Join the army haiku

traffic light--
my boy doesn't want
to join the army

The color of the wind haiku

moonlit night
knowing the color of the wind
too dark, too dark

Touching the ground haiku

c'mon withered leaves!
I feel my feet touching
the ground so alive

Growing older tanka

the art of
growing older--
this is why
she calls herself by
her first name

Pillow fight haiku

not a pillow fight the divorced knows best

Tête-à-tête haiku

openly
she asks me for
a tête-à-tête

Afternoon sunbeam haiku

1/
dusk
hesitant dip of his
sumi brush

2/
hospice visit
a tickle on her toes
afternoon sunbeam

Lonesome chill haiku

rain, again
an urge to grip stronger
this lonesome chill

Wheelchair haiku

as if it could tell
how long I've been waited for
her wheelchair

Mother's lap haiku

rainclouds
long for a sleep
in her mother's lap

Trampled leaves haiku

did you hear
the sound of my feet?
trampled leaves

Single dad tanka

you'll never know
how hard it is to be
a single dad
think about the sparrows
hold up the winging

Strange love song tanka

sitting alone
how strange it sounds now
our love song
in this moment  last year
i didn't want to get drunk

Downpour of butterflies tanka

driving uphill
thru the downpour
of butterflies
we shed tears for
misplaced childhood

First published in A Hundred Gourds 2:2 March 2013
http://ahundredgourds.com/ahg22/tanka01.html

Roll the dice tanka

my dad taught me
how to roll the dice
on sandy soil
now I live the life
of an orphan

First published in A HUndred Gourds 2:2 March 2013
http://ahundredgourds.com/ahg22/tanka12.html

Sickle moon tan renga

red mark
on her coffee cup
deepening silence

nothing we talked about
but the sickle moon

in the round
ascending tones of
angelic voices

bamboo leaves shake
and bend the sunlight

a sudden gust of wind
brings the rain to land
a kiss of longing

in the shiver on my hand
the shake of our hands

running and laughing
kiddies play hide and seek
amber evening

I am the clouds
chasing sunset

::

Damian Alma
Wahyu W. Basjir

First published in A Hundred Gourds 2:2 March 2013
http://ahundredgourds.com/ahg22/renku03.html

Empty head haiku

empty head...
the sickle moon
dives deeper

Water lily bud haiga

Twisting the hands of Socrates, four tanka

Sometimes, I challenge my self just to get new poetic ideas. And this afternoon, I thought randomly about popular quotes of great people and I suddenly fell into Socrates. I am not really into philosophy but reading his quotes has sparked the ideas I desired. Most quotes transformed into these works are here http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/s/socrates.html

1/
life unexamined
is not worth living
as always
you don't let me
leave our treehouse

2/
will you marry me?
it's been years after I do
i find it
too hard to convince you
that poetry suits me fine

3/
leaving
this tall building
at noon...
only to see the clouds
letting my shadow darken

4/
picking the gray
out of my hair
curiously
she asks me how
to trim hate and desire

Kitchen tanka in wordle

Kitchen tanka

1/
washing out
the grayness of you
i hold dear
down in the sink
this turmeric yellow

2/
the main ingredient
of all good dishes
is love
she recalls once in a while
her daughter's face

Dandelion seed haiku

dandelion seed
my dad used to be
afraid of flying


Notes from The Gean, No. 15, January 2013

Mirror pond haiku

1/
another minutes
to measure the heat on her
palm sunset

2/
mirror pond
a bare tree spans
the future and past

Midday drizzle haiku and tanka

1/
whirlwind
cut hay takes
another turn

2/
a silent flight of
yesterday grasses in
midday drizzle

3/
there's always an end
of seasons, love and life
the trees, you and I
calling for the rain to revive
the spirit of dead leaves

The birds and the tree tanka

1/
too much argument
to win about loyalty
and love? what love?
ah, look! the pine we planted
welcoming the birds to nest

2/
how long the drought
will it be in our marriage?
before the first rain
we know the baby birds
flying off the bare tree

