Butterfly Dream: Dark Moon Haiku by Adjei Agyei-Baah

English Original

dark moon

the shriek of an owl

unsettles a dream

afriku: haiku and Senryui from Ghana, 2016

Adjei Agyei-Baah

Chinese Translation (Traditional)

闇月

貓頭鷹的尖叫

擾亂夢境

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

暗月

猫头鹰的尖叫

扰乱梦境

Bio Sketch

Adjei Agyei-Baah (June 29, 1977 -- December 18, 2023) was the co-founder of the Africa Haiku Network and The Mamba and author of afriku: haiku and Senryui from Ghana, 2016, Finding the Other Door, 2021 and Scaring Crow, 2022. 

A Room of My Own: The old war comes to "an end"

Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, CCXLI: "the wars, old and new"

"Now we're trapped in a new war." An aid worker draws a breath and resumes in an uneven voice, "the battlefield is in the wounded bodies of survivors, in the broken hearts of mothers, in the hungry eyes of children, in the distant stares of elderly people. We're just fighting to live, simply to live, and we have nothing to do so..." Before the aid worker finishes her answer, boom, boom, boom interrupts the interview. The TV screen goes black.

chilly rain

stalks the edge of his dream

my Gazan friend

still waiting for the phone call

I know won't come

Added: Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, CCXLII: "on my hands and knees"

On My Hands and Knees

"I crawled through a crowd of hundreds to scavenge a small bag with scraps of food ..." The gray-haired man pauses for a moment to take a deep breath, then continues, "I had to gather whatever had fallen to the ground -- lentils, rice, chickpeas, even flour mixed with dirt. My bones ached and my heart beat fast; I almost collapsed due to exhaustion. However, in my mind the sound of my children's hunger grew louder and darker ..."

a sack of flour

on the muddy roadside

just beyond reach

of an old Gazan's hand

in a pool of blood

Added: Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, CCXLIII: "the wounded land"

The Wounded Land

ceasefire for now ...

dew-drenched blades of grass

hold the sky

first rooster crow

on a bombless day

skeletal farmhouse

an old man's fajr

hangs in the dusty air ...

withdrawal line

bombshell shards 

glint at the morning sun

the edge of peace

Note: The fajr prayer is one of the five daily Muslim prayers, and it is performed between the break of dawn and sunrise. 

And the IDF physically marked the initial withdrawal line in Gaza, known as the "yellow line," to clearly delineate it and alert both Hamas and Gaza residents. The IDF has killed dozens of Gazans who crossed the line.

Added: Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, CCXLIV: "charred photo frame"

charred photo frame

my friend's Gazan ancestors

stiff faced, straight backed...

Added:

the Peace Wall patterned

with shifting leaf shadows

this world in flux

Added: Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, CCXLIV: "pyramids of rubble"

pyramid 

after pyramid of rubble ... 

again "ceasefire" strikes

Added: Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, CCXLV: "mutilated bodies"

detainees

returned to Gaza

in gathering dusk

at least 135 

mutilated bodies

FYI: Haaretz, Opinion,  Oct.23 2025: Israel's Government Prides Itself on Sadism, Abuse and Torture

A Room of My Own: Night of Silent Dreams Tanka

the fire crackling

as smoke snakes up ...

one family

three campfires and two dogs

on a night of silent dreams

Added: 

back and forth

between midnight barks

distant gunshots 

Added:

ice jamming 

at a railway bridge ...

just one more 

bear hug to remember

his son's cold body

Added:

slanted moonlight

through a crack in the blinds ...

awake alone

as my thoughts wander back

to the love long gone 

Added:

despair

I murmur to myself  ...

the weight of it

the way it sounds and feels

in the gathering dark

A Room of My Own: The Golden Dream

Trump Empire, Inc, L

summer moonlight 

lapping against the shore ...

a dinghy adrift

the razor wire glints

with the first light of dawn 

detention center

a Cuban boy's stare

McDonald's arch in a corner 

of his cell window 

dust motes

in a slant of moonlight ...

