Biting NOT Barking: Prayer Plant Haiku by Barbara Sabol

English Original

another shooting

leaves of my prayer plant

unfurl

Modern Haiku, 53:1, Winter/Spring  2022

Barbara Sabol

Chinese Translation (Traditional)

又一次槍擊

我的祈禱樹葉

一片片展開

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

又一次枪击

我的祈祷树叶

一片片展开

Bio Sketch

Barbara Sabol’s most recent collection, Connections: core & all, was published by Bird Dog Press in 2022. She is the associate editor of Sheila-Na-Gig online. Barbara conducts poetry workshops through Literary Cleveland. She lives in Akron, Ohio with her husband and wonder dogs. 

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

Biting NOT Barking: Bloody Hand Print Haiku by Denis M. Garrison

English Original

back home after work --

on my fresh-painted front door

a bloody hand print

Fire Blossoms, 2008

Denis M. Garrison

Chinese Translation (Traditional)

下班回家 --

在我剛粉刷過的前門上

一個血淋淋的手印

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

下班回家 --

在我刚粉刷过的前门上

一个血淋淋的手印

Bio Sketch

Denis M. Garrison was born in Iowa, USA, and his childhood was spent in Japan, youth in Europe, Africa and western Pacific. His poetry has been widely published. Garrison’s print collections include First Winter Rain,Eight Shades of Blue, Hidden River, Sailor in the Rain and Other Poems, and Fire Blossoms.

One Man's Maple Moon: Family Album Tanka by Kala Ramesh

English Original

flipping through

     the family album 

grandma’s smile

trying to shield the hurt

her eyes give away

Cattails, Spring 2024

Kala Ramesh 

Chinese Translation (Traditional) 

翻閱整本的

        家庭相簿

奶奶的微笑

試圖掩飾過去的傷痛

但是她的眼神卻洩漏了一切

Chinese Translation (Simplified) 

翻阅整本的

        家庭相簿

奶奶的微笑

试图掩饰过去的伤痛

但是她的眼神却泄漏了一切

Bio Sketch

Kala Ramesh is the Founder and Director of Triveni Haikai India, the Founder and Managing Editor of haikuKATHA Journal, an anthologist, and an external faculty member of Symbiosis International University Pune, where she taught a 60-hour haikai course from 2012 to 2021 — a first in India. She has organised eight major haiku festivals and to bring haiku into everyday spaces, Kala has initiated several successful projects in India.

A Room of My Own: Epstein Email Gembun

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 

FYI: CNN News, Nov. 12 2025: Takeaways from the new Epstein emails mentioning Trump

‘I know how dirty Donald is’: Several suggestions about what Epstein knew about Trump

In one 2018 email, Epstein remarked amid a discussion about Trump’s possible impeachment: “you see , i know how dirty Donald is. my guess is that non lawyers ny biz people have no idea. What it means to have your fixer flip.” (That last part was apparently a reference to Michael Cohen, who flipped on Trump.)

And 

A desire presupposes the possibility of action to achieve it; action presupposes a goal which is worth achieving.

-- Ayn Rand, novelist and advocate of a philosophy, “the virtue of selfishness”

FYI: The Guardian, April 10, 2017: The new age of Ayn Rand: how she won over Trump and Silicon Valley

Her novel The Fountainhead is one of the few works of fiction that Donald Trump likes and she has long been the darling of the US right. But only now do her devotees hold sway around the world...

Added: 

the kettle whistles ...

my rented attic room

fills with its sound

as I look out at something

or nothing in the snowfall

Added:

snow on snow

the nursing home hallway

stretches into silence

Added:

another rent hike

a crescendo of rain

on the skylight

Added:

The Prime Minister's mouth opens, closes — yak, yak, yak, blah, blah,  blah ...

breadlines lengthen

in the Sunday morning chill

bare branches snap

FYI: Food Banks Canada's 2025 HungerCount report shows that Canada is facing a food bank crisis with record-high usage, as food bank visits in March 2025 were nearly double those in March 2019. This report indicates that monthly visits reached 2.2 million in March 2025, a new record.

Poetic Musings: Small Girl and Shadows Haiku by Michael McClintock

a small girl ...

the shadows stroke

and stroke her

Maya, 1975

Michael McClintock

Commentary: This is one of the most disturbing haiku, by genre a haiku noir, I've ever read.

It explores a dark theme of "child sexual harassment (or even worse, abuse)" by a group of people (as implied from the shadowS repeatedly strok[ing] a small girl). 

Technically speaking, combined with visually and symbolically rich "shadows" (not explicitly men or people), the use of repetition, "stroke and stroke," not only enhances the poetic rhythm, but also adds emotional weight and psychological depth to the haiku. 

