A collection of Tanka, Senryu, Zen and Haiku 60 pages By Jan Oskar Hansen

Addiction

Rain has abated A man under an awing Counts falling raindrops He has little else to do He stopped smoking last night

Fiddles with a lighter Clicks it on and off forever Giggles to himself Kicks in a sweetshop window Grabs a handful of all sorts

Tanka

New Moon Storm was throwing love about Impossible night Yet, she said she loved me Who needs moon light now?

. Endless rain We sit indoors Learning to know each other

Candlelight Electricity gone She is beautiful tonight .. Dawn Rain falls softly As not too wake us too early

Tanka

Olympic Games In Indias capital city Nils left to chance The poor, crippled and beggars Are swept out of the city

---------New Delhi High rise flats, middle class India on display The shining face of modernity But need is a hidden menace

---------In chilly Norway Everyone is wholly equal The king more than most His son, the bearded prince, too He wedded a servant wench

Tanka (Animal Welfare) If I were a chicken I would love to live in Swiss Protected by law You have to kill me quickly Before grilling me.

----------------If I were a seal I would like the open sea Shun hunters on ice Who would only sell my skin To the rich ladies of Swiss.

Senryu Today I see what was best for me Yesterday Today I see whats best for me, Tomorrow Today? How Im supposed to know? Its still early day

Tanka Time has altered After the quack In Chile Seven oclock is late It only arrives near eight And we get to live longer

Senryu Death is not the foe It is a columniation of living Sea of nothingness Forever is a word Too awesome for one to grasp It has no horizon

The worried man Was so very fortunate Died before doomsday

Senryu Peace in our Time? From coliseums of our days Fans scream for blood.

Senryu Afghanistan When bombs has creates wasteland Then we call it peace. Tanka When the masses shriek A soldiers silence stands out He loves his enemy Knows of his fear and courage They are true brothers in arms

Tanka When Obama met Lama Tennis players met in Dubai China refused to play When Hamas lost the first match The winners hurriedly left.

Tanka Moral nihilism is Punishing a whole people Celebrate injustice Blind to victims suffering Victory without valor.

Senryu She looks kissed Has been eating strawberries Night is closing in Her love long fallow An old man smiled broadly Now shes his nurse

--------------He cheated the rich They sent him to jail forever So mind whom you rob

.. Now that Im old I welcome every new day But I still hate rain

Hell. (Tanka)

The last man on earth When the night sky is inky Will die screaming His cry will freeze the oceans And its echo rent the sky

Tanka Never been to Prague Not seen the Kafka statue And it makes me sad I have been to East Germany It broke my socialist heart

Tanka Four small horned kids Plays in my neighbours garden The nanny is wary

She knows I think of mint sauce And the aroma of roasted meat.

Tanka

My aim is modest Driver of a ten ton truck A king of the road Loudly blare, scare you rigid Get out of my way amateur.

Haiku Rain takes a break Jaded by its own languor White clouds and sunlight

Senryu Once ardour is ember Out of the ashes flies The bird of friendship

Tanka

Accept old age The smug tellers of lies say Accord is mortal The smug think they are undying Liars fear the truth

Senryu In the minds mere Tiny, silvery fishes swim Called senryu

Senryu Poor Barack Obama One year as US president And he tows the line

Tanka As the world heats up Surveillance will be easier Naked and vulnerable In a line stretching for miles We wait to be castigated

Tanka

Airport humiliation Standing there without shoes And holes in socks Belt, wallet, coins in a box Me! I rather take the train

Senryu

Red plastic roses Faded sepia by neglect Melancholic bouquet

..

Red plastic noses For us to look at and laugh Sad is the joker

------------------

The gloomy guy At the traveling circus Is its funny clown

Haiku

Torn old diary Thrown hotly into the bin Tells of broken love

------------

The old diary Modest amongst bigger books Keeps my many dreams

-----------------Brown old diary Coldly exposes my sappiness Leaves me mortified

Haiku

Algarvian rain Falls mainly in opaque nights When moggy kills mice

On cold winter days When sky is icy sapphire Suns a jaded eye

..

