It's Peaceful Now, A Tanka Prose Poem by Chen-ou Liu

nominated by contemporary haibun online for this year's Red Moon Anthology, an 'annual anthology showcasing a state-of-the-art selection of haibun, tanka prose, and haiga from journals around the world.'

M-16 rifles are blooming,2000-pound bombs singing, and Merkava tanks sweeping the streets.

Gaza is cleaner than ever, clean of blood-covered children. Yet, somewhere among the rubble the only moving thing is a boy's eyes that look up to Heaven.

a mural
on the separation wall
of the West Bank:
in midair a girl grasps
a bunch of rainbow balloons