Haiku

 

 

Chen-ou Liu, CA   cocktail chitchat under the starlit sky a distant howl     moonlit pond a frog stares at a frog staring back     red brick wall spring clouds fleeting in the attic window     puddled road home one by one I step on autumn moons     New Year's Eve shredding my rejected poems into confetti     peeing after sex... I recall our summer night at Bridalveil Falls       Haiku Sequences   Like Father, Like Son?   Father’s words linger can you put food on the table? reading Poems to Eat at the departure gate Father doesn’t wave back summer heat first homecoming Father sighs your hair turns gray reunion dinner my niece giggles at my Mandarin reciting my poem to Father it's raining, he murmurs Note: Poems to Eat is written by Takuboku Ishikawa, one of Japan's most loved poets     Here and There   harvest moon a ball of fire rolls over the shanties starry night a wooden boat packed with migrants human bodies are found on the beach foggy sky people stand in long lines at a food bank winter sun     Out of Place   autumn sunrise over the Taj Mahal teardrops on her cheek those three words slip out of my mouth Tower of Pisa Venice something I've missed in her watery eyes a hazy moon over the Rashomon Gate does she love me? Tibetan Plateau faded prayer flags flutter in the autumn wind Great Wall resting in autumn moonlight the shadow and I Lake Ontario cupped in my hands her moon face