A Room of My Own: Freedom and Mass Graves Tanka

Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, LV: "mass graves"

hosting Passover

the festival of freedom ...

a neighbor's TV

blasts news of the mass graves

found at Gaza's hospital

FYI: The First night of Passover 2024 is on April 22nd, which is the most important day during the 8-day Passover celebration. 

NBC News, April 22: Dozens of bodies exhumed from mass graves at the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis. The hospital was raided by Israeli forces before their recent withdrawal from the area.

And Haaretz, April 21: The Israel-Gaza War Will Make This Passover Seder Different From All the Others

the the Four Children will be an Israeli, a Palestinian, a Peacemaker, and One who has no words left within them:

The Israeli, what does he say? In this generation, we must all see ourselves as hostages in Gaza, doing all we can to bring them home. Achshav!

The Palestinian, what does she say? The destruction, dispossession, starvation and death must end. Ceasefire Now. Halas!

The Peacemakers, what do they say?

We both love this land and neither is leaving. We're in this together. Between the river and the sea two peoples must be free.

The final child has no words; they sit silently in tears with two bowls of marror before them, tasting the bitterness of all, dreaming the dreams of the holy and the broken.

And maybe they will all say together at the end:

"This year we are slaves

This year we are hostages

This year we are hungry

Next year in Jerusalem

Next year in Freedom

Next year in Peace"

-- Ittay Flescher is a peace educator, podcaster and the Jerusalem correspondent for The Jewish Independent. 

Added: Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, LVI: "seder meal"

the seder meal 

these three empty chairs silent

for six and half months

FYI: Haaretz, April 22: Israel's 10 Self-inflicted Plagues Since October 7

The Plague of Abandoning the Hostages

Yes, Hamas is to blame for kidnapping and holding them, but Israel is to blame for abandoning its people. Hamas is going nowhere and, meanwhile, the hostages are dying in captivity.

And Reform Judaism, What to Expect at a Passover Seder

The seder, a festive holiday meal, actually means "order." It is called this because the meal is done in a certain order which takes us [the Israelites] from slavery to freedom. The Haggadah - which means "the telling" – is the book used at the Passover seder. The Haggadah explains the foods on the seder plate, recounts the highlights of the Exodus, and includes songs, prayers, questions, and vignettes.

Added: Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, LVII: "Passover"

the headlines bleed

into this sunlit suburb

on Passover 

the chants of Free Hostages mix

with those of Free Palestine

FYI: Passover, the Jewish Festival of Freedom, begins on April 22, 2024, marking the Israelites' "Exodus from Egypt," the first step toward redemption. The theme of freedom dominates this 7 or 8-day festival.

Added: Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, LVIII: "separation wall"

a mural

on the separation wall

of the West Bank:

in midair a girl grasps

a bunch of rainbow balloons

Poetic Musings: Spring Day Mural Haiku by Chen-ou Liu

For Earth Day Reflections

spring day mural:

green paint sprayed across the wall

behind leafless trees

NeverEnding Story, March 21, 2024

Chen-ou Liu

Commentary: The two parts of this "spring day mural/L1" haiku offers at least two contrasts, visual and symbolic (artistic/man-made: "replication of the absent leaves" of trees in L 2 vs natural/diseased or dying/dead in L3; And "spring day" in L1 vs "leafless trees" in L3) and one environmentally significant and emotionally poignant question: why these trees, a synecdoche used to refer to Nature, leafless during springtime, i.e. lifeless.

This ekphrastic haiku is stimulated by street artist Banksy's latest work of art, a mural featuring green paint behind a tree and a person holding a hose, and through describing and reflecting on this piece of art, the haiku amplifies and expands the meaning/significance of Banksy's work.

FYI: USA Today, March 18, 2024: New artwork from street artist Banksy spotted in London features environmental message 

And for more examples about ekphrastic poems, see To the Lighthouse: Ekphrastic Senryu and To the Lighthouse: Ekphrastic Tanka

One Man's Maple Moon: Without Love Tanka by M. Kei

English Original

a migraine,

a pill,

a sweltering afternoon,

clouds without rain,

days without love 

January, A Tanka Diary, 2013

M. Kei

Chinese Translation (Traditional)

偏頭痛，

一粒藥，

一個悶熱的午後，

有雲無雨，

沒有愛的日子

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

偏头痛，

一粒药，

一个闷热的午后，

有云无雨，

没有爱的日子

Bio Sketch

M. Kei is a tall ship sailor and award-winning poet who lives on Maryland’s Eastern shore. He is the editor of Atlas Poetica: A Journal of World Tanka. His most recent collection of poetry is January, A Tanka Diary. He is also the author of the award-winning gay Age of Sail adventure novels, Pirates of the Narrow Seas. He can be followed on Twitter @kujakupoet, or visit AtlasPoetica.org.