this drifting life

Added:

sleepless again ...

dusting shelf after shelf

of unread books

Added:

lovers' quarrel

a downy woodpecker

stops drilling

Added:

summer outhouse

the bare light bulb sticky

with bugs

Added: Yellowing Memories, VII

the Perseids peak ...

the lives I dreamed in my teens 

but never lived

Added: Trump Empire, Inc, LI

trumping up 

one crime emergency

after another ...

the Convicted Felon 

finger-guns to the cameras

Added: Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, CCXV: "a journalist murdered"

his eyes open

and his bullet-riddled helmet

marked Press ...

heavy footfalls echoing

in the smoky twilight

FYI: Haaretz, August 12: Israel's Targeting of Palestinian Reporters in Gaza Isn't Collateral Damage. It's Strategy

Anas al-Sharif, a well-known Al Jazeera correspondent, was killed this week in an Israeli airstrike. The intention is clear: If you silence the witnesses, you can reshape history

Reading More and Writing Better: Oz Tanka

Corner of Oz

enclosed with lush greenery

near the waterfront ...

time-wave after time-wave

takes me there through dreams

FYI: L1 alludes to the Land of OZ, a fantasy world introduced in the 1900 children's novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. And The Wizard of Oz is long considered LGBTQ, the first gay coded movie: "The struggles faced by Dorothy, Toto, and friends, especially against the Wicked Witch of the West and her flying monkeys can metaphorically mirror the difficulties of coming out. How the group of outcasts worked together likewise mirrors LGBTQ people who create new chosen families." For more, see Manish Mathur, "Talk Film Society," Nov 4 2019: Reel Pride: The Wizard Of Oz (1939)

This tanka could be read a sequel to the following:

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

NeverEnding Story, January 27 2025

And for more about LGBTQ+ poems, see Special Feature: Selected Poems for Reflections on LGBTQ Rights in the Era of Trumpism

A Room of My Own: A Season of Regret

snowed in

for three straight days

again, I check

the machine for the sound

of your voice

I dream 

that winter dream again ...

sadder than then

as I look out the window

at the sky, endless gray

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

It's me

I just wanted to hear

from you ...

fifteen seconds of soft voice

after ten years of silence

Gusts, 35, Spring/Summer 2022

Added: Trump Empire, Inc., XV

Day and Night, Forever?

for Mark Twain who claimed, "Politicians and diapers must be changed often, and for the same reason."

step after step

one by one to the exit

DOGE cuts

red district town hall 

a crowd-fest 

of boos and jeers 

distant sirens

free-ranging dogs pee

on the Trump Mural

Liberation Day!

the news on mute, I change

my baby's diaper

bursts of spring snow

Tariffs are a tax cut,  a twist

to Trump's mouth

FYI: DOGE stands for the Department of Government Efficiency. And the Convicted Felon Donald Trump is set to roll out his massive tariff plan on April 2, which he has touted as "Liberation Day in America."

April 3: On Fox Business, former Republican Senator Pat Toomey warns Trump's tariffs will be “probably the largest tax increase on American consumers in the history of the country”

And Daily Beast, April 3: JD Vance Tells Paycheck-to-Paycheck Americans to Suck Up Tariffs Pain

JD Vance is telling Americans living paycheck to paycheck that the pain from President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs will all be worth it—at some point.

Added: Trump Empire, Inc., XVI

10% tariff on goods from the manless islands near Antarctica

the fight with one man

a sea of king penguins

trumpeting

FYI: USA Today, April 6: Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins on Sunday defended President Donald Trump's tariff rollout last week when asked why two uninhabited islands were hit with the fees, saying in a new interview "whatever."