What's left unsaid/what will come next is far more poignantly potent than what's stated in the haiku.

FYI: For more about haiku noir, see "To the Lighthouse: Haiku Noir" 

Biting NOT Barking: Small Girl and Shadows Haiku by Michael McClintock

English Original

a small girl ...

the shadows stroke

and stroke her

Maya, 1975

Michael McClintock

Chinese Translation (Traditional)

一個小女孩 ...

一幫陰影撫摸

撫摸著她

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

一个小女孩 ...

一帮阴影抚摸

抚摸着她

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: Peace Crackled Tanka

burst after burst

of muzzle flashes

lighting up our night ...

between neighbors and in hearts

the peace is crackled

FYI: My tanka below could be read as its sequel:

another

gun control debate

in the spotlight

the back-and-forth flow

of black-and-white monologues

NeverEnding Story, March 29, 2023

Added: Trump Empire, Inc, LV

a ball of flames 

as helicopters zoom, zooming 

over Chicago ...

in the meme, Trump boasts

I love the smell of deportations

Added: Trump Empire, Inc, LVI: 

inspired by the F.C.C. chair, Brendan Carr's warning against Jimmy Kimmel Live: "We can do this the easy way or the hard way"

Donald Trump Live

suspended over MAGA chants ...

awake at dawn

I muse, it's easy to start

a revolution from bed

FYI: The F.C.C. chair, Brendan Carr, appeared on a MAGA podcast and warned ABC’s parent company, Disney, ‘We can do this the easy way or the hard way.’ Later, after the suspension of Kimmel’s show was announced, Carr went on Fox News, and said, ‘I’m very glad to see that America’s broadcasters are standing up for the interests of their community.’ ” -- The New Yorker Newsletter, September 17

And The Nation Magazine, September 18, 2025: Jimmy Kimmel’s Bosses Sold Us All Out

The mainstream media is complicit in the biggest attack on free speech since the McCarthy era. Kimmel’s suspension is just the latest proof.

Trump, like all would-be authoritarians, has a thin skin and no ability to laugh at himself. As a former reality-show star, he remains excessively obsessed with TV shows and ratings, seeing celebrities as rivals to be brought down.

Trump chortled at Colbert’s firing and wrote, “Next up will be an even less talented Jimmy Kimmel and then, a weak, and very insecure, Jimmy Fallon.”

The political economy of the new authoritarianism is clear: In an increasingly plutocratic America, where a handful of corporations control most of the media, an authoritarian president such as Trump can easily destroy free speech. The corporate weasels (and other elite institutions) are calculating that Trump has the immediate power to hurt them, and that they won’t suffer any penalty for surrendering to Trump if/when Democrats are back in power.

As scary as Trump’s attack on free speech is, the real danger is not the president but an opposition that refuses the courage this moment requires.

Added: Trump Empire, Inc, LVII

in dim light

staring at the TV talk show

Donald Trump holds 

a remote control with buttons:

Power, Pause, Mute, Sack, Deport

Added: Trump Empire, Inc, LVIII

the footfalls

of MAGA intruders

stir clouds of dust ...

the Wall of Free Speech in twilight

sentineled with talk show hosts

Added:

bomb shelter

rock, paper, scissors growing

loud and louder

Added:

closed doors 

along the nursing home hallway

gathering dark

Added:

her son's gone to war

these pencil marks

on the door frame

Added:

school bus ride 

a small handprint fills

with sunlight

reprinted in Triya,  Sharad, 2025

Hindi Translation

स्कूल बस का सफर 

एक नन्ही हथेली की छाप 

धूप से भरी 

नेवर एन्डिंग स्टोरी, सितंबर 15, 2025 

Butterfly Dream: Handprint Bruise Haiku by Lorelyn De la Cruz Arevalo

English Original

a blood moon ...

the handprint bruise

on her chest

Lorelyn De la Cruz Arevalo

Chinese Translation (Traditional)

血月...

她胸口

的掌印

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

血月...

她胸口

的掌印

Bio Sketch

Lorelyn De la Cruz Arevalo is a self-published Filipino author of Twin deLights: Haikuna Matata and Hainaku! It's Pundemic! I am Balot. Acovida dito. Her poetry has been published in anthologies and journals like The Haiku Foundation, Presence, Mainichi, ESUJ-H, and Lothlorien Poetry Journal.

