles footage of Israeli airstrikes, military manoeuvres, and destruction from across Gaza, the West Bank and the wider regional war, including in Lebanon, Syria, Iran and Qatar.

May 25 2026: Humanitarian Conditions in Gaza Deteriorating Again, Aid Groups Warn

The groups report a resurgence in malnutrition among Gazan children, as well as deaths resulting from a failure to provide medical evacuations, collapsing sewage systems, a spike in pest infestations and a serious shortage of medical equipment, among other problems.

And Kavout, Stock Analysis: Is Global Conflict Driving a New Era for Defense Stocks

Key Takeaways

Global defense spending, now at an estimated $3 trillion, is surging due to escalating geopolitical tensions, creating a robust tailwind for defense contractors and drone technology firms.

Lockheed Martin (LMT) offers investors a stable, blue-chip play on this trend, benefiting from strong demand for its established platforms and a substantial backlog, despite its premium valuation. 

Added: Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, CCXCVII: "Eid al-Adha"

Eid al-Adha

shrouded in smoky dust

armless Gazan child

FYI: Eid al-Adha (May 26–30) is the Feast of Sacrifice, the largest of the two main Islamic festivals celebrated worldwide. It is traditionally marked by clean clothes, festive meals, and charity.

Added:

her only son's photo

as he was

Memorial Day

Added:

in breezy sunshine

tulip bulbs tucked in the earth

last autumn

begin to murmur awake ...

will our hope for peace take root?

FYI: Vision of Humanity: Highest number of countries engaged in conflict since World War II

Added:

the edge

of this dappled trail

shadow and me

Added:

gazing out

at this borderless spring sky 

thoughts pass through

Added:

kitchen secret

in the slanted moonlight

onions unpeeled

Added:

half-sleep, half-wake 

my hand across the bed

finds a hollow

Added:

sultry beach night

my body finds the spot

where hers once lay

Added:

solar eclipse

a church bell’s echo slips

into the dark

A Room of My Own: Wind-Spun Petals Haiku

wind-spun petals

go back where you came from

brayed down the block

FYI: This haiku is a prequel to mine below:

the zigzag path 

of a yellow maple leaf ...

to stay or to go?

Mamba, 18, 2025

Added: 

fireball-lit skies

"ceasefire" for 45 days

inked on paper

FYI: BBC News, May 18 2026: Death toll from Israeli strikes on Lebanon passes 3,000, officials say

Added:

blossom-spun wind

against the chain-link fence

store foreclosure

Added:

rooftop pool

I float in the light

of stars

Added:

a row of beach chairs

in every pair of glasses

drifting clouds

FYI:  This haiku could be read as a prequel to mine below:

dream space

between our beach chairs

rippling sunset

Wales Haiku Journal, Summer 2022

A Room of My Own: 3 A.M. Crescent Haiku

3 a.m. crescent

in the bedroom skylight 

dust motes drift

FYI: This haiku could be read as a sequel to mine below:

again her smile fades ...

I awaken to the silence

of a hazy crescent

NeverEnding Story, April 12 2026

Added:

bed unmade

I lie down beside

the hidden self

Added:

mail on the table

I read it twice, once in mind 

a week ago

Added:

a baseball bat

beside chained tires in the yard 

foreclosure tilted

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

fence line 

crowded with baseball caps

World Series eve

NeverEnding Story, October 23 2025

crack of the bat

a roar of voices chasing

the sky-high ball

NeverEnding Story, October 27 2025

Added: Politics of Distraction, X:

waking in cold sweat

from dreams of a strait blockade:

the liar arrives

to save the strangled victim

by pressing down the pillow

FYI: Trump stated on Truth Social: If Iran did not agree to a deal, the bombing starts, and it will be, sadly, at a much higher level and intensity than it was before ... (BBC News, May10)

And his tanka is a sequel to the following:

Politics of Distraction, IX:

blocking the blockade

to break the strait blockade ...