November still day Peaceful chimney smoke shimmer Fox spoors on new snow

Haiku

Compass pointing south, I migrate, follow the sun, But my heart looks north.

..

Chopping winter wood The eye of a fire is blue The colour of yours

At twilight, I shot a raven Night fell down.

Tanka

The seashell I found On the people empty beach I cant listen to If the sirens calls my name I will drown in her embrace

Tanka

Ashes on the sea A showy and mean gesture From earth to earth Let me fertilize a tree,

Say, a flowering almond tree.

Tanka.

Painted the floor green Sit in a corner and wait Quick drying paint Four hour it says on the can Where I sit its a life time.

Senryu

Epiphany me now With your enchanted smile The forever Ill see.

Tanka

Lucid as the day Blinding sunlight obscured you When I could see The night had devoured you Into a cloudy haziness

Tanka

Mirror in the hall Dont sarcastically laugh When I walk past On my way to the kitchen To eat another strawberry tart

Tanka

There was a time When the famous kept leopards As an accessory Now they keep an orphanage Of colourful children

Senryu

God doesnt do email Hand delivered post only Stamps not needed.

. Lucky butterfly It doesnt look like a gnat And get whacked.

Tanka

I wake up early Think the new days lovelier Than the one before Sit up and recklessly laugh

Its my bonhomie you see.

Tanka

Woke up cheerful And I greatly worried why Till the sense ended And I was my grumpy self Happiness is frivolous

Tanka (x-mass warning)

Santa brought us gifts He had jolly good dram too Claus was arrested Didnt drive his reindeers though But crashed uncles old Volvo

Haiku (stillness)

Echo of a phone Ringing in another room Rays of light and dust.

Buried her yesterday My room is full of silence Dog hair on the floor

Senryu

Stillness is The flapping of wings In the forest

Stillness is The falling of a leaf In October

Senryu

Morning zephyr Flapping kitchen curtains Aroma of coffee

A grizzled donkey Under a big carob tree Makes it pretty.

In a dead rabbits eyes I saw the vast empty sky Unmoved and godless

Senryu

A smile from you Erases the cosmic loneliness Of icy stars

Tanka.

Talk to the net Listen to the faint echo, Of virtual droning, The unspoken loneliness, Of dreamers caught in a void.

Tanka.

I have traveled long Blessed by Gobis new moon Bit by scorpions Seen tall ships sail up said down Yet, found my way back home

Tanka.

I have voyaged long Sailed across seven seas Canoed great rivers Humiliated by the infamous This I did and you married Fred!

Zen

Icy morning Frost on window Back to bed

Haiku

Indian summer, Is an actor who wont share Limelight with autumn.

Senryu

Mighty flood Ocean is your destiny Deadly her embrace

Zen Sad sight Is a butterfly Not prepared For winter.

Senryu

The kitchen clock Ticks slow in December Too fast in May

Air freshener Perfumed chemicals In spray cans

Haiku On a sunny wall Bluebottles hum and feel safe Spiders like the dark.

Rocks in the lake Are older than the blue mountain Petrified stars?

Senryu

When mother moon Illuminates birch trees Tears of silver fall

Senryu

When the Amazon

Meets the ocean Its but a tear drop

Senryu

Beautiful ocean Infuriated frothy green Buckles iron ship

Tedious ocean Lacklustre mirror the sky No wind in sails

Banal ocean Shimmering carpet of gold Jumping dolphins.

Haiku.

The ephemeral Frost roses on my window

January morning

Forced silence is A hushed scream of despair At a funereal

-----------Mourners tanned faces Paled by the open grave Beads on worried brows

They sang and cried Then walked out into the sun Leaving me alone.