Butterfly Dream: Fighting Trout Haiku by Marian Olson

English Original

90 this year

the fisherman reels in

a fighting trout

Mann Library’s Daily Haiku, May 2 2014

Marian Olson

Chinese Translation (Traditional)

今年九十歲

一位漁夫收線拉入

一條搏鬥的鱒魚

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

今年九十岁

一位渔夫收线拉入

一条搏斗的鳟鱼

Bio Sketch

Marian Olson, non-fiction writer and widely published international poet, was the author of nine books of poetry, including the award winning haiku in Songs of the Chicken Yard, Desert Hours, Consider This, and Moondance. Published in 2017, The Other and Kaleidoscope were her first books of tanka.

Butterfly Dream: Ant Hill Haiku by Laryalee Fraser

English Original

ant hill ...

all these words searching

for a voice

Simply Haiku, 6:3, Autumn 2008

Laryalee Fraser 

Chinese Translation (Traditional)

螞蟻山丘 ...

所有這些字詞找尋

一個表達方式

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

蚂蚁山丘 ...

所有这些字词找寻

一个表达方式

Bio Sketch

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

One Man's Maple Moon: Welcoming Warmth Tanka by Thelma Mariano

English Original

across the darkness

lights on the far shore beam

a welcoming warmth

like the friends and lovers

we will meet by reaching out

Thelma Mariano

 

Chinese Translation (Traditional)

穿越黑暗

遠岸的燈光發出

熱情的歡迎

像朋友和情人一樣

透過聯絡我們將會見面

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

穿越黑暗

远岸的灯光发出

热情的欢迎

像朋友和情人一样

透过联络我们将会见面

Bio Sketch

Thelma Mariano is the author of Night Sky: a Selection of Tanka Poetry. She lives in Montreal and has published her tanka in literary journals as well as in various anthologies including Fire Pearls and Take Five: Best Contemporary Tanka.

NeverEnding Story: Call for Haiku Submissions

My Dear Poet Friends:

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, an Irish poet, playwright and translator who received the 1995 Nobel Prize in Literature. 

Poetry is insurrection, resurrection, and insubordination -- against amnesia of every sort, against every form of oppression, dispossession and indifference. And against the drowning noise of other words.  

-- Anne Michaels, "Infinite Gradation"

And

Strive to change the world in such a way that there’s no further need to be a dissident. Read between the lives, and write between the lines. "Be committed to something outside yourself."

Lawrence Ferlinghetti, "Poetry as Insurgent Art"

Today is International Haiku Poetry Day, I would like to share with you the following "short haibun," something more than a thing of beauty:"

Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, LII: "blood-covered children"

It's peaceful now

to Joe Biden and Benjamin Netanyahu

M-16 rifles are blooming, 2000-pound bombs are singing, and  Merkava tanks are sweeping the streets.

Gaza cleaner than ever clean of blood-covered children

Look forward to reading your haiku (that are Not just singing about birds and flowers) . See submission guidelines here.

Happy International Haiku Poetry Day!!

Chen-ou

FYI: The phrase, "singing about flowers and birds,” refers to the famous declaration made by Takahama Kyoshi (1874 --1959), a student of Masaoka Shiki and the editor of the most influential haiku magazine, Hototogisu, during WWII, that "haiku was essentially the art of "singing about flowers and birds ..." and for more about Kyoshi’s involvement in wartime haiku persecution, see Itô Yûk's groundbreaking monograph, "The Evolution of Modern Japanese Haiku and the Haiku Persecution Incident, reprinted in Simply Haiku, 5:4, Winter 2007)

Added: Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, LIII: "mountains of debris"

mountains of debris

a woman holds her baby

dripping blood

Added: Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, LIV: "bombing"

airdrops of aid ...

a before and an after 

the moment of bombing

FYI: Voice of America/VOA, April 18: UN chief calls Gaza a 'humanitarian hellscape'

"One miscalculation, one miscommunication, one mistake, could lead to the unthinkable—a full-scale regional conflict that would be devastating for all involved."

"In Gaza, six and a half months of Israeli military operations have created a humanitarian hellscape," Guterres told the UN Security Council.