Embun di pucuk ilalang

1/
embun di pucuk ilalang
sebening yang kau perlu untuk
membuatnya runduk

2/
di rerumputan
ia menangkap belalang
lamun nan lepas

3/
sepanjang siang
lenguh domba-domba
dari kandang

Tanka tepian hujan 2

:Chandra Prijosusilo

1/
gerimis pagi
membanjiri sarang burung
kosong dan dingin
terasa sungguh ranjang ini
terlalu besar untukku

morning drizzle
taking over the bird nest
cold and left out
i eventually realized
this bed too big for one

2/
terjaga semalam
oleh suara gerimis
kusimak seksama
keluh dan gelisahnya yang
tak terucap, tak tertulis

woke up last night
to the sound of light rain
i was all ears
to her griefs and sorrow
unspoken, unwritten

Uninvited guest haiku

uninvited guest
too much introduction
for another dimes

I like it brown haiku

i like it brown
she keeps her yes on
my prescription

I build a fortress tanka

i build a fortress
to keep the darkness away
o my wintry days
can you see my thoughts
meandering along broken dreams

Thin cloth tanka

how can you find
me, with puzzled mind
under the canopy
you merciless stare
pierces my thin cloth

I see you haiku

i see you
in the heatwave sweeping my lawn
yellow feather

Tanka tepian hujan

: Chandra Prijosusilo

1/
di luar jendela
dedaunan menangkup
bening embun
dari hujan sesiangan
senyap merayap-rayap

2/
bulan menyabit
di pucuk rumpun bambu
sepanjang malam
hanya siulan angin
menggema di tiap ruang

Life's light haiku

life's light
anything to worry about
a click away

Unopened heart haiku

unopened heart
in the faint light I let it
be fireflies..

Reaching into dusk haiku

reaching into dusk
her tiny hands offer me
passion fruit

A burst of her laughter haiku

outside the window
a burst of her laughter
like love like light

A fence around tanka

a fence around
our house to keep it out
anything but us
your dream of wandering
my poem, my lost love

Retired troubadour haiga

For better or worse haiga

Seeking true love; two tanka

1/

seeking

true love

peel by peel

of her

onion

2/

make love to me...

she embraces me in

warmest kiss

i run out of breath

run out of my self

Blackness thickens haiku

1/
moonless night
curiously searching
the other side of me

2/
orion…
my boy's dream of being
simple person

3/
in my coffee cup
blackness thickens
milky way

Four-leaf clover tanka

mother said
four-leaf clover was
a plain lie
soon, i whispered
you won't need wheelchair

Longing for rain, haibun

It's always the rain. After months of drought, it's always the rain I can't hardly wait to listen to the pitter-patter it makes on the roofing. It's always the rain to bring the stream back to the ditch under the platform where my workstation situated. It's always the rain that calls the minnows and catfish back to the pond in the backyard. It's always the rain that revives my memories of you.

swaying at window

the shadow of a leafless tree

of a long gone girl

Thru the rapids tanka

1/
thru the rapids
the river runs endlessly
how tempting!
this adventurous life
in the darkest poetry

melintasi jeram
sungai ini mengalir tanpa henti
betapa menggoda!
hidup yang penuh tualang
dalam syair paling gelap

2/
walking in
shallow water at night
the coldness crawls
the way you stop talking
the way you start yelling

berjalan di
sungai dangkal malam hari
dingin yang menjalar
saat kau berhenti bicara
saat kau mulai berteriak

Moon river tanka

1/
now i'm down
by the river of light
o sickle moon
can you see petrified eyes
captured in the riverbed?

aku bersimpuh
di tepi sungai kemilau
o bulan sabit
kau lihatkah mata yang ketakutan
membayang di dasar sungai?