Added: Trump Empire, Inc., XVII

wecan'twaitfor 

$10, 000 made-in-USA

iPhones. iPhones now ...

flanked by a spray of flags

red-hattedTrumpistsshouting 

Added:

a dollhouse

in the rain-streaked window

of a thrift store

a girl holds her mother's hand

tight ... and tighter 

Added:

frost flowers

on my son's study room window

paper planes gather dust

A Room of My Own: The Longest Yet the Shortest Night

Trump Empire, Inc., III:

once upon a time

Rome was a Republic ...

my teacher laments

gazing at the White House

in the gathering dark

the dumb, no,

dumbest trade war in history ...

with news on mute

I see the MAGA neighbor

piling up boxes of eggs

this storm of thoughts

in my recurring dream

King Trump's head

sliced open with nothing in it

except a wall nut

warm bedside light --

Isaac Asimov flies me

into the Milky Way

to mind-witness the fall

of a galactic empire

FYI: It might be interesting to do a thematic comparison reading of the first entry of Between Heaven and Hell to reflection on what things have changed over a short period of less than 4 months in Trumperica.

Two Americas

the White House

surrounded by a metal fence 

ten feet high ...

this is America, and yet

the other America

this chilly night

stretching thousands of miles

behind the day

November 6th, the veil thinnest

between Heaven and Hell

Not Going Back

painted in large blue letters

on the billboard

in autumn morning chill

Not crossed out with red paint

raindrops stream

down Lady Liberty's face ...

in my mind's eye

atop the White House roof

the stars & stripes upside-down

NeverEnding Story , November 4, 2024

And The New Yorker, March 8: America’s Founders Feared a Caesar. Has One Arrived?

Julius Caesar pressured the Senate, won popular support by fomenting class warfare, and sported a combover. The constitutional scholar Jeffrey Rosen discusses the parallels.

The Washington Roundtable speaks with Jeffrey Rosen, the president and C.E.O. of the National Constitution Center, a nonpartisan nonprofit, about how America’s Founders tried to tyrant-proof their constitutional system, how Donald Trump’s whim-based decision-making resembles that of the dictator Julius Caesar, and what we can learn from the fall of the Roman Republic. Plus, how the Supreme Court is responding to the Trump Administration’s broad claims of executive power.

Added: Trump Empire, Inc., IV

in morning chill

to the clicking of cameras 

MAGA, MAGA ...

row upon rows of migrants

with hands and feet shackled

FYI: Time Magazine, March 11: U.S. Is Added to Human Rights Watchlist

Added: Trump Empire, Inc., V

plunge after plunge

the stock market bleeding ...

to reporters

red-eyed King Trump shouts,

shut up about egg prices

FYI: USA Today, March 9: Don't worry about eggs or a Trump recession. The billionaires will be just fine.

And Al Jazeera, March 11: ‘Bloodbath’: US stock market sheds $1.75tn after Trump’s recession remarks

Tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 plunges 3.81 percent, its steepest single-day loss since September 2022.

Added: Trump Empire, Inc., VI

King Trump's meaty smile ...

phalanx after phalanx

of red-hatted men

chanting, tariffs are a tax cut

Make America Great Again

FYI: King Trump's mouthpiece, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, claimed on March 11, "Tariffs are a tax cut for the American people....”

Added: Re-Homing in the Maple Land, XXXVII

the wind blows away 

what a homeless family

left behind ...

footprint after footprint

in the snow-covered park

Added: 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

A Room of My Own: Late Father's Face Haiku

dream after dream

my late father's face blurry

... and blurrier

FYI: This is a sequel to my haiku below:

snowflakes drift

from silence to silence

weight of Father's urn

NeverEnding Story, June 16 2024

Added:

alone in the shadow

of Father's gravestone

early snowfall

Added:

loneliness

descends with early snow ...

before sleep

I look a little longer

into the mirror

Added:

border checkpoint

in the child's eyes

a feather-gray sky

Added:

barbed wire ...

