New year's resolution

dejà vu
he recycles last year's
resolutions

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

Absence

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

From my book,
Haiku and Tanka Harvest

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

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

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

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

Old age

grandpa gazes
at the lone bird
flying to sunset

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

Growing children

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

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

Coffee mug

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

Full moon

full moon and empty arms

so hard to fill the void

she left behind

(another full moon variation)

Cyberbullying

one more girl
commits suicide
from cyber bullying

(from a recent news)

Friday the 13th

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

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

Runaway

not even a drizzle
in the barren plain
their runaway son

Heat wave

heat wave
she removes her new bra
to freedom

Full moon

full moon
my empty arms yearn
for her return

Published in World Haiku Review, August 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

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

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

https://www.createspace.com/3737478

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

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

Widower's garden

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

from my book, Haiku and Senryu Harvest

Sudden rain

sudden rain
her umbrella widens
to take her lover in

From my book,

Haiku and Tanka Harvest

Moonlight walk

moonlight walk

from an open window

strains of sonata

war zone

• 
  
• war zone
• the white lily inches up
• too soon

from my book, Haiku and Tanka Harvest

https://www.createspace.com/3737478

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

https://www.createspace.com/3737478

Baseball fever

baseball fever
time to separate the boys
from the men

Nature's fury

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

4th of July

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

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

down there
earthlings keep killing
each other

day after Father's day

he basks at his children's

well wishes and presents

a vulture eyes
the scrawny boy
crawling from hunger

I shadow 

my shadow

to her grave

From my book, Haiku and Tanka Harvest

https://www.createspace.com/3737478

empty nest
their children's footsteps
fading bit by bit

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

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

a strange perfume
announces him sneaking
to our bedroom

spring sunshine
the toothless smile
of a homeless girl

from my book, Haiku and Tanka Harvest

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

room cleaning

the first doll she gave

her newly wed daughter

trudging alone
on jacaranda lane
my birthday

misty afternoon
she takes a last look
at the leaving train

From my book, Rustle of bamboo leaves

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

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

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

first marital row
the silence between them
is deafening

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

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

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

chilly morning
she grabs me back to bed
a little longer

first day of spring
her love and orchids
are blooming

resplendent 

in her wedding gown

my daughter celebrates

her 31st anniversary

with the same man

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

gathering dust
in the garage
his late wife's wheelchair

dining alone -
her radio plays
our love song

• 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

friends forever
sharing love and laughter
on Valentine's day

dust we are
to dust we shall return
Ash Wednesday rule

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

MY POEMS, REVISITED, by Victor P. Gendrano

by Victor Gendrano on Monday, January 29, 2013 at 8:05pm ·

PublicFriendsOnly MeCustomClose FriendsretiredSee all lists...FamilySyracuse UniverityAcquaintancesGo Back

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:

http://www.lulu.com/shop/victor-p-gendrano/rustle-of-bamboo-leaves/paperback/product-246155.html

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

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

new widower

a brisk wind blasts open

his empty mailbox

World Haiku Review

December 2012

new year
a fractured world yearns
for peace

winter chill

the expatriate yearns

for sunny home  

World Haiku Review

December 2012

constant texting

schoolchildren become

poor spellers

new year -
I recycle last
year's resolution