**haiku Magic ** Poem by john tiong chunghoo

autumn
a nostalgia
painted in scarlet

first day of spring
a song in the the breeze
i would love to sing

full moon
a mice runs across
the owl's eyes

daylight murder
in the city park a parasite
strangling the host tree

missing his key again
the door
comes down

waxing moon
she drives 20 km to get
her cheongsam made

hachiko photo shot
leaving a space between us
for the world's best friend

art exhibition
a heart blossoms from
one genre to the other

on the misty glass
his 'love'
overflows

new tight blossoms
an old woman readies herself
for a walk

death anniversary
cries of migratory birds
fill the sky

extinct - - one less
for the world to
evolve

this sea - i am
swept along by both
a sadness and joy


Little India Brickfields
a light breaks through
veil of ignorance


spring in full bloom
my heart
fluttering in the breeze


old cemetery
my hair on ends
between the lallang


kitchen window
the neighbour's child is now
a young woman

that first fight
still there the dent
on the garage door

'Sometimes, when we talk to our pets, we like to take it that their intelligence is at our level so as to be really close with them. that too is God's prediposition when he communicates with us.'


storm in
an old teacup -
the pope's resignation

so many ways to cook
he holding on
to her waist

she tells us how
slim she was
elizabeth's closet

garage sales
he asks for matches to light
an old pipe

out of the closet
now in his bag eyeliners
mascaras and lipsticks

the futon stored away
a low table and some plates
there - our dining room

our living room
the Last Supper
never ends

giving my first bath
the doggie and me
all wet

living room solitude
the crashing water of
the silent waterfall

van gogh's bedroom
on the wall
right over my bed

london -
missing you for
so many years

our laughter - his eyes
the shape of
his staple

sri lankan sapphire
straining the eyes to learn
the different prices of blue

waving at me
last week's green strawman
now brown/ tanned

Sibu Townsquare
we walk through the good
the bad and the ugly

late autumn
the woman caught between
a range of red lipsticks

full moon chant
the glow of saffron
and the moon

old harbour
on the broken piers
anglers and lovers

borneo hometown walk
a haiku poet finds
his dream

dusk at the river
on the tree tops
dance of cranes

glacier - - gliding
a dancer
to her dream

glacier - her ambition
twirling
on her feet

that little flower
all on its own
evening breeze

new year eve firecrackers
swallows' frenzied chirps
fill the sky

chinese new year
the emptiness
of time

malaysian election
at a loss when
the rain is coming

telling him each grain
is the farmer's sweat
he sweeps clean his rice'

new veggie patch
he asks wife what
they should be planting

they know where
they are flying to
- the cranes

escaping spices
a spate of sneezes
in the room

flickering screen
her wish that the infertility is
not her eggs

clawing with her beak
the egg to her warmth
mother hen

chinese all souls' day
at her final resting place
a bowl of hot pasta

'Aonang transvestite cabaret show
not an inch on them
male — in Krabi, Thailand

phi phi alleyway
above her bouncing round bum
full moon party

spoilt for choice
we scratch our head whether
to do Chikcen Island

Mount Fuji photo shoot
we wait for the cloud
to unveil the peak

ganges cruise
the boys climb over
to sell us...ganges water

chennai international airport
there in the hallway to
greet me too - ganeshan

colombo international airport
sitting and waiting for us
the Buddha