wrinkles crisscross

a migrant’s face

One Man's Maple Moon: Jacaranda Tanka by Jackie Chou

English Original

jacaranda

in the distance

your mind

yet a purple dream

beyond my grasp

Oblivious to Daffodils: Haiku and Tanka of a Divergent Mind, 2021

Jackie Chou 

Chinese Translation (Traditional)

在遠處

一棵藍花楹

你的想法

仍舊是個紫色的夢

超出我的理解

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

在远处

一棵蓝花楹

你的想法

仍旧是个紫色的梦

超出我的理解

Bio Sketch

Jackie Chou is a poet residing in sunny Southern California.  She sometimes gets her inspirations from common city birds and flowers.  Her works have been published in Atlas Poetica, Skylark, Ribbons, the cherita journal, moonbathing, ephemerae, and others.  

Butterfly Dream: Poppies Haiku by Richa Sharma

English Original

poppies at dusk

in my dream, he says yes

the boy lost to war

 

Songbirds, 2022

Richa Sharma

 

Chinese Translation (Traditional)

黃昏時分的罌粟花

在我的夢裡, 他說我願意

我的孩子在戰爭中喪生

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

黄昏时分的罂粟花

在我的梦里, 他说我愿意

我的孩子在战争中丧生

 

Bio Sketch 

 

Richa Sharma resides in Delhi NCR, India. Since 2019, her work has appeared in numerous online and print journals dedicated to short Japanese poetry. Her work has been appreciated in various international contests, and she also served as a contest panelist judge in the 2nd Trailblazer Contest, 2023.

Biting NOT Barking: Dried Blood Haiku by Robert D. Wilson

English Original

dried blood ...

and the nearness

of dreams

Jack Fruit Moon, 2009

Robert D. Wilson

Chinese Translation (Traditional)

乾了血跡 ...

以及夢

的親近程度

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

干了血迹 ...

以及梦

的亲近程度

Bio Sketch

Robert D. Wilson is Co-Owner of Simply Haiku.

Butterfly Dream: Work Shirt Haiku by Michael McClintock

English Original

spring dream ...

slipping my wings

into a work shirt

Touchstone Award, 2015  

Michael McClintock

Chinese Translation (Traditional)

春之夢

我的翅膀滑入

一件工作襯衫

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

春之梦

我的翅膀滑入

一件工作衬衫

Bio Sketch

Michael McClintock's lifework in haiku, tanka, and related literature spanned over four decades. His many contributions to the field included six years as president of the Tanka Society of America (2004-2010) and contributing editor, essayist, and poet for dozens of journals, anthologies, landmark collections and critical studies. McClintock lived in Clovis, California, where he worked as an independent scholar, consultant for public libraries, and poet. Meals at Midnight [tanka], Sketches from the San Joaquin [haiku] and Streetlights: Poetry of Urban Life in Modern English Tanka, were some of his recent titles.

A Room of My Own: Imagine

surge upon surge

of this sultry loneliness 

washing ove me ...

quiet in a seaside room

one night before the deadline

the blank page

staring at me for hours ...

this drunken night

I glimpse the nude muse

rising from a sea of words

the muse and I

mouth on mouth, legs tangled with legs

become a single dream:

my book in the front window

at Barnes & Noble 

FYI: Barnes & Noble is the largest individual bookstore in the world measured by square footage.

Added: Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, LXXX: "wall of apartheid"

apartheid wall

only so far a child's eyes

can see beyond [his world]

FYI Israel describes the wall as a necessary security barrier against Palestinian political violence; whereas Palestinians describe it as an element of racial segregation and a representation of Israeli apartheid, who often call it "Wall of Apartheid".

And Human Rights Watch, July 19, 2024: World Court Finds Israel Responsible for Apartheid

The following quote can be attributed to Tirana Hassan, Human Rights Watch Executive Director:

"In a historic ruling the International Court of Justice has found multiple and serious international law violations by Israel towards Palestinians in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including, for the first time, finding Israel responsible for apartheid. The court has placed responsibility with all states and the United Nations to end these violations of international law. The ruling should be yet another wake up call for the United States to end its egregious policy of defending Israel’s oppression of Palestinians and prompt a thorough reassessment in other countries as well."