2/
under the streetlight
i stand, sigh and stare
the moon up
she says again and again
how she loves being alone

di bawah lampu jalan
aku tegak, mendesah dan terpaku
pada bulan terang
selalu saja ia bercerita
tentang cintanya pada kesendirian

I call her rose haiku

1/
i call her rose
the ricochet of
sun light

2/
garden party
all talks about everything
but the goldfish

Moonless night haiku

moonless night
scattered under bamboo grove
fallen stars

Hissing wind haiku

hissing wind
a reverb awhile longer
in the hollow

Sing me love song haiku

sing me love song
once she whispered in my ear
hummingbird

Someday, dear mother haiku

someday, dear mother
i'll be strong and tall like you
bamboo shoots

Bila, berujar kau. Dua tanka

Sebagai pemula dan murid haiku yang lambat, saya tidak terlatih menulis dalam bahasa Indonesia. Bukannya tidak mencintai bahasa nasional, saya mulai belajar dengan menulis dalam bahasa Inggris karena hanya bahasa itu yang bisa menjembatani saya dengan para guru saya. Tidak di Indonesia, mereka tinggal di berbagai titik di bola bumi ini. 

Kalaupun ada naskah berbahasa Indonesia, lazimnya itu adalah versi kedua atau terjemahan saya dari naskah aslinya. Beberapa teman secara halus mengkritik saya karena kebiasaan itu. Jengah dan malu juga tiap kali saya mendapat "teguran" semacam itu. Maka, tidak cuma satu dua kali saya mencoba menulis dalam bahasa Indonesia. 

Naskah berikut ini beberapa dari sedikit tanka yang aslinya saya tulis dalam bahasa Indonesia.

::

1/
bila, berujar kau
ombak berhenti datang
menyambangi pesisir
diam-diam bayangan kita
lebih dulu mencapai laut


if only those waves
stop reaching the shore
your voice indistinct
our shadows unnoticed
race towards the sea

2/
sepagi ini
ia sudah memanggilmu
kicau prenjak
dingin yang sibakkan tirai
datang atau pergikah?


still too early
the morning call
o little birds
our curtain waves to
the ebb and flow of air

Enough, she said tanka

1/

enough, she said

I stop pouring tea 

into the cup 

my ex used to sip from 

before it's cold

2/

so slowly

it runs before me

o river, river

it's the trembles in her hands

that wash me all over

Bamboo rustle

bamboo rustle
grandfather tells him
about growing tall

Three tanka

1/
sleeps too deep
or so it seems to me
roadside mimosa
her diamond earrings glisten
with the first light

2/
the scent of cut hay
from the harvested field
you shall set it free
once you said about my dream
that sleeps in a heap of grass

3/
we lose them 
one after another
after certain age*
will you catch me
when i'm a falling petal

*Inspired by Murakami's 1Q84

Sleep too deep tanka

sleeps too deep
or so it seems to me
roadside mimosa
her diamond earrings glisten
with the first light

A rosebud and singing cicadas tanka

1/
a rosebud in my garden
too lovely to overlook
behind this window
i welcome the morning light
as if the blooming last forever

2/
perpetual echo
of your voice in my ear
you against me
over the reason to love
cicadas singing in the trees

Mother tanka

I took my kids to visit my mother in my hometown last week end. Not a long trip, it usually takes no more than for hours driving. I wrote these two tanka during the visit.

Two tanka for my mother

1/
in wooden armchair
my mother no longer knits
slip, stitch and pass
the piece she made wholeheartedly
was raising a wayward son

2/
the meaning of getting old
my mother told me about
hair loss
I realize how hard it is
to say an early goodbye

Dusk haiga

A branch tanka

a branch
bathed in light
where the raven was--
holding onto my desire
to paint with colors


Published in A Hundred Gourds, Vol. 1:3, Summer 2012

Newly divorced haiku

newly divorced
another unused hanger
in the wardrobe


Published in A Hundred Gourds, Vol 1:3, Summer, June 2012

City dusk haiku

city dusk
shadows
overlapping


Published in A Hundred Gourds, 1:3, Summer 2012

Silent sea haiga

Published in A Hundred Gourds 3:3, Summer 2012

Raging water haiku

raging water
the jasmine in her hair
as i whisper

Being all ears haiga

Once again, may haiku appears in Haiga Online, June 2012 issue, for the art of Mary E Rodning.

