Winter advent

In my book,
Rustle of bamboo leaves

Day after Christmas

day after Christmas
she gives a used card
to her shelter friend

Canadian Zen Haiku Canadien
Vol. 4, No. 1, Winter 2006

Christmas spirit

Christmas spirit
he donates his Goodwill suit
to Salvation Army

Guys, take a break from non-stop shopping and smile! I'd say, it is all right to donate your used clothes provided they are still in good condition, and you'll wear it if you were to buy it.

Merry Christmas

MERRY CHRISTMAS
AND A PEACEFUL NEW YEAR
TO EVERYBODY!

Christmas shopping

alone
amidst
frenzied shoppers
I'll buy myself
a Christmas present


Tagalog version

nagiisa
sa maraming namimili
bibili ako ng regalong
pampasko
para sa akin

In my book,
Rustle of bamboo leaves

Warm touch

winter rain
the warmth of her touch
in my dream

The Heron’s Nest
Vol. VIII, No. 2, June 2006

Football fever

football fever
she hugs his pillow
for company
their bed grows colder
each passing game

Ribbons, Vol. 2, No. 2
Summer 2006

80th Birthday

the regal tree
bends with the wind
bowed but not broken
he celebrates
his 80th birthday

Sketchbook, Vol. 5, No. 4
July/August 2010

Child's Christmas Gifts

trickle of water
gushes to torrent
child’s Christmas gift

For a complete story with picture check this link:
Child's Christmas Gifts

Grandpa's lost pipe

winter eve
on top of the fireplace
grandpa's lost pipe

This garnered Honorable Mention in last year's 13th International Haiku Contest sponsored by Mainichi (Japan) Daily News. Submissions came from 21 countries, from Australia to the United States.

Pearl Harbor

in V-formation
the geese soar over
Pearl Harbor

In memory of December 8, 1941

Fantasy fling

warmth of her touch
in that snowy weekend
fantasy fling
am I ready or a fool
to fall in love again

Modern English Tanka,
Vol. 1, No. 2. Winter 2006.

Thanksgiving prayer

Thank you
my Lord and God
for gift of life and health
remembering our lost loved ones
once more.

Heed not
our weaknesses,
teach us how to forgive
and live in harmony with all
others.

So that
once more this world
of hate will be again
a place of love and peacefulness,
Amen.

Black Friday

Black Friday
colorful ploy for your
green bucks

Autumn leaf

A precursor of my next post below after a hiatus of nine years.

Hospice

autumn twilight
they left her
at the hospice

Mainichi [Japan] Daily News
Nov. 4, 2009

Empty house

With every whip of wind
the tree's old leaves fall one by one

The naked branches that remain
flail futilely against the sky

Boisterous children''s laughter echoes
in the now empty house.


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

New US citizen

For Gigliola Lubiano on her taking the oath of citizenship recently.
Congratulations and God bless!

Longing

the swirling wind
plays havoc with the leaves
this cold cold day
she asks the mailman twice
for his letters

In my book,
Rustle of bamboo leaves

Teacher's pet

teacher's pet
she tutors her student
the art of love

Sketchbook, Vol. 5, No. 4
July/August 2010

Gambler

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

Sketchbook, Vol. 5, No. 4
July/August 2010

What is left

For those of you who are not in Facebook, I am uploading the following poem here to share with you. I wrote it last Saturday for Susan Rogers on the news of her father's accident and the uncertainty and sad plight of our mutual twin friends. I wrote this on the spur of the moment right after reading Susan's poem, What Returns, in Facebook. I think the poem just wrote itself and I am not revising it.


WHAT IS LEFT

(To Susan)

after the gale
and onslaught
of the fury of
the wild wind
devastating
everything in its path

there is always something
left behind in its
indiscriminating
path of destruction

a young sapling
bowed but not broken
buried but live seedling
awaiting the warmth
of a sunny day

for there is always
tomorrow even after
darkness of dying day

for so long
as man is man
with indomitable
spirit and faith in God
and friends lofting
their collective prayers
he will prevail

Sex harrassment

sex harassment
in workplace or elsewhere
no laughing matter

Sketchbook, Vol. 5, No. 4
July/August 2010

Trilingual haiku

TATLONG WIKA, ISANG KAHULUGAN
(Three tongues, One meaning)

1) KALUNGKUTAN (Tagalog)

gabing walang bituin
hinihintay kita sinta
kahit sa panaginip


2) SOLEDAD (Español)

la noche sin estrellas
esperaré por tu amor
aún en mi sueño


3) LONELINESS (English)

starless night
I'll wait for you my love
even in my dream

After the rain

unhurried walk
the smell of clean earth
after the rain

World Haiku Review
Vol. 8, No. 1, August 2010

Los 33

Now that the Chilean miners have all been rescued, I just want to share this poem I wrote four days ago which I sent to my friend Gigliola Lubiano of Chile. I join the world in saluting their indomitable spirit and courage.