Added: Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, LXXXI: "Gaza's rubble"

to Kamala Harris, 2024 Democratic presidential candidate

what can be

unburdened by what has been

this soundbite 

becomes cheap and louder ...

a hand out of Gaza's rubble

FYI: "What can be, unburdened by what has been" is a quote popularized and primarily used by Kamala Harris, the current vice president of the United States and 2024 Democratic presidential candidate. A supercut of Harris repeating the quote was first shared by the Republican National Committee on social media platform X, on April 30, 2023, after which it became viral (Wikipedia, "What can be, unburdened by what has been")

Added: Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, LXXXII: "war criminal"

written in response to Netanyahu's Congress speech

a state of dis/union:

pumping his fist in the air

the war criminal

opens, closes, opens... his mouth

to Congress for an hour

FYI: The Nation, July 25: Netanyahu’s Theater of the Grotesque

Mostly, though, the speech was notable for its lies. Netanyahu lied openly about his army’s ethics and conduct. He lied about starving civilians. He lied about the number of people he has killed. He lied about the antisemitism of American protesters. His only moment of deliberate truth-telling came when he declared his debt to his literal partner in crime, Joe Biden.

Added: Re-Homing in the Maple Land, XXIII

shouts from the beach,

go back where you came from ...

bubbles of memory

pop to the surface

of my immigrant life

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

a kid trying

to kick sea foam back

where it came from

I remember the first time

a white man yelled at me

Runner-Up, Tanka Section, 2016 British Haiku Society Awards

Added: No More Fairy Tales, XXX

written in response to Jasper wildfires

smoky twilight

this wall

of fast-moving flame

Added: No More Fairy Tales, XXXI

sultry night alone

the long note

of a wildfire siren

A Room of My Own: Tiananmen Square Tanka

reading between the lives and writing between the lines, LXXXIII

Beijingers, young and old

stroll along Tiananmen Square

[everything's just fine]

my recurring dream, this sound

of rolling tanks and rifle fire

FYI: The New Yorker, June 2: The Shadow of Tiananmen Falls on Hong Kong

The anniversary of the massacre coincides with verdicts in the trial of the pro-democracy activists known as the Hong Kong 47.

Added: Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, LXVI: "shrapnel scars"

calm between fireballs

a boy fingers

his shrapnel scars

Added: Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, LXVII: "Rafah Crossing"

Rafah Crossing

a girl stares

at the borderless sky

Added: Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, LXVIII: "Kibbutzim"

home, sweet home!

each window has a vista 

of a blue horizon ...

the half-collapsed billboard

near the gate of Kibbutz Liman

FYI: This tanka is a sequel/poetic response to the following entry:

Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, XXII: "punitive house demolition"

bulldozed house

now a bundle of belongings

on the bent back

of a Palestinian man ...

in his mind's eye re-homing

NeverEnding Story, February 28, 2024

Butterfly Dream: No Wars Haiku by Hidenori Hiruta

English Original

Mount Taihei

dreaming of no wars

under the sun

Hidenori Hiruta

Chinese Translation (Traditional)

太平山

在陽光下夢想

沒有戰爭

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

太平山

在阳光下梦想

没有战争

Bio Sketch

Hidenori Hiruta was born in 1942, when the Pacific War was going on. Since then, he has continued to seek to illumine the great matter of life and death. He finds it important to share haiku with each other. He is a leader of Haiku Group “Haiku beyond Earth.”