in gathering dark

a gin-soaked flight to nowhere

through the un/truth of this war

NeverEnding Story, April 18 2026

Added: Trump Empire, Inc, XCIII

the White House

shadowed against sunset skies

Four More Years askew

FYI: This is a sequel to the following:

Trump Empire, Inc, XCII

            Donald Trump

                 $20,28 per gallon

             America First

the MAGA-hatted man’s stare

bores holes through his lawn sign

A Room of My Own: River Trail Tanka

Starlight on the Gutter of  Blossoms, IV

silver moonlight 

drips through weeping willow leaves

the river trail  reeks 

where a stray rips the throat

from a bag of rotting guts

FYI: My new writing project, Starlight on the Gutter of Blossoms, applies the violent lens of the urban onihishigitei style to the modern landscape. Inspired by Christine Judd’s "neon lights" tanka, the title hijacks Oscar Wilde’s romanticism—"We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars"—and forces that celestial gaze down into the city’s filth to "slay" traditional beauty.

You can read its I, II, and III here.

Added: Starlight on the Gutter of  Blossoms, V

the milky way 

floats in the midlight river --

one yellow stream

arcs higher than the other

while two drunks shout and laugh

Added: Starlight on the Gutter of  Blossoms, VI

the warbler’s wail

ripples through the morning mist --

the screech of brakes

as a truck grinds to a stop

inches from the toddler

Added: Starlight on the Gutter of  Blossoms, VII

the moonlit creek

chatters over mossy rocks

the drainage pipe 

spewing vomit after vomit

of neon-blue factory sludge

Added: Starlight on the Gutter of  Blossoms, VIII

fields of wheat

rippling in morning sunshine

roadside billboards

hawk cheap loans and debt swaps

to the hollow-eyed and aged

Added: Starlight on the Gutter of  Blossoms, IX

morning mist

veiling the river’s curve ...

the bridge traffic stops

as a rusted semi-truck 

grinds a stray into pulp

A Room of My Own: Cherry Blossom Dawn Haiku

cherry blossom dawn

my beagle and I bathed

in the scent of light

Added:

breezy sunshine

bumblebees stitch gold threads

among blossoms

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

bumblebee flitting

among the meadow flowers

humming to itself

Haiga Moments: Pens and Lens, 2008

Ignatius Fay

Added:

blossom rain

my son takes a selfie

I breathe deeply

Added:

pick-your-own farm

my toddler’s lips and fingers

blue-stained

Added:

strawberry juice …

drip, drip from her tongue

into my mouth

Added:

garden hut

newborn kittens blink

into tulips

Added:

break of dawn

a wedge of geese honking

the northbound freight

A Room of My Own: Late Night Shift Haiku

late night shift done

a stray’s barks lengthen

the way home

Added:

thunder and lightning

what's left between us 

half-spoken

Added:

cascading clusters, 

clusters of wisteria …

scent of sunshine

Added: Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, CCXCIII: "trapped echo"

the sound of drones 

in an armless boy's head

like a trapped echo

his mother's last scream 

drowns in the smoky dark

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

Opinion, April 24, 2026: Israelis' Thunderous Silence Enables Daily Atrocities in Gaza and the West Bank

In the Gaza Strip, the dead and wounded aren't "casualties," they are "collateral damage" – a dry technical term backed by artificial intelligence and legal permits. They aren't casualties, they are damage. Language itself has been recruited to cloud what happened, as if by swapping the terms, we could also swap our reality...

But the most chilling sound of all is silence. Israelis' thunderous silence was what enabled and continues to enable the atrocities we committed in Gaza and the ones we commit every day in the West Bank. 