Poetic Musings: Cloud of Ravens Haiku by Chen-ou Liu

distant gunshots

a cloud of ravens

darkens the day

Body of Evidence: A Collection of Killer Ku, 2017

Chen-ou Liu

Commentary by Shay Buchanan: The imagery in this haiku is incredibly cinematic. It is a common trope in film to cut away from a death, especially via a gun with a loud shot, to a flock of birds flying away from the scene. This being ravens in this case is even more fitting. They often represent death, decay, and all things macabre. A flock of crows, of which ravens are a part of, is even called a murder, with ravens also more specifically having the collective nouns of “treachery”, “unkindness”, and “conspiracy”. So, even without saying “murder,” the author has implanted it into the minds of those who know that fact. And, finally there is the imagery of them darkening the day. A large flock of ravens may act like a black cloud, blocking out the sun as they fly away. That image paired with the gunshots of the presumed death in question give a sense of hopelessness and tragedy. It is a scene we as the reader are removed from, but one that hits us hard nonetheless.

Poetic Musings: Dry Creekbed Haiku by Chuck Brickley

dry creekbed

the gleam of a bullet shell

the only sound

Earthshine, 2017

Chuck Brickley

Commentary: L1 sets the scene and mood while the use of synesthesia in Ls 2&3 reveals a history of violence, where synecdoche is employed to show its "loud and bright" voice against Mother Earth as symbolized by L1.

What's left unsaid, such as the cause(s) of this "dry" creekbed, why is there a bullet left at the bottom of a highly unlikely place, a creek..., is far more potent than what's stated in this "nature/creek" haiku.

This haiku reminds me of the following remark:

In a war situation or where violence and injustice are prevalent, "poetry is called upon to be something more than a thing of beauty."

-- Seamus Heaney, Ireland's most renowned poet since Yeats, playwright and translator who received the 1995 Nobel Prize in Literature,

And the following haiku could be read as its prequel:

snowmelt

the border mountain drips

bullet by bullet

Frogpond, 47:2, Spring/Summer 2024

Srinivasa Rao Sambangi

Biting NOT Barking: Dry Creekbed Haiku by Chuck Brickley

English Original

dry creekbed

the gleam of a bullet shell

the only sound

Earthshine, 2017

Chuck Brickley

Chinese Translation (Traditional)

乾涸的河床

一顆子彈殼的閃光

是唯一的聲音

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

干涸的河床

一颗子弹壳的闪光

是唯一的声音

Bio Sketch

A native San Franciscan, Chuck Brickley lived in rural British Columbia for 35 years. His book of haiku, earthshine, won the THF Touchstone Award for Distinguished Books 2017; the HSA Merit Book Award 2017, Honorable Mention; and the inaugural Marianne Bluger Book Award 2020, Honourable Mention. His haibun,“Is Where The Car Is," was nominated for a Pushcart Prize 2018, and another haibun, "A Banishing," received a Sonders Best Small Fiction Award nomination, 2019

Butterfly Dream: Smile and Bruises Haiku by Milan Rajkumar

English Original

her smile 

behind the face mask  

faint bruises

Failed Haiku, 6:62, February, 2021

Milan Rajkumar

Chinese Translation (Traditional)

她的微笑

在面具後面

輕微瘀傷

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

她的微笑

在面具后面

轻微瘀伤

Bio Sketch

Milan Rajkumar is a  secondary school teacher who teaches economics while writing haiku. He lives in a corner of the north eastern India. Genetically a mongoloid by look and food, he speaks a Tibeto-Burman language known as 'Manipuri' ‘Meiteilon’.  Writing is his passion since childhood. Nowadays he writes haiku every day and night.

Poetic Musings: Sniper Haiku by LeRoy Gorman

in the sniper’s peripheral view sky

Body of Evidence, 2017

Leroy Gorman

Commentary: Grammatically speaking, this one-line haiku consists of only one phrase with no juxtaposition of its two parts; however, its shape is similar to that of a sniper's/professional killer's view: a straight line as s/he is focused on something. 

In addition, as a sniper typically hides on tope of a building or behind some other tall structure, the sky would be the only thing in the peripheral view.

Therefore, a tense moment is keenly captured in this sniper haiku, and what's left unsaid, such as who is the human target and why..., and what will come next are left to the reader's imagination and reflection.

And it might be interesting to do a thematic comparison reading of my haiku below:

the sun glints on his revolver a falling leaf

Modern Haiku, 44:3, Autumn 2013

Biting NOT Barking: Sniper Haiku by LeRoy Gorman

English Original

in the sniper’s peripheral view sky

Body of Evidence, 2017

LeRoy Gorman

Chinese Translation (Traditional)

在狙擊手的周邊視野一片天空

    

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

在狙击手的周边视野一片天空

Bio Sketch

LeRoy Gorman lives in Napanee, Ontario. His poetry, much of it minimalist and visual, has appeared in publications and exhibitions worldwide. He is the author of two dozen poetry books and chapbooks. He is also the winner of the 2017 Dwarf Stars Award.