LOS 33

by V. P. Gendrano
11 October 2010

In Camp Hope
your loved ones wait
from darkness
to redemption
where hope and prayers
mingle with tears
in undying faith
to man's humanity
and God's grace

Monkey

watching
a playful monkey
I see myself

One of my six haiku included in the Southern California Haiku Study Group recent (2010) anthology, "an island of egrets." First published in World Haiku Review, Vol. 5, No. 1, Spring/Summer 2005.

Bullying

In memory of Seth Walsh, 13 years old, of Tehachapi, California and similar victims who were bullied before him. May their tribe decrease! (Los Angeles Times, Oct. 8, 2010). Like highway accidents during vacation times, there ought to be a continuing statistics reported nationwide of teenage suicides resulting from bullying.


schoolyard jungle
the bullied boy
commits suicide

World Haiku Review
Vol. 2, No. 2, January 2010

Another friend's death

(for Dani Aguila)

a gentle breeze
nudges the last leaf
another friend's death
the weight of years
in eagle's nest

cartoon clouds cover
the October sky
friend's funeral


Dani of Nashville, Tennessee is a reknowned cartoonist and writer.
He is a generous and loving friend with an endearing sense
of humor. Memorial service on Monday, October 4, 2010.

Her absence

I sense the silent
waft of fragrance
from the incense
calming my heart
in her absence

Sketchbook, Vol. 5, No. 4
July/August 2010

LA traffic

stop and go traffic
on Hollywood freeway
with over 100 F heat
a red-haired driver starts
waving her bra

Euthanasia

Their vow of love had remained
unbroken 'til the very end.

With a hint of Romeo
and loved Juliet's tragic play,

they committed double suicide -
euthanasia, medical term.

Lynx, a Journal for Linkng Poets
Vol.. XXV, No. 1, February 2010

Trapped Chilean Miners

ESPERANZA
(Para los mineros chilenos)

Victor P. Gendrano

she names
her newborn girl
Esperanza
a beacon of hope
for her father
and other trapped miners
no están solos
you are not alone!
the world prays and waits
for your safe return

Con ayuda de Gigliola Lubiano

Foreclosed house

the children's swing
stops swinging
foreclosed house

Notes From the Gean
Vol. 2, Issue 2
September 2010

Feeling alone

often
I feel alone
amidst a crowd
still hard to fill the void
you left behind

Sketchbook, Vol. 5, No. 4
July/August 2010

Father's death, 2

A picture poem or haiga of my earlier post on Father's death. Click image to enlarge.

Soldier's bride

soldier’s new bride
a brisk wind blasts open
her empty mailbox

World Haiku Review
Vol. 8, No. 1, August 2010

Father's death

for Jovy

a gentle wind
nudges the tattered leaf
her father's death

Moving out

freeway drizzle
he helps his only daughter
move out

The Herons's Nest
Vol. XII, No. 3, September 2010

Hiroshima

bomb-ravaged field
sixty-five years later
a monument to peace
becoming another
stop for tourists

Notes From the Gean
Vol. 2, Issue 2, September 2010

Humility

The theme of last Sunday's service was humility so I thought I would share my quotation about it from my quotation collection. Here goes, hope you like it.

Aloneness

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

In Sixty sunflowers:
Tanka Society of America Members’
2007 Anthology

Hiroshima

Before the end of this month, I reluctantly decided to upload my haiga about Hiroshima and Nagasaki which were the recipients of atomic bombs killing hundreds of thousands people, mostly civilians on August 6 and 9, 1945.

Happy Birthday Jasmine!

To Jasmine, my lovable, adorable first grandchild!