This tanka could be read as a sequel to the following:

Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, CCXCII: "P/Crime Minister"

written on Israel's Independence Day

behind the shroud

of "our hero warriors"

the P/Crime Minister

spills the Castro-length 

blah, blah, blah on victory

Added: Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, CCXCIV: "fighter jets' trails"

Gazan sky tinged gray

fighter jets’ trails underline

a crescent moon

Added: Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, CCXCV: "bullets and blasts"

a hum

thickens into a roar ...

bullets and blasts

tear through brick walls and flesh

as dust and blood fill the air

Added:

makeshift clinic

a  Beirut boy blowing

on shrapnel wounds

A Room of My Own: Past and Present, Then Ever

cherry blossoms 

always the same, and yet

ever new with you

pink blossom rain

the space where you used to be

pink blossom rain

Added:

my first love

into the past tense

pink blossom rain

Added:

anniversary

first cherry blossoms 

my love elsewhere

Added: 

a riverside stroll

pink blossom rain on my face

on a homeless man

FYI: This could be read as a counter poem to my award-winning haiku below:

blossom rain

between earth and sky

somehow, us

Grand Prize, Sharpening the Green Pencil Haiku Contest, 2026

Added:

midnight crescent

in a Beirut boy's eyes

buzzing drones

Added:

repeat after me

Trum pi no cchi o ...

the clown taps his nose

Added: Politics of Distraction, IX:

blocking the blockade

to break the strait blockade ...

in gathering dark

a gin-soaked flight to nowhere

through the un/truth of this war

Added: Trump Empire, Inc, XCII

            Donald Trump

                 $20,28 per gallon

             America First

the MAGA-hatted man’s stare

bores holes through his lawn sign

FYI: This tanka could be read as a sequel to mine below:

Law is the King

Trump Empire, Inc, XC

written for No Kings protests

just a dream, and yet ...

the mountain lion roars

to grazing sheep:

once elected as your King

I'll be vegetarian

the peanut-brained man

behind the Resolute Desk

grins to cameras,

just a little excursion...

oily clouds over Tehran

how much bullshit

can come out of one ass-hole

a veteran’s refrain

cracks and booms through iron bars

at the White House gate

the Capitol fence

shadowed against the sky

in twilight chill

lineups snake at the pumps

and at food banks too

chant after chant

of eggflation, fried truth

scrambled justice ...

a mutt's neck sign: I can poop

a better president

FYI: The title alludes to the famous quote from Thomas Paine's 1776 pamphlet, Common Sense: In America, THE LAW IS KING.

NeverEnding Story, March 28 2026

Added:

on the road to work  

I push through the white drift—  

cold snap pressing in

Added:

to T.S. Eliot

curtains part

snow-wet roofs mirroring

April twilight

FYI: This could be read as a sequel my gembun below:

April is the cruelest month, I murmur to myself

drinking alone

the sound of snowfall

deepens

NeverEnding Story, April 6 2026

Added: Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, CCXCII: "P/Crime Minister"

written on Israel's Independence Day

behind the shroud

of "our hero warriors"

the P/Crime Minister

spills the Castro-length 

blah, blah, blah on victory

Added: No More Fairy Tales, LIII

written on War-Ravaged Earth Day

Hormuz twilight

one pond of oily black

after another

A Room of My Own: Hazy Crescent Haiku

again her smile fades...

I awaken to the silence

of a hazy crescent

FYI: My haiku below could be read as its prequel and sequel respestively 

her empty bed ...

get-well cards catching

winter sunlight

"Modern Haiku," Under the Basho, 2014

And

hazy day moon 

alone, awake with the weight

of memory

PoemHunter, February 16, 2013

Added: 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

FYI: Time Magazine, April 12, 2026: Trump Says U.S. Will Blockade Strait of Hormuz After Iran Peace Talks Fail

Added:

peace talks stalled

I hold onto the long half

of a wishbone

Added:

home from work

the opening door spills

darkness 

Added:

moonlit wave

after wave after wave 

the ocean 

grows louder with her 

gone a year now

Added:

coloring the morning breeze cherry blossom rain

Added: No More Fairy Tales, LII

El Niño pulses ... 

war is peace, peace is war

circled red

FYI: The New York Times, March 12 2026: Odds Rise That El Niño Will Soon Bring Weather Extremes

The climate pattern known for intense heat, floods and drought is likely to develop this summer, raising questions about disaster preparedness.