A Room of My Own: Kibbutz Friend Haiku

Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, XLIX: "kibbutz"

house to house

my kibbutz friend's thoughts stained

with drops of blood

FYI: Haaretz, Feb. 16: Israeli Disaster Tourism Is in High Demand, but Residents of the Gaza Border Communities Are Saying, "Don't Come"

Don't come – out of courtesy and respect. This is a region whose residents are refugees in their own country, whose communities are abandoned and torched. Having a picnic here is like having a party in the home of a neighbor who's in intensive care.

And Haaretz, Feb. 17: Tourism to Atrocity Sites Exposes the Lie Israelis Tell Themselves

There's a link between day trips to Samaria and visits to the war zones in the south: a denial of the reality that Israel actually faces

Added: Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, L: "here and there "

The Distance between Here and There

yellow ribbons

flap in dim streetlight

the chants

of bring them home now

piercing the night and hearts

You're now 

the martyr's daughter

again and again

as if it were a blessing ...

in the dark the girl's muffled cries

FYI: In the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, the term shahid (Arabic: شهيد, lit. 'martyr') is used by Palestinians to refer to any Palestinian fighter, protester, or activist ... killed by the IDF, Israeli policemen or settlers. 

Added: Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, LI: "neither here nor there "

orange-red fireballs 

streak across Gaza's night sky

on her TV screen

a Ukrainian Jew's mind 

neither here nor there, and yet ...

FYI: This tanka could be read as a sequel to further complicate the concluding issue raised in Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, XLVI: "human pain"

the war will end

the war won't end, the war will end ...

one petal left

as a fighter jet splits the sky

silencing everything below

blocked by police cars

Israel supporters and foes 

shouting, cursing...

I wonder if human pain

has distinct identity

NeverEnding Story, April 10, 2024

And In 2023, Ukraine is home to 45,000 Jews, making it the fourth-largest Jewish community in Europe and the 11th-largest in the world.

To the Lighthouse: A Rhetorical Device, Double Entendre

A double entendre is a  rhetorical device that involves two different meanings or interpretations of a word, phrase, sentence or statement, wherein one meaning is readily apparent and the other is more risqué in nature.

For example, 

If I said you have a beautiful body, would you hold it against me? 

Comment: One interpretation of this question is that "the speaker’s wondering if they will be judged for commenting on the recipient’s physical appearance. But in the secondary meaning, the speaker is asking for the recipient to embrace them intimately" (for more example, see Examples of Double Entendre)

Another example:

Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, XLIX: "lifestyle"

the hottest cover 

of a lifestyle magazine:

with a flirty smile

the Israeli model holds

a M-16 rifle

Comment: As the tanka effectively builds line by life to "the Israeli model" in L4, the word, "hottest" in L1 apparently means "sexiest," then unexpected yet thematically significant and visually and emotionally disturbing L5 not only implies a new meaning, "most popular or discussed,"  not necessarily "controversial"  when evaluated in the geo-sociopolitical context of Israel as one of the most militarized countries in the world (for more, see Haaretz, April 14: Why Israeli Women Love Posing With Their Guns), but also upends the (non-Israel) reader's understanding/perception of a "lifestyle" magazine in L2.

This tanka works well as a sequel to the following entry, XXXVIII: "Israeli strikes" 

dating profile photo:

a smiling twentysomething

with a M4

in front of mushroom clouds

from Israeli strikes in Gaza

NeverEnding Story, March 28 2024

For more, see Haaretz, March 24: "We're Not Only Here to Fuck Hamas": How Israeli Militarism Took Over Online Dating

Butterfly Dream: Green Leaves Haiku by Patricia Donegan

English Original

sunlight

on green leaves

for breakfast

Haiku Studio, 1991

Patricia Donegan 

Chinese Translation (Traditional)

一片陽光

在綠葉上閃閃發光

可以作為早餐

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

一片阳光

在绿叶上闪闪发光

可以作为早餐

Bio Sketch

Patricia Donegan (1945 -- 2023) led a life of creative exploration, meditation, writing, translating and teaching haiku, and teaching haiku. Three of her most famous books of haiku Love Haiku: Japanese Poems of Yearning, Passion & Remembrance (co-translated with Yoshie Ishibashi), Haiku Mind: 108 Poems to Cultivate Awareness and Open Your Heart, and Chiyo-ni Woman Haiku Master (co-translated with Yoshie Ishibashi). In 2017 she was named the honorary curator of the American Haiku Archives.