A dog's tale

LORNA AND LOLA
a dog’s tale

Yesterday, my daughter requested me to accompany her to a friend’s house about two hours drive from our place. Before returning home, I invited her to dinner at her favorite Thai restaurant close to our house where she enjoyed her favorite dish with tofu and exotic drink. That’s the least I could do for her, I thought.

Psst, tomorrow is her birthday and I plan to bring her to Hokkaido, a new Japanese seafood buffet in Long Beach, one of only two locations in southern California. So this morning after my workout in the gym, I bought her a petite succulent house plant with gorgeous red flowers which I put in her room to surprise her when she comes home.


she could not bear to look back
and hear her whimper again

nor see her mournful face once more
begging for a warm embrace

she gave away her dog Lola
to her friend for adoption

Hope

This is for you Jasmine!

Waiting

almost dawn
an empty bottle
near the phone

The Heron’s Nest
Vol. VIII, No. 4, December 2006

Hospice visit

hospice visit
for the third time
she asks the name
of her daughter
holding her hand

Sketchbook Vol. 5, No. 2
March/April 2010

Missing stone ring

This sijo poem is a work in progress, my first revision, what do you think?


my granddaughter lately asks me
of the missing stone in my ring

as she lovingly caresses
my gnarled and wrinkled fingers

hugging her tightly I whispered
I lost it in your grandma's grave

Daily vow

In response to Joan, a reader from New Zealand, on our desire to be kind and friendly to everyone, eliciting their smile, here is a repost of my Daily vow post originally published on New Year's day this year.



Here are my comments to readers muse and Ms. Givens:

Whenever I go out of the house - I even tell my daughter - I go out of my way to elicit a smile from whomsoever I encounter, cashiers, friends and strangers. Life is too short to harbor bad feelings and enmity with anybody. At the end of the day, I sleep peacefully knowing that I have done my part in spreading peace and love. I also am at peace with my Creator.

Her absence

the roses bloom
side by side with weeds
her long long absence

Sketchbook, Vol. 4, Issue 2
March/April 2009

Homeless children

sidewalk frenzy
the homeless boys fight
for a tossed quarter

World Haiku Review
Vol. 8, Issue 1, Jan. 2010

Prayer garden

Yesterday, while waiting for the start of our haiku meeting, Southern California Haiku Study Group (SCHSG) in Pasadena's Pacific Asia Museum, I wandered near a theological school. Nearby, I saw a prayer garden, so labeled, that was closed to the public. I went closer and peered through the gated place. It had a man-made waterfall and lots of small trees and shrubs. Serenity and peace exude from the place. After looking a bit I sat down on a concrete bench nearby and wrote this poem.

prayer garden
the answered ones
are blooming

Actually, this is not the one I read at our usual sharing at the beginning of each meeting, but an earlier version.

prayer garden
how many unanswered ones
are left there

Lovers' cliff

lovers' cliff
a torn scarf totters
near the water's edge

Notes from the Gean
Vol. 2, Issue 1, June 2010

Aloneness

strains of ukulele
fill the sultry night
she fingers the dried lei
and hugs the memories
he left behind

Modern English Tanka.
Vol. 2, No. 3, Spring 2008

War veteran

parade watching
he fingers the Purple Heart
over his feeble heart

Wildflower watching

Watching
the wildflowers
with their wayward daughter,
still hard to fathom why her mom
left them.

Announcement

Dear Readers,

Before this month ends, I would like to thank you all for faithfully following my blog. Two years ago, in June 11, 2008, to be exact, I launched this Haiku and Senryu Harvest blog so this marks my second year of blogging.

As you might have noticed, majority of my posts were already published ones and I was just reprinting them here. I am in the process of compiling another book, my second one, and its contents will primarily come from here, so now you have a foretaste of it. Hopefully it will be finished before the end of this year. Wish me luck!

And, by the way, I wish to remind everyone that you are free to submit comments here and I encourage it. I'll try my best to respond to them. Happy second year anniversary to all of us here!