Scientists at the Climate Prediction Center, a part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, had raised their estimate for an El Niño event this summer from 60% to about 80%.... Forecasters now predict that the coming El Niño -- a warming of the Pacific Ocean that deeply affects global weather patterns -- is likely to be as severe as the one in 2023-2024, which triggered severe flooding and prolonged heatwaves around the world.

Added:

green-leafed breeze

my mind and lungs filled 

with skylark song

A Room of My Own: Easter Lily Haiku

Easter lily

a curl at each edge

deepens

Added:

Jesus Wept

war news on mute ...

the sound

of Easter rain

church spire's tip 

piercing through half-sleep

a child's scream

I cry 

no reason, and yet

(this silence)

FYI: The title,  "Jesus Wept" (John 11:35),  is widely recognized as the shortest verse in the English Bible (King James Version and many others).

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

Pope Leo XIV,  his first Easter Mass

And The Nation Magazine, April 13, 2026: Trump’s Deranged, One-Way Feud With Pope Leo

“I have no fear neither of the Trump administration, nor of speaking out loudly about the message of the Gospel,” the pope told reporters on his plane as he headed for a visit to Algeria and several other African countries.  They asked about Trump’s comments on Truth Social, and Leo responded: “It’s ironic—the name of the site itself. Say no more.” He added: “I do believe the message of the Gospel—‘blessed are the peacemakers’—is the message that the world needs to hear today.”

And this is a sequence to my tanka set below:

What Will Come Next?

in Easter sunshine

a billboard atop the church

proclaims:

Mary, called Magdalene

host to seven devils

Jesus is Risen

drifts from the whitewashed church

on the corner

a middle-aged black man

wears a crown of thorns

NeverEnding Story, April 5, 2026

Added:

After Easter

slate-gray sky

white, trumpet-shaped blooms

curl inward

church door closed

a fallen petal

cups the last light

Added:

a gembun written to T.S. Eliot

April is the cruelest month, I murmur to myself

drinking alone

the sound of snowfall

deepens

Added:

alone ...

the dawn sky 

tinged gray

Added: Politics of Distraction, V:

written in response to the Convicted Felon/Peanut-Brained man who sits behind the Resolute Desk

two-week ceasefire …

mid-bite of a taco

he mumbles, I won

FYI: taco stands for Trump Always Chickens Out

Added:

two-week ceasefire

pop, popping under the hood

of a Ford Mustang

Added: 

love in my dream

eyes half-closed, lips parted ...

surf crashes ashore

A Room of My Own: Whitewashed Road Sign Tanka

Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, CCLXXXVIII: "a whitewashed road sign"

dust swirling past

"<-- Tarqumia, Jerusalem -->

peace be with you" 

under the scorching sun

a whitewashed road sign

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

skeletal house  

and charred pottery shards --  

grass creeps in the cracks

Added: Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, CCXC: "between wire fences"

slate-gray sky

swarm after swarm of flies

between wire fences

Added: Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, CCXCI: "the Death Bill"

Sde Teiman

silhouetted against desert sunset 

on the TV

passing of the Death Bill

popping of champagne 

FYI: Sde Teiman is a scandal-plagued Israeli detention camp in the Negev desert near the Gaza border.

And Haaretz, April 1, 2026: The Death Penalty Bill Illustrates How the Kahanist Revolution Has Taken Over Israeli Society

The evening of the vote marked not only a moral abyss, but also anointed the next right-wing leader: Itamar Ben-Gvir, who has managed to transform himself from a marginal thug into a shaper of right-wing ideology

Add:

straddled between

this war-torn world and the one

in my mind ...

I slam the blinds down

as fists crash on the street