Even the light haiga

White sky...haiga

A collaboration with Hendri Bundrawan

Silent night..haiga

Thanks to my colleague Esdoubleu Lie who contributes his haiku for the painting.

O, gentle wind haiga

Full moon haiku triplet

1/
full moon...
i promise to sketch her
a lotus blossom

bulan penuh...
kujanjikan dia sketsa
sekuntum lotus

2/
different
layers of silence--
full moon

sunyi
berlapis-lapis--
purnama

3/
as if my mom
reads me bedtime story
full moon

seolah ibuku
sedang mendongeng
bulan nan bulat

Your timid glance haiga

Brush pen on sketchbook paper, doodled at lunch, Morrissey Hotel, Menteng, Jakarta, May 24, 2012

Satintails haiga

Doodled at dinner, brush pen on HVS, Morrissey Hotel, Menteng, Jakarta, 2012.

I let you go

i let you go
at the dawn of our days
weeping wind
carries the phantasmagoria
from abandoned plain

Silently haiga

How many haiku can you write about plum blossoms?

Another blossoms haiga

Plum blossoms haiga

My second haiga on my own painting; brush pen on tissue paper. Painted mindlessly during a workshop

Hardly breathing tanka

hardly breathing in
this sultry April evening
deeper and deeper
the scar i tried to hide
carved on my heart of stone

One by one tanka

one by one
the trees let the leaves go
in evening wind
the words we created
walk past our shadows

Wedding gown haiga

Thin air haiga

My first haiga on sumi-e.

Two tanka leftovers...

1/
reaching
into my eardrum
distant thunder
what lies in between us
shivering window glass


2/
the warm touch
of morning sunbeam
in my bed
i dream of walking
alone to nowhere

Sharing memories tanka

sharing memories
at high school reunion
like old tape
there's something good
to listen between noises

Observing clouds tanka

observing clouds
slowly sail the sky
i'm torn in two
my expectation escaping
the other side of me

Awaken tanka

awaken
just to touch her pillow
coldness unravelled
the call she made lately
from private number

Spring garde haiga

Appears at Daily Haiga, March 8, 2012

Wild mushroom tanka and haiku

1/
wild mushrooms
in our deserted garden
grow in silence
we know how this coldness
lingers like cataract*

2/
the rage
i refuse to let loose
monsoon

3/
morning mist
floating above the lake
unfinished poetry
hoping you find it carved
on my headstone

4/
are you too, moon
stargazing?

5/
peeking
thru vertical blinds
morning sunbeam
is it love concealed
behind your eyelids?

*Previously published somewhere in this blog

Warbler song haiku

misty morning
undulate movement of
warbler song

From across the roji haiga

Published on Daily Haiga Edited Journal

Wooden bench haiku

wooden bench
someone has left the shadow
of tall trees

Sleeping homeless haiku*

sleeping homeless
the hissing exhauster of
fast food restaurant

*An altered version of Rike Jokanan's haiku

First monday haiku

first monday
a fast train run past
card houses

Pine cone haiga

First collaborative work with Irvan Kristanto

Night rain

between
me and freezing rain
dad's old sarong

Another drop of water haiga

Distant storm haiga

My haiga appears in Daily Haiga, January 20, 2012

Uphill drive haiku

uphill drive
sudden downpour of
dragonflies

Pole dancing haiga

Eagle's cry haiga

Another haiga of mine, published in Daily Haiga, January 9, 2012. The image was originally taken in Bukit Bangkirai, Samboja, Kutai Kartanegara, East Kalimantan, minutes away from the Canopy Bridge, 2007.

Lost in light haiga

Sent to me some months back, the image keeps haunting me. One out of many images Bambang N Karim produced for me, this image has been there in my hard disk for months. I eventually find the words for the haiga;

lost in light

my heart mind soul

here lie under 

a grassblade bends for

the damselfly

Weathered traveller haiga

First collaboration with Abmi Handayani