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.

Biting NOT Barking: Cyberbullying Haiku by Debbie Strange

English Original

cyberbullying

the buzz of a high voltage arc

Mouth Full of Stones, 2020

Debbie Strange

Chinese Translation (Traditional)

網路霸凌

高壓電弧的嗡嗡聲

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

网路霸凌

高压电弧的嗡嗡声

Bio Sketch

Debbie Strange is an award-winning Canadian short form poet, haiga artist, and photographer. Keibooks released her second full-length poetry collection, Three-Part Harmony: Tanka Verses in 2018, and Folded Word published her haiku chapbook, A Year Unfolding in 2017. An archive of publications may be accessed at http://debbiemstrange.blogspotcom/

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

A Room of My Own: Re-Homing Tanka

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

Added: Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, XXIII: "bread"

God willing

we'll have bread like the bread

of old days ...

he states with an eye on kids

eating pita of chicken feed

FYI: Haaretz, Feb. 25: Israel Blocks Work Visas From International Aid NGO Workers in West Bank and Gaza

The refusal has disrupted the operations of numerous agencies involved in providing medical assistance, food, and water to Gaza residents, who are primarily affected by acute hunger and dehydration. Some aid workers told Haaretz they fear political motivations are behind the decision.

The Guardian, Feb. 27: Israel is deliberately starving Palestinians, UN rights expert says

Exclusive: UN special rapporteur on the right to food Michael Fakhri says denial of food is war crime and constitutes ‘a situation of genocide’

And The Associated Press, Feb. 29: Palestinian deaths in Gaza pass 30,000 as witnesses say Israeli forces fire on crowd waiting for aid

RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli troops fired on a crowd of Palestinians waiting for aid in Gaza City on Thursday, witnesses said. More than 100 people were killed, bringing the death toll since the start of the Israel-Hamas war to more than 30,000, according to health officials.

Hospital officials initially reported an Israeli strike on the crowd, but witnesses later said Israeli troops opened fire as people pulled flour and canned goods off of trucks.

The Israeli military declined to provide an on-the-record statement about the role of troops in the incident.

Added: Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, XXIV: "smell"

written in response to Seamus Heaney's view of poetry in times of crises and after Praniti Gulyani 

In a war situation or where violence and injustice are prevalent, "poetry is called upon to be something more than a thing of beauty." 

the ever-changing

smell of the winter wind

Rafah's tent camp

FYI: Haaretz, Feb. 29: Death Is Everywhere': In Gaza, You May Skirt Israel's Bombs, but That Doesn't Mean You're Alive

...Death and destruction were everywhere, with the horrifying smell of flowing sewage and rotting bodies with flies and other insects above them...We walked quietly; most of the people walking marched in silence without looking right or left... 

And 

backyard orchard ...

the ever-changing scent

of the breeze

 

NeverEnding Story, March 1, 2024

Praniti Gulyani 

Added: This Brave New World, CXLIV

the mall's TV

blasting ad after ad

as shoppers flood in ...

at ninety seconds to midnight

the Doomsday Clock ticks, ticking...

FYI: The Doomsday Clock is a design that warns the public about how close we are to destroying our world with dangerous technologies of our own making.

And Haaretz, Feb. 28: Israeli Calls to 'Nuke Gaza' Are Undermining the Nuclear Ambiguity Doctrine

Israeli Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu, who said that dropping a nuclear bomb on Gaza was "an option," and lawmaker Tally Gotliv, who urged the government to consider using such weapons against Hamas. 

Given the increasing risks of nuclear weapons proliferation – and, worse, use – continuing such self-censorship about Israel's nuclear arsenal is not just bizarre; it's harmful," the authors write.

Added: Game Show 2024, XXXVII

USA!USA!

a mob of ravens unfolds

into echoes 

Added:

a white raven

on the power line ...

winter deepens

A Room of My Own: Shelter in Place Haiku

This Brave New World, XCVIII

written in response to the deadliest one of 565 mass shootings so far this year in the USA

shelter in place ...

a beer bottle rolling down

the blood-splashed road

FYI: NBC News, Oct. 26: At least 18 killed in shootings in Lewiston, Maine; Manhunt underway for suspect.

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

thoughts and prayers ...

another round of pop, pop, pop

loud and louder 

NeverEnding Story, May 25, 2022

Added: This Brave New World, XCIX

I wish I could 

take that pain off your shoulders,

off your hearts ...

round after round of gun debate 

louder ... and bloodier 

Added:

is there a map? 

in the pre-dawn silence

my first step

on this grief journey

of a thousand miles