Haiku
moonlit night
the smell of steamed rice cakes
fills an attic room
a doll fitting
inside a doll inside a doll ...
resting upon
the muzzle of a Great Dane
a butterfly opens its wings
alone
facing the cream-white moon
out of place
dappled dusk
the chirping of crickets
breaks bell-notes
setting upon
the glittering waters—
leaf or dragonfly
over the rooftop
rainbow kites
lined against the sky
Tanka
thoughts
arrive in disarray
on gusts of autumn wind—
I discipline them
in tanka form
a handful
of sand
falls rustling
through my fingers—
time wastes me
thin mist
looms over me
slowly
and gets denser daily—
longing for your scent
we chit chat
along the journey
to Mount Fuji—
drifting clouds
passing in friendship
tiptoeing
through the cold
suddenly
in the hall of dreams
her mouth on mine
I keep
stalking the she
frozen in summer days—
I open my eyes
upon darkness again
About Chen-ou
Liu
Chen-ou Liu
is a freelance writer. He lives in Ajax, a suburb of Toronto,
where he has been struggling with a life in transition and
translation. His poems have appeared or are forthcoming in:
Ribbons, Modern English Tanka, Gusts, American Tanka,
Magnapoets, Simply Haiku, Prune Juice: Journal of Senryu &
Kyoka, Concise Delight Magazine of Short Poetry, Four &
Twenty, Haiku News, The Heron’s Nest, and Haibun
Today.