A Room of My Own: Gazan Poet Tanka

Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, XXV: "poetry"

do you still believe

that poems are stronger than fireballs

a Gazan poet asks

in daymares, I see a narcissus

entwined around my mind

FYI: This is a sequel to the following tanka:

Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, XVIII: "Rafah"

attacks on Rafah ...

will the sound of bombings 

echo, echoing

in the ears of the World

thousands of miles away

NeverEnding Story, February 12 2023

Added: Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, XXVI: "aid airdrops"

                     aid

out of reach            air            ops

                                       dr 

and a dead child’s stare

FYI: Democarcy Now, March 4: U.S. Airdrops Food to Gaza While Arming Israel to Drop Bombs

Palestinian health officials say at least 16 children have died in recent days from starvation and dehydration as Israel’s assault continues. UNICEF warns the number of child deaths will likely “rapidly increase” unless the war ends.

And BBC News, March 5: Gaza aid airdrop: Why delivering food from the air is controversial

"Airdrops are expensive, haphazard and usually lead to the wrong people getting the aid," Jan Egeland, the secretary general of the Norwegian Refugee Council and a former UN aid chief, told the BBC after returning from a recent three-day visit to Gaza.

Airdrops are seven times more expensive compared to ground-delivered aid due to costs related to aircraft, fuel and personnel, says the WFP.

In addition to that, only relatively small quantities can be delivered with each flight, in comparison to what a convoy of lorries can bring in, and significant ground co-ordination is required within the delivery zone, says the WFP.

And The Guardian, March 8: Five killed and 10 injured in Gaza aid airdrop when parachute fails to open: Package ‘fell down like a rocket’ on roof of house near al-Shati refugee camp where people were waiting, a witness says

And Haaretz, March 9: UNRWA Accuses Israel of Forcing Agency Staff to Falsely Admit Hamas Links

A report by the UN agency details allegations of severe physical beatings, waterboarding, and threats of harm to family members.

Added: Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, XXVII: "donkey feed"

rain clouds darkening ...

Gazan children sift through feed

as a donkey does

 Democracy Now, March 7: Ceasefire Talks Falter as Famine Plagues Gaza, Aid Remains Blocked by Israel

The group Refugees International is warning Israel’s persistent blocking of humanitarian aid into Gaza has created “apocalyptic” conditions inside the besieged territory. At least 20 Gazans have starved to death; the youngest victim was just one day old.

a soup kitchen volunteer in Rafah, Mohammed Al-Dalu: “Our hearts are being squeezed when a child comes over and says, 'I want to have rice and chicken.' We are unable to provide rice, let alone chicken, in light of the war that we are experiencing. This is not only a war on civilians. It is a war on food, on starvation. People here in the Gaza Strip cannot find bread to eat.”

And Democracy Now, March 7: Biden Quietly Approves 100+ Arms Sales to Israel While Claiming Concern for Civilians in Gaza

Added: Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, XXVIII: "bombshell shards"

winter deepens

bombshell shards glinting

at the crescent moon

reprinted on Haikuniverse, March 11 2024

A Room of My Own: Writing, Life and Death

written in response to the Voice in Pierre's sleep: If there was no suffering, man would not know his limits, would not know himself (War and Peace, Vol. 5&6, p.35)

living side by side

with strangers in a basement

my writer friend

mutters, my mind, a logbook

of income streams and expenses

children's blood

flows beyond the pages

of War and Peace

my friend grieves the loss of passion

and of her writing dream

Added: inspired by The Independent, Dec. 11: George Clooney so badly stricken with Covid he was forced to direct new film, The Boys in the Boat,  from bed: That’s it. A tiny room. And out of that tiny room, let’s say there were 18 people there, 17 people got Covid.

Covid loves a crowd. 

It can also crash your party ...

grandpa's masked smile

FYI: BBC News, Oct. 2, 2023: Covid will 'continue to surprise us', warns health official

Covid will "continue to surprise us", England's deputy chief medical officer has warned ahead of another tricky winter for the NHS.

Dr Thomas Waite says the disease does not yet behave in a seasonal way, making it less predictable than other winter illnesses.

He encourages anyone eligible for the free flu and/or Covid vaccine to get the jabs and protect their health.

