Monday, December 30, 2013

New year's resolution


dejà vu
he recycles last year's
resolutions

Monday, December 16, 2013

Link to my book, HAIKU AND TANKA HARVEST

TO MY DEVOTED READERS,
I wish you all a very merry Christmas and a happy New Year! Thank you very much for your patronage and readership, and if I ever decide to stop this blog for any reason in the near future, you will be duly notified first.

Victor P. Gendrano

To own a copy or for gift-giving this holiday season, here is a link to my third book, HAIKU AND TANKA HARVEST, for your information:
https://www.createspace.com/3737478

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Absence

I chase
the remnants
of my broken dream
chilling the night
of your absence

From my book,
Haiku and Tanka Harvest

Tuesday, December 3, 2013

Her photo


the autumn wind
scatters the dried leaves
in the family photo
her face is gradually
and slowly fading

from my book
Haiku and Tanka Harvest

Monday, November 25, 2013

FILIPINO SPIRIT



TO THE PHILIPPINE TYPHOON VICTIMS




FILIPINO SPIRIT

like the bamboo
of my ancestral land
the Filipino spirit
may be bowed
but still stands

no están solo
you're not alone
di ka nagiisa

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

TYPHOON HAIYIN



super typhoon caused
over 10,000 deaths
in the Philippines

the smell of death
is everywhere
the homeless and hungry
need worldwide help
both material and prayers

Monday, November 11, 2013

Veteran's day

gathering storm
in the far horizon
she salutes her dad
and tearfully implores
come back home soon

from my book, Haiku and Tanka Harvest

Friday, November 8, 2013

Old age


grandpa gazes
at the lone bird
flying to sunset

Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Gambler


 I left four pennies
on the gambler's gravestone
remembering how
my friend's luck
ran out so soon

from my book, Haiku and Tanka Harvest

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Growing children


scattered leaves
on the empty bench
where we used to watch
the frolicking
of our growing children

Wednesday, October 9, 2013

18rh birthday

eighteenth birthday
she dances with a stranger
my daughter's daughter
if I feel such a pain
how about her father


from my book, Rustle of bamboo leaves

Friday, September 27, 2013

Coffee mug


the coffee mug
with our pictures on it
that you gave me
before your sudden death
still unopened in its box

Friday, September 20, 2013

Full moon



full moon and empty arms
so hard to fill the void
she left behind

(another full moon variation)

Saturday, September 14, 2013

Cyberbullying


one more girl
commits suicide
from cyber bullying

(from a recent news)

Friday, September 13, 2013

Friday the 13th

Friday the 13th
I shoo a black cat
from my driveway

Wednesday, September 11, 2013

New York Terrorism



12 YEARS AFTER, REMEMBERING 9/11

New York Terrorism

simple math
six hijackers
to six thousand dead

innocence crumbles
among New York rubble
September rain

patriotic fervor
the geraniums
remain in bloom

blood-stained sun
sinks in the rubble
twilight of hopes

the Vietnam vet buys
red, white and blue tulips
memorial garden

In my book, Rustle of bamboo leaves
but first published in
World Haiku Review
Vol. 1, Issue 3, November 2001


Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Runaway


not even a drizzle
in the barren plain
their runaway son


Friday, September 6, 2013

Heat wave


heat wave
she removes her new bra
to freedom

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Full moon


full moon
my empty arms yearn
for her return


Published in World Haiku Review, August 2013

Wednesday, August 21, 2013

MOVING OUT, revised



MOVING DAY, a haibun

Publsihed in World Haiku Review, August 2913


watching her watch
the remnants of my past life
my daughter whispers 
it's alright Dad to be sad
on your moving out


On my daughter's insistent demand that it's time for me to enjoy my retirement, I moved to a senior community place euphemistically called Leisure World. On the early morning of that first day, I thought I smelt the aroma of a freshly brewed coffee, so half-awake, I hurriedly walked to the kitchen dreamingly half-expecting a homey breakfast with my late wife.

Unfortunately, I accidentally bumped my head on the bedroom's slightly open door and felt blood oozing from my forehead to my eyes. I sidestepped to the bathroom, snatched a bunch of toilet paper and pressed them tightly over the wound. With my right hand on my forehead, I used my left hand to dial for help.

A paramedic examined the wound and, obviously to lessen the gravity of the situation and put me at ease, he proclaimed with impish grin and studied flair that it was only a cut and no stitches are needed. He then cleaned, dressed and bandaged my head wound, while softly humming a tune.