Vic Gendrano

Homeless

barbecue scent mingles
with children’s laughter
inside their fence
outside, two homeless kids
share a burnt burger

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

Video messages

On a very personal note, here is a link to my children's video messages shown during my 80th birthday celebration last month. I am truly blessed to have loving children! God bless you, I love you all! - Dad

VIDEO MESSAGES

Soccer mom

late for work
she calls sick
soccer mom

World Haiku Review
Vol. 5, Issue 2, Jan. 2007

Ode to my father link

I never can master doing links here. Hope I do it right this time. This may be an old poem but it is still relevant for this coming Father's day. Happy Father's day to all Dads and Granddads! Here's the link:

ODE TO MY FATHER

Father's love

silent and deep
it overflows
Father's love

Her absence

the roses bloom
side by side with weeds
her long long absence

Sketchbook, Vol. 4, Issue 2
March/April 2009

Setting sun

nearing home
the sun starts to set
in my rear-view mirror

Notes from the Gean
Vol. 2, Issue 1, June 2010

Flirting

again, she pauses
in front of him
in her new sports bra
his eyes remain focused
on his book

Sketchbook, Vol. 4, Issue 2
March/April 2009

Nearing home

Veteran

wheelchair bound
the veteran feeds
a one-legged bird

World Haiku Review
Vol. 7, Issue 1, March 2009

Spring time

spring time
a rainbow forms
in the sprinkler
he waters the lawn
from his wheelchair

Modern English Tanka
Vol. II, No. 3, Spring 2008

Ambulance sirens

her telephone
continues to ring
ambulance sirens

Sketchbook, Vol. 4, Issue 2
March/April 2009

Birthday

surrounded
and embraced with love
by family and friends
what more can I ask
for my birthday

Mother's day (once more)

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

In my book, Rustle of bamboo leaves
but originally published in World Haiku Review
Vol. 5, Issue 1, Spring/Summer 2005

Mother's day

two dads
and two baby strollers
Mother’s Day

Sketchbook, Vol. 4, Issue 2
March/April 2009

Spring quotation

Going home

After the hike, leaving Fish Canyon Falls in Duarte, California.

National Poetry Month

National Poetry Month, April 2010

What a better way to celebrate the waning week of National Poetry Month than going out and communing with nature and writing poems inspired by the experience. That’s what a small group of So. Calif. haiku poets did today, April 24 when we took a haiku hike to Fish Canyon Falls in Duarte, California. While admiring the waterfalls, I asked a lady stranger sitting beside me, who dared her son to wade in the pool, to write a poem this being national poetry month. To my surprise, she did (of course after showing my haiku to her, and here is what she wrote:

the sound
of kids splashing
by the waterfull

- Sandy

Thanks Sandy even if we never cross our paths again.

Sister's death

spring cleanup
last letter of my sister
before her death

For my sister Ate Nena,
who passed away last year

Spring blues

Here is another example of sijo.
I'll be uploading some more from time to time.


I glimpsed the color of spring
as you leizurely sauntered in

the balmy breath of air
drove the winter chill and pall away

but you did not tarry long
and soon vanished out of my dream.


In my book, Rustle of bamboo leaves,
but originally published in World Haiku Review,
Vol. 1, Issue 2, August 2001.

Forbidden love

the entwined ivy
and blooming rose
reach for the sun
the entanglements
of forbidden love

Sketchbook, Vol. 4, No. 6,
November/December 2009

Widower's first date

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

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

Spring rain

spring rain
even Death Valley
is alive with flowers

Haiku Harvest, Vol. 6, No. 1
Spring/Summer 2006

Mexicali earthquake

the pool's water rocks
and rolls then overflows
at earthquake's call

We were starting to eat our Easter early dinner in my daughter's house when the rumblings started. Looking at the swimming pool outside, we watched with a bit of apprehension, the water of the swimming pool coming upwards towards the house. Nothing serious happened, however, as we rode the rolling wave for the longest time, which we all felt. We learned later that it was in a magnitude of 7.2 in Mexico near San Diego.

Easter Sunday

Aloneness

WHAT IS SIJO

Sijo is a Korean poem consisting of 44 to 46 syllables in three lines with 14 to 16 syllables each line. Sometimes it is written in six lines, the three lines split into two. It has a beginning in Line 1, development in Line 2 and conclusion with a twist or surprise ending in Line 3.

Like haiku and other Japanese poetic forms, sijo has a venerable and ancient beginnings. Poems vaguely similar to present day sijo appeared as early as 17 B.C. but the sijo did not take its characteristic patterns until the 10th century or so. Moreover, it took about 600 more years for the sijo to flower, although its history can be traced back to the Confucian monks of the 11th century.