Mourners sit in pubs For once I had their attention Now they drink beer.

Senryu

Its been said before: At night colours hibernate Yet, tulips are black

..

Only deer can hear How wild flowers scream When uprooted.

Kashmir Cannons splinter rocks On high mountain tops Frost kills soldiers.

Guilt Linked embryos Carries a nuns silver cross She bears our sin. Image Grim is poverty The rich find it colourful When seen on film. Class I shed the shackles Of the working class slums Free now to dream. Love After tantrums she laughs Cooks me a curried chicken Im often hungry.

Senryu

The electric fan scornfully circulate warm air throws it in my face. Todays oppressive heat will be a winter days dream of a summer gone.

A dazzling woman Deserves a beautiful poem After shes forty. .. An ugly woman Deserves a dazzling poem Every morning.

Senryu The transitory Saw and touched her yesterday

Now I need a spade.

,,,,,,,,,,,,,
Tremulous anguish

Morning after a long night

No beer in fridge. Curtained windows Tremors and spilling coffee Phone ceaselessly rings.
. Outside my door

The nice couple from AA Test their friendly smiles.

Senryu The angry ocean Left its irate foam behind Haiku

Auburn leaf Rustling along night streets Whispering regrets Senryu In a mythic glade Crane and vixen danced Mortal tango.

Senryu Night rain fell Softly as lovers whispers At dawn

. Lone streetlamp The only witness to snowflakes Falling gently

Sea mist came White as a coat of silence And nirvana sighed

From an ash tree Excess moonlight dripped A treasure trove

Senryu On the fenland Escaped sunbeam danced Late at night

Zen Spun wishes Make new day

Zen A cock That crew early Loses its head

Senryu When one talk Another must listen Let it not be me

Senryu

Murmur from the East We ignored to our peril Now it is a scream .

The thunder afar

Is not inclement weather But exploding bombs .

Body part drizzle When eager children pick up Toys dropped from planes

Mans born to evil Isnt it a miracle then That goodness exists ?

Haiku

Inconceivable That rain will fall, sun shine Without you around .

When yesterday goes

A galactic star gives birth To the morrow

Lost hopes Recuperate in moonlight Sparkle at daybreak .

Melancholy too When in auroras bosom Smiles at destiny

Haiku When rain falls at night Parched soil is grateful The sun is a thief .

Hushed moonlight Shines on a forest lake False dawn? .

Deliciously With her I pass the night Till aurora smiles .. In dawns light Flowers open petals Collect fecundity

Haiku/senryu

Dawns melancholy Dissolves in the brilliance Of suns bright smile

Hushed afternoon Cold wind has blown us indoors

Sorrow has returned

Oak leaves drown In my gardens ornate pond Dignified grief

..

This I didnt know The power a white pearl has To transform a cornea Senryu/Haiku

Blank is her facewhen Thinking of its lost beauty Submerged by sadness

On the villages pond Silvery on sunless days Float forgotten sunrays

..

The mountain lake When kissed by the breeze Trembles delighted

Only the black swan In the mystic forest tarn Knows where my car is

Senryu/ Haiku

Tropical lagoon Clear as Portuguese vino-verde Is soberly calm

..

Does spring offensive Mean procreation and bird-song Or war?

Morning Zephyr Flapping kitchen curtain Aroma of coffee

Field ploughing tractors Red soil and shrieking birds Horse empty landscape Senryu/Haiku

A grizzled donkey Under a big carob tree Makes it pretty ..

So many flowers Flamboyant aroma of death A princess died

..

The good farmer Has planted and almond tree

On my dogs grave

In a dead rabbits eye I saw the vast empty sky Unmoved and godless

Tanka

Emerald hilltops White coves and sky forever blue Transient Eden But when sea and lave meet Clouds of steam and nothingness

Auroras glow Drips through a curtain tear Keeping me awake When I really want to sleep Till dawn grows into noon

..