Added:

Covid surge ...

behind grandma's mask

another mask

FYI: 

And CBC News, Dec. 8: "1 in 9 Canadian adults have experienced long-term COVID symptoms, StatsCan says": More than half still had symptoms as of June 2023

Two-thirds of Canadian adults who have tried to get health-care services for their long-term symptoms say they haven't received enough treatment or support, the Statistics Canada report said.

Poetic Musings: Iris Haiku by Ume Shushiki

in dreams

and in awakening --

the color of the iris

Ume Shushiki

Commentary: This haiku, a jisei (death poem), was written right before Ume Shushiki, the student of Kikaku Takarai, Basho’s favorite disciple, died. It reflects a Buddhist view of life --"life is like a dream" -- that this state of the "awake reality" is not different from that of the "dream reality."

The vivid, blue color of the iris/L3 remains, just as it is, beyond awakening, beyond dreaming (as implied from Ls 1&2). There is but one color, one reality. When evaluated in the thematic context of Shushiki's imminent death, this haiku also reveals her Buddhist view of life and death: life and death are two phases of a continuum.

A Room of My Own: The Day After, Just the Beginning

This Brave New World, XCV

written in response to the Israel–Hamas war

the spokesman's mouth

opens and closes to the clicking

of cameras ....

this numbing, numbing

sameness of war images

pondering

this binary, love or hate

your enemy ...

I stare up into the sky

streaked with shades of grey

the closeup

of a bloody-eyed solider

in my dream ...

a stray barking at its echo

as the night chill deepens

FYI: This poem was inspired by Canadian Dimension, Oct 8: Palestinians speak the language of violence Israel taught them: Regimes implanted and maintained by violence engender violence, written by Chris Hedges, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist

..Marek Edelman, was the deputy commander of the Warsaw Ghettouprising and the only leader to survive the war....Edelman, after the war, condemned Zionism as a racist ideology used to justify the theft of Palestinian land.

“To be a Jew means always being with the oppressed and never the oppressors,” Edelman said.

Added: This Brave New World, XCVI

October 7th

and the days after ... only

the sound of blood

Added:

a refugee's journey

yellow leaves zigzagging 

in twilight chill

A Room of My Own: The Other 9/11 Tanka

written for the 50th Anniversary of U.S.-Backed Coup in Chile

La Moneda

bombed and blanketed

in a veil of smoke ...

my friend mourns, Life was split in two

long before the Twin Towers fell

FYI: Democracy Now, September 11, 2023: “The Other 9/11”: Ariel Dorfman on 50th Anniversary of U.S.-Backed Coup in Chile That Ousted Allende

...“the other 9/11.” Fifty years ago today, September 11, 1973, a U.S.-backed coup led by General Augusto Pinochet ousted Chile’s President Salvador Allende, a democratic socialist who had been elected just three years earlier. Allende died in the palace on that day. Under the Pinochet military dictatorship, which lasted until 1990, more than 3,000 people were disappeared or killed, some 40,000 tortured as political prisoners.

Added: Re-Homing in the Maple Land, XII

the urge to crawl 

as Ken inside the DreamHouse 

to live forever 

with my Curvy Barbie ...

yet this real life's fourth wall

FYI: Ls 2-4 refer to Barbie: Life in the Dreamhouse (TV Series 2012–2015). 

And the fourth wall is an imaginary wall that separates the story from the real world. This term comes from the theatre, where the three surrounding walls enclose the stage while an invisible “4th wall” is left out for the sake of the viewer. The 4th wall is the screen we’re watching... excerpted from "Breaking the Fourth Wall: Definition, Meaning and Examples," StudioBinder, June 21 2020

Added: reading between the lives and writing between the lines, LXXIX

for many years

with two faces and two selves

in this promised land

I strive to cross the border

between life and dream

Added: 

collapse of mud houses ...

a girl closes her eyes at last

and the world ...disappears