Sijo is similar to the Japanese haiku but frequently uses metaphors, puns and allusions as well as other poetic device such as alliteration. Traditional sijo, a song lyric, was intended to be sung or chanted, hence its musical quality is apparent.

Delicate and compact, sijo covers a wide range of subjects such as politics, love, life, music, nature, loneliness, and even personal mundane matters like drinking and aging. It embodies the complex and unique concept of sadness and hope called Han, the very core of Korean life.

Here is an example of sijo. I will upload some of them from time to time, together with the other poetic forms.

ALONENESS

I still remember those years
when it seemed eternally spring.

Our mutual love for each other
grew stronger each passing year.

Now that she’s gone and I’m alone
how do you hug emptiness?

In my book, Rustle of bamboo leaves, © 2005, but originally published in World Haiku Review, Vol. 4, 2004.

Navy mom

lightning flashes
on the far horizon
a navy mom
smoothes the wrinkles
of her son’s picture

In The Pebbled Shore:
The Tanka Society of America’s
2009 Anthology, 2010.

World Poetry Day - March 21

diverse poets
the world over sing
on the changing
of the seasons
and nature’s beauty

each on their own
tongue and wisdom
and unique culture
yet employing poetry’s
universal language

world poets
let’s celebrate
World’s Poetry Day
and strive for humanity’s
unity in diversity

Sin no more

"Let those
who have not sinned
cast the first stone to her."
Left alone, He enjoins her, "Sin
no more!"

Earthquake

half awake
a rumbling reminder
that California
still remains
earthquake haven


a very delayed reaction ...

Haiku Friendship

Taken at Pasadena, CA last month, February 19, 2010 at the SCHSG's hosting of the Haiku Society of America meeting.

Daylight savings time

sleepy in class
the boy blames it on
daylight savings time

Orphanage

orphanage window
plastic flowers bloom
in the snow

The Mainichi (Japan) Daily News
March 11, 2010

March madness

L. A. traffic jam
he peeks at the sports page
March madness

Haiku Harvest, Vol. 6, No. 1
Spring/Summer 2006

Expatriate

distant shore / the expatriate yearns / for home

Spring rain

sudden rain
her umbrella widens
to take her lover in

World Haiku Review
Vol. 8, Issue 1, Jan. 2010

Unused coffee mug

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

Sketchbook, Vol. 4, No. 6
November/December 2009

Ice Skater Haiga

CONGRATULATIONS KIM YU-NA OF SOUTH KOREA FOR WINNING THE GOLD!

As I said earlier, I will explain a little more about haiga. Here it is. Haiga is a combination of haiku or other poems and pictures. It is also variously called haiku painting, poem painting, photo haiku or haiku photo. I just call them picture poems. The accompanying graphics are sometimes related to the poems, but, most of the time, the pictures only complement them.

Haiga originated in Japan alongside the development of haiku around 1600. Since poets used calligraphy in writing haiku, the subsequent addition of the same brush and ink artwork with the poem followed. Normally, the same poet adds painting to his works, but nowadays it is not unusual to have two artists compose haiga, the poet writing the verse and the painter doing the artwork in a collaborative effort. You will find examples here in my blog.

Bird haiga

Cast your worries and fly with me to nirvana.


Haiga or picture poem, as I call it, originated in Japan. Alongside the image, the poet write the haiku part. I will elaborate more on haiga next time. Meanwhile, here is a haiga collaboration between Stevie Strang and myself, pictured below. Stevie is not only a professional photographer but she is a darn good poet too. Hope you like our work.

Chinese ink painting haibun

Saturday, February 20, I participated in a Poets on Site reading highlighting the art works of Hyunsook Cho displayed in the Gallery of Contemporary Art at the Paciific Asia Museum in Pasadena, CA. Her works, “Sketches of China: Works on Paper” were on exhibit in the museum from January 6 to February 11. Sketches present the artist’s re-interpretation of traditional Chinese ink painting in different media - watercolor, gouache, graphite pencil and dried leaves collected by the artist in China. Members of the Southern California Haiku Study Group wrote poems, either haiku or habun, on their favorite painting. Here is my haibun or prose poem with Hyunsook's painting.