In the shamans cove Where effervesce, sea-froth hardens To make a pipe That scents of salt and sea- stars And the breaths of lovelorn mermaids

Tanka

Indolent ease In my unkempt back garden The feral feline Surveys her private kingdom Lives dead mice on my doorstep

Tepid was winter No ice in gardens pond Is the end nigh? The spring is glacially colds Hailstones kill the lemon tree

..

Miserable morning Ominous was forenoon Motorway pile up She wasnt coming home for tea A scream echoed through the night

Tanka Pauls dog is vegan Barks like its masters voice And never bites My dog doesnt like carrots Bites, if she can the postman

Last Friday afternoon Time slowed to a trickle Icy wind and rain Tried to stop it entirely

Mothers straw hat On a hook in the hallway Twenty years gone now Covered in spiders web Yet I can see her kind smile

Tanka

The poem I read Was as a face coming out of mist Clear for a second Then dreamily hidden again Leaving me wondering why?

..

I know so little And would like to learn some more But not the whole thing How tedious it would be A world void of mystery

Senryu/Haiku

Cattle graze on fields We eat succulent steaks Leather upholstery .

A rabbits blue eyes Beady floated in gravy Rabbit foot for luck .. Chicken eat earthworms Cluck and dont know its destiny Deep- fried drumsticks Rolling in the mud Trotters ankle deep in crap Pork chops on the slab

Haiku

Dulcet middle age The sea has lost its passion Beautiful sunset.

Silence in my room Drips memory of childhood Old beams carry roof ..

This afternoon is still Yet hasty wings of time fly In evening shimmer .

Now that night approaches Will you renew your promise Of perpetual life?

Haiku

In a Japanese garden Where trees are pruned The sun never sets

Garden untended Paradise for cats and mice Pruning tolls broken

An army garden Roses at smart attention Salute the gardener . By the hard road garden Asphalt dust and petrol fumes Necromantic at night

Tanka

The mermaids sister Keeps her bum on a barstool Whisky on the rocks Shes an alcoholic siren Scrounging booze of nave men

..

The mermaids sister Doesnt keep her fish-tail on Whisky on the rocks Drinks in posh nocturnal bars Promise nave men a good time

Senryu/haiku

The rusty tractor Abandoned in the field Has gulls dropping on . Tropical holiday Breadfruit and green bananas Utter boredom too .

Theft alarm Keep neighbours awake When youre in Spain ..

When a sunny wall Shines luminously clear Shadows live in fear . In dour winter light Cars parked near a clinic

Look fatally ill

Haiku/senryu

Sunlight and shadow Ran up and down a hill Till rain stopped play .

Snows only purpose To make my garden look good Four months a year. .

Shadow and light In an unseemly embrace Foolish April dance ..

In the midday heat Mules seek shady carob tree Man seeks the beach.

Senryu/Haiku

Morning sadness Rain trickles down the window Grey October day

Is love between men An excessive expression Of masculinity? ..

Pity the Eskimo With the vanishing ice cap He cant build his home .

The heat of august Carries the hue Of coming decay

The moral base For consuming human flesh Is a green answer Senryu/ Haiku

Every- body can Not just the Italians Be made into salami --------

Let the old feel useful Made them into hamburgers And feed for cattle .

Is cannibalism The practical green way To save the planet?

-----------------Israels creation Confirms beyond doubt That violence works

Tanka

I danced in the vale Running horses flying mane In a coppice the stopped And grazed on green clover A hammock of hose hair I made .

White foam on blue sea Spindrift, brother of the sea Spun a magic carpet On which we can forever fly Till fairy tales come true

Haiku

Shepherd and his dog Sit in the shade of a tree Dazzling light on leaves

. In the olive grove Where grass is green and deep Ewes give birth to lambs

.. Summer light Filtered through green leaves And made moss golden .. Dark hotel room Lit up by flashing neon light Paid sex and silence

THE END