Chen-ou Liu Poems

job hunting...
a yellow leaf drifts
from branch to branch
...

the cold moon...
I bend
his pointing finger
...

Chinese New Year's Eve...
staring at the mirror
long before
...

autumn twilight…
dueling with my shadow
once again
...

morning birdsong...
I practice pronouncing
'Fujisan'
...

this ink dark night...
nostalgia and loneliness
circle me
two predators waiting
...

once again
I rip my paper
to pieces -
on a moonlit night
...

A Tanka Prose for Basho


In 1693, parting from his favorite disciple Kyoroku, Basho said, “Didn't the retired Emperor Go-Toba say of Saigyo's poetry that it contained truth tinged with sorrow? Take strength from his words and follow unswervingly the narrow thread of the Way of poetry.”
...