No matter where my restlessness and sense of adventure lead me in my travels abroad, the call of the tropical sun proves irresistible, beckoning me home to a familiar place where I grew up. The venerable and ancient mountains always bring balance and sense of power in my life. In their shadows, I am refreshed and strenghtened to face life’s challenges once more.

in majestic display
the China mountains
of my childhood

Haiku Society of America meeting

Last night, I was brave enough to do a mic reading of my haiku poems for the first time. The occasion was in conjunction with the "Urban Haiku Reading" sponsored by the Southern California Haiku Study Group and its parent entity, Haiku Society of America. held in Pasadena, CA. Today, there will be a whole afternoon of activity at the Pacific Asia Museum, 46 N. Los Robles, Pasadena, CA tel (626) 449-2742. If you are in the Los Angeles area, check it out. I read my haiku poems below.


morning chill
she grabs me back to bed
a little longer

store sign
we mend broken hearts
Valentine's Day

LA storm
the Asian magnolia
remains in bloom

still in bloom
California flowers dance
to winter song

Ash Wednesday

dust we are
to dust we shall return
the irrefutable law of nature

Happy Valentine's Day!

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY TO ALL!
Vic Gendrano

This Valentine's Day

I would trade all your gifts--
The heart-shaped chocolates
And lovely red roses
For warm embrace and kiss.

I would also forgo
The sleek ready-made card
With manufactured words
For whispered sweet-nothings.

The candlelight dinner
With romantic music
I would gladly exchange
For quiet night with you.

But this Valentine's Day
I'm left with memories
And numbing emptiness
Since you are far away.

In my book: Rustle of bamboo leaves

First love

Originally published in World Haiku Review, Vol. 2, Issue 2, July 2002. Included in my book, Rustle of bamboo leaves.

Super Bowl Champions

who dat?
from the ruins of Katrina
to Super Bowl champions
New Orleans' Saints
harbingers of hope

Parking sign's haiku

multilingual haiku
posted on some parking signs
in West Hollywood

The haiku were written in either Russian, Spanish, or English. This came from the evening news a night or so ago, Check this link: Parking sign haiku
I found another site showing pictures of the signs here: Rebecca Lowry's Pictures

Love

"love is patient
love is kind,"
best if shared around

The theme of this Sunday's morning service is love. I thought of adding another line to form a haiku.

God's blessings

About Cinquain
Cinquain, created and developed by the American poet Adelaide Crapsey in the early 1900, is a five-line unrhymed poem with 22 syllables arranged as 2, 4, 6, 8, and 2. It's name is derived from the French word cinq which means five. It is somehow related to the Japanese haiku and tanka. The contemporary cinquain is usually titled, the title becoming an integral part of the poem.

Unfortunately, Crapsey died at an early age of 37 from tuberculosis so she was not able to develop the poetic form any further. Lately though, cinquain has been enjoying a healthy revival especially among haiku writers as well as other poets. I have already posted cinquains here, My New Year’s Wish and Aloneness are examples and here is another, a bilingual one.


GOD'S BLESSINGS
Tagalog, a Philippine language:

Walang
nangyayari
sa buhay ng tao
di may kagalingang dulot
ng D’yos.

English version:

Nothing
happens in life
without some good in it
coming from the munificience
of God.

Los Angeles storm

headline today
storm leaves LA
with a bang
unconcerned with
its damage behind

New Year's Wish

To love
and to be loved,
that's all I need in life,
not transient fame or wealth, but yes
true love.

Foreclosed house

foreclosed house
their backyard swing
stops swinging

Haiti earthquake

Haiti nightmare
hundreds of thousands dead
and many more homeless
battered by non-discriminating
deadly earthquake

We offer our fervent prayers for the earthquake victims and their kins! The world mourns with and for you.

Morning chill

chilly morning
she grabs me back to bed
a bit longer

Children's fun

winter fun
after the snow ball fight
hot, hot chocolate

Help is where you find it

icy sidewalk
disdaining my helping hand
she falls again

Winter moon

Second love

warmth of her touch
in that snowy weekend
fantasy fling
am I ready or a fool
to fall in love again

Modern English Tanka
Volume 1, Number 2. Winter 2006.

World peace

Love song

dining alone
the piped-in music plays
our love song

Notes from the Gean:
A Journal of Japanese Short Forms
Vol. 1, Issue 3, December 2009

New Year Resolution