Blurting repeated thanks while escorting him to the door, I glimpsed a shaft of early morning light gradually piercing and bathing my sleepy neighborhood.

no time nor place
could weaken the memory
of my first love

Tuesday, August 13, 2013

Haiku North America Convention

Staring tomorrow, August 14 to 18, the 2013 Haiku North America convention will be held at the Queen Mary in Long Beach, California. More than 100 haiku enthusiasts will be coming from as far as Japan, New Zealand, Australia, India, Canada and the United States from north to south, and east to the western shore of California. At the book fair event, one of the many activities lined up, I will be displaying my 3 books, Rustle of bamboo leaves, Haiku and Tanka Harvest, and ABC to enlightenment. Here is a link to the site of the convention:

http:// www.haikunorthamerica.com/index.html

As member of the Southern California Haiku Study Group, I warmly greet and welcome all the participants and guests.

welcome all
to the borderless
haiku universe

Thursday, August 8, 2013

Haiku Introduction



HAIKU INTRODUCTION, an excerpt from my book, Haiku and Tanka Harvest, 
by Susumu Takiguchi, Chairman, World Haiku Club and Editor, World Haiku Review


In addition to social ills and human violence there is another theme which inspires Victor’s poetic sensibility – death. The most painful and saddest of all is the death of his own beloved wife which occurred in 2003. Sad as it is, Victor has been brave and strong enough to sublimate his sorrow and pain into creating deep and serious poems (haiku, tanka etc.) about death itself. They are far from being sentimental or morbid. Most others run away from this taboo of all taboos. 

                 widower's garden                
                 her roses bloom                
                 side by side with weeds      

                 I shadow
                 my shadow
                 to her grave

The life Victor has built in his adopted country for his family he raised with his late wife there and for himself is full, free and peaceful. Beyond his share of vicissitudes Victor seems to have earned tranquillity and serenity. It is a remarkable achievement...
              
                 unhurried walk
                 the smell of clean earth
                 after the rain

Victor is probably more of a settler than a traveller. His job as a librarian must have given him intellectual detachment and the power of keen observation. His humility and honesty have opened a shortest route to truths. They also seem to have made him able to accept “the unknowable” and “the undoable” calmly. All this, without being armed with Zen, Oriental mysticism, or cumbersome Western haiku theory and rules.

                 year end
                 thinking of what ifs
                 and what might have beens

Luckily for him, Victor is a natural for haiku. However, that is only half the story. The other half tells us that he makes tremendous efforts to be better, listens attentively, observes like a scientist and opens his heart to what is there for everybody to see. 

In answer to my question he says, “Haiku enable me to see the world as it is, warts and all, and embrace any and all happenings both in nature itself and human nature, with me remaining non-judgmental yet involved. It requires discipline yet makes me aware of macro and micro happenings around me.” And whatever happens around him, Victor’s heart remains with his late wife.

                 dining alone 
                 the piped-in music plays
                 our love song


Tuesday, August 6, 2013

Coffee mug


the coffee mug
with our pictures on it
I ordered a while back
remains unused
in the cupboard

from my book, Haiku and Tanka Harvest

Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Widower's garden


widower's garden
her roses bloom
side by side with weeds

from my book, Haiku and Senryu Harvest

Saturday, July 27, 2013

Sudden rain



sudden rain
her umbrella widens
to take her lover in

From my book,
Haiku and Tanka Harvest

Thursday, July 25, 2013

Moonlight walk



moonlight walk
from an open window
strains of sonata

Monday, July 22, 2013

war zone



  • war zone
  • the white lily inches up
  • too soon
from my book, Haiku and Tanka Harvest
https://www.createspace.com/3737478

Friday, July 19, 2013

Widower


widower's first date
her aggressiveness
unsettles his driving
oh how he wishes
he's ten years younger

from my book,
Haiku and Tanka Harvest © 2012

Friday, July 12, 2013

Baseball fever


baseball fever
time to separate the boys
from the men

Friday, July 5, 2013

Nature's fury


man's ingenuity
still no match
to nature's fury

Wednesday, July 3, 2013

4th of July

parade watching -
he fingers his Purple Heart
over his feeble heart

Tuesday, June 25, 2013

up there in space
the earth is but a tiny speck
in the universe

down there
earthlings keep killing
each other

Tuesday, June 18, 2013



day after Father's day
he basks at his children's
well wishes and presents

Tuesday, June 11, 2013

a vulture eyes
the scrawny boy
crawling from hunger

Thursday, June 6, 2013



I shadow 
my shadow
to her grave

From my book, Haiku and Tanka Harvest

Monday, June 3, 2013



empty nest
their children's footsteps
fading bit by bit

Wednesday, May 29, 2013


in the news
a twelve-year old girl
hangs herself after
constant cyberbullying
of her classmates



Monday, May 20, 2013


why cut your shade tree
because twice there I tried
to hang myself


Thursday, May 16, 2013


a strange perfume
announces him sneaking
to our bedroom


Tuesday, May 14, 2013

spring sunshine
the toothless smile
of a homeless girl


from my book, Haiku and Tanka Harvest

Sunday, May 12, 2013

my daughter
invites me to brunch
this Mother's day
just for a tender moment
she's her late mother

from my book, Rustle of bamboo leaves

Tuesday, May 7, 2013


room cleaning
the first doll she gave
her newly wed daughter

Friday, May 3, 2013


trudging alone
on jacaranda lane
my birthday

Monday, April 29, 2013


misty afternoon
she takes a last look
at the leaving train

From my book, Rustle of bamboo leaves

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Before the cherry blossoms all fall down, here's a collaborative work of Janis Lukstein and me, a picture poem called Haiga.


Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Today is National Haiku Day. Here are some old and new poems to share.

just beyond the lane
wildflowers welcome
haiku lovers

widower's garden
her roses bloom side by side
with weeds

total strangers
come to aid other strangers
Boston bombings

we join the world
in collective prayers
for the victims and kins

Thursday, April 11, 2013

Here's the original picture of my wildflower poem below.


Tuesday, April 9, 2013


first marital row
the silence between them
is deafening


Saturday, April 6, 2013

From my book, Haiku and Tanka Harvest © 2012



wrong trail turn 
the scent and sight 
of wildflowers 

Tagalog

maling daan
bango at tanawin
bulaklak na ligaw

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

A family friend, Joe, just passed away leaving his wife Daisy and their only child Elizabeth. My heartfelt condolences to them and here are my haiku/tanka poem offerings. May he rest in peace and join in His resurrection!


my friend Daisy shares
her childlike emptyness 
on her husband's death

meantime Liz scrawls 
her love and affection
in a letter she wrote 
to her dad the day
before he died





Thursday, March 28, 2013



My new work from the latest issue of 
World Haiku Review, March 2003


GUN VIOLENCE, a haiku sequence

seeming epidemic
random deadly shootings
in the land of the free

color them red
innocent victims
of gun violence

staring puzzled
at a deep black abyss
kins of murder victims

gun control debate
who's to blame: the gun
or the trigger man


Monday, March 25, 2013

chilly morning
she grabs me back to bed
a little longer

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

first day of spring
her love and orchids
are blooming


Monday, March 11, 2013



resplendent 
in her wedding gown
my daughter celebrates
her 31st anniversary
with the same man

Wednesday, March 6, 2013


icy sidewalk -
she refused his brown hand
then she falls down again

Wednesday, February 27, 2013


gathering dust
in the garage
his late wife's wheelchair

Monday, February 25, 2013

dining alone -
her radio plays
our love song

Tuesday, February 19, 2013



  • Color haiku prompts from NaHaiWriMo (National Haiku Writing Month)
  • color them red
  • innocent victims
  • of gun violence

  • staring puzzled
  • at a deep black abyss
  • kins of murder victims
still green 
in the art of love
sheepishly grinning

Friday, February 15, 2013


friends forever
sharing love and laughter
on Valentine's day

dust we are
to dust we shall return
Ash Wednesday rule

Thursday, February 7, 2013


winter rain
the warmth of her touch
in my dream

First published in
The Heron's Nest
Vol. VIII, No 2, June 2006

then In my book, Haiku and Tanka Harvest © 2012
https://www.createspace.com/3737478

Tuesday, January 29, 2013



MY POEMS, REVISITED, by Victor P. Gendrano

by Victor Gendrano on Monday, January 29, 2013 at 8:05pm ·
COLUMBIA SPACE SHUTTLE
by Victor P. Gendrano © 2003

(To the seven astronauts, including 2 women, of the ill-fated 
Space Shuttle Columbia, February 1, 2003)


let our remains
scatter on earth’s bowel
we’ve paved the way
so future astronauts
can carry on our goals

------------------------------

yonder above the vast expanse
how puny the earth looks
a blue-white speck adrift
almost in nothingness

just for a little while there
I sensed not only loneliness
but fragile hope for humankind
in its incessant search
for peace

World Haiku Review
Vol. 3, Issue 1, March 2003


Then finally published In my book, RUSTLE OF BAMBOO LEAVES ©2005, at this address:


Friday, January 25, 2013


MOVING DAY ADVENTURE
by © Victor P. Gendrano, Jan. 25, 2013


         February 1, next month, is the first anniversary of my moving to this retirement house. On the early morning of that first day, I thought I smelt freshly brewed coffee, so half-awake, I hurriedly walked to the kitchen dreamingly half-expecting a homey breakfast with my late wife.
         Unfortunately, I accidentally bumped my head on the bedroom’s ajar door and felt blood oozing from my forehead to my eyes. I sidestepped to the bathroom, snatched a bunch of toilet paper and pressed them tightly over the wound. With my right hand on my forehead, I used my left hand to dial for help.
         A paramedic examined the wound, proclaimed it was only a cut and no stitches are needed, then bandaged my head after covering it with medicated cream.

                  time and place
                  only deepen and strenghten
                  my first love


Monday, January 21, 2013

A poem I wrote when Barack Obama was elected president of the United States, four years ago.


I have witnessed
the dawn of a new era
when people of all races
and creeds can dare to dream
in color blind America today

Modern English Tanka
Vol. 3, No. 3, Spring 2009

Wednesday, January 16, 2013




new widower
a brisk wind blasts open
his empty mailbox

World Haiku Review
December 2012

Friday, January 11, 2013

new year
a fractured world yearns
for peace

Tuesday, January 8, 2013


winter chill
the expatriate yearns
for sunny home  

World Haiku Review
December 2012

Wednesday, January 2, 2013


constant texting
schoolchildren become
poor spellers

Tuesday, January 1, 2013



new year -
I recycle last
year's resolution