Butterfly Dream: Spring Dawn Haiku by Martha Magenta

English Original

spring dawn

drizzle opens

a blue iris

Presence, 64 Summer 2019

Martha Magenta 

Chinese Translation (Traditional)

春天的黎明

毛毛雨展放

一朵藍色鳶尾花

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

春天的黎明

毛毛雨展放

一朵蓝色鸢尾花

Bio Sketch

Martha Magenta lived in England, UK. Her haiku and tanka has appeared in a number of journals, and anthologies. She was awarded Honourable Mentions for her haiku in The Fifth Annual Peggy Willis Lyles Haiku  Awards, 2017, and in the 71st Basho Memorial English Haiku Contest, 2017, and for her tanka in UHTS  “Fleeting Words” Tanka Contest 2017.

Butterfly Dream: Freight Train Haiku by Mark Miller

English Original

freight train running through the valley the Milky Way

Frogpond, Spring 2018

Mark Miller

Chinese Translation (Traditional)

貨運列車穿過銀河山谷

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

货运列车穿过银河山谷

Bio Sketch

Mark Miller is an award-winning poet who has published over 300 haiku in international journals and anthologies, including Presence, Shamrock, Acorn, Frogpond, Akitsu Quarterly,The Heron’s Nest, Under the Basho and Windfall: Australian Haiku. He lives on the south coast of New South Wales, Australia.

One Man's Maple Moon: Theatre Curtain Tanka by Neal Whitman

English Original

in winter 

nightfall is much like

the dropping

of a theatre curtain ...

the show is over, go home

Eucalypt, 33, 2023

Neal Whitman

Chinese Translation (Traditional)

冬天

的夜幕降臨很像

劇場布幕

的下落 ...

演出結束, 回家吧

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

冬天

的夜幕降临很像

剧场布幕

的下落 ...

演出结束, 回家吧

Bio Sketch

Neal Whitman is a member of Tanka Society of America and is Vice President of United Haiku and Tanka Society. He lives in Pacific Grove, California, with his wife, Elaine, where walking along Monterey Bay helps them cope with the  pandemic. They wear masks out of respect for others.

A Room of My Own: Two Worlds Collide

Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, XLVI: "human pain"

the war will end

the war won't end, the war will end ...

one petal left

as a fighter jet splits the sky

silencing everything below

blocked by police cars

Israel supporters and foes 

shouting, cursing...

I wonder if human pain

has distinct identity

Added: written on the first day of Eid,  Eid, also known as Eid-al-Fitr, marking the end of Ramadan

row after row

shoulder to shoulder Gazans

pray in the tent city

Added: This Brave New World, CXIII

written  in response to Alex Garland's "near-future America" movie, Civil War

chipped Abrams tanks

on a Walmart parking lot

littered with debris

Here Tomorrow, Gone Today

the sound of  Civil War 

FYI: From the official trailer of Civil War:

A white-haired journalist says to young one:

They shoot journalists on sight in the capital. Every instinct in me says this is death.

The Reporter: There's some kind of misunderstadning here.

The armed fighter: What?

The Reporter: We're Americans, OK.

The Armed Fighter: OK, what kind of American are you? [a long silence between them]. You don't know?

And CBC, April 12: Jarring, visceral and all too plausible, Alex Garland's Civil War is a must-see

Added:

why? what if ...

I continue to mumble

in slanted light

the roshi taps his temple

saying, this is your prison

Added:

around corners

the thud-thud-thud ...

in dim street light

a disheveled woman runs fast,

faster into her worst fear

Added: Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, XLVII: "an eye for an eye"

fireballs rolling 

across Tel Aviv's night sky ...

my Sufi friend

laments, an eye for an eye

will make the whole world blind

Added: Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, XLVIII: "shadow war"

inspired by Iran's attack on Israel

the pitbull

circled by Siamese cats

in a back alley

this years-long shadow war

between two old neighbors

FYI: The Siamese cat is known to be the most aggressive of all cat breeds.

Added: Game Show, 2024, XLII

written in response to CNN, April 15: Jury selection begins in Trump's historic hush money trial

men's room brawl

this shit-stained moment

for a hush money joke

Butterfly Dream: Elderberry Wine Haiku by Garry Eaton

English Original

touring the farms

the sun sets in a glass

of elderberry wine

Third Place, The Shiki Monthly Kukai, May 2009

Garry Eaton

Chinese Translation (Traditional) 

參觀農場

太陽浮現在接骨木漿水果酒

的酒杯

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

参观农场

太阳浮现在接骨木浆水果酒

的酒杯

Bio Sketch

Garry Eaton was a Canadian poet from British Columbia. He started writing haiku in 2006 and was published occasionally in the major haiku magazines. He volunteered as the digital librarian for The Haiku Foundation Digital Library.