Chen-ou Liu Taiwan

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TAIWAN SAIJIKI

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Personal Introduction to Taiwan
Chen-ou Liu

During my first year's stay in Canada, more than seven thousand miles (7,521 miles to be exact) from my family, I often dreamt of Taiwan where I was born and raised. Sometimes these random scenes evoked a sense of homesickness and displacement, and other times I would wonder what they were about. Most of them came to be forgotten, but I don't regret not remembering because there is no point in clinging to bygone days. However, my trouble is that I cannot forget completely. Taiwan is a place where I lived for almost forty years. This is a place I once hated and thought about running away from, then left it, and now I sometimes dream of going back.


The moral backbone of literature is about that whole question of memory. To my mind it seems clear that those who have no memory have the much greater chance to lead happy lives.

But the fact is that writing is the only way in which I am able to cope with the memories which overwhelm me so frequently and so unexpectedly. If they remained locked away, they would become heavier and heavier as time went on, so that in the end I would succumb under their mounting weight.

-- W. G. Sebald, author of The Emigrants

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The haiku/senryu below are dedicated to
Formosa, the Beautiful Island of Taiwan


Lake Ontario water
cupped in my hand --
Formosa ’s moon

Note:
In 1544, a Portuguese ship sighted the main island of Taiwan and named it Ilha Formosa , which means " Beautiful Island " .

Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. Ontario, Canada's second largest and most populous province, was named for the lake.



Taiwan’s moon
hangs in Ajax sky ... the scent
on mother's apron

Note:
Ajax is a suburb of Toronto, the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada, where I continue to struggle with a life in transition and translation.

Taipei is the largest city in Taiwan and has been the capital of the Republic of China (Taiwan) since 1949. Most importantly, it’s the city of my birth.



over Ajax
the rainy June sky --
I long for Taiwan

written for Basho
and in response to his haiku below:

even in Kyoto--
hearing the cuckoo's cry--
I long for Kyoto.

Note:
In Ajax, the sun comes in unequal measures, but it seldom rains. If it does, it seldom lasts half a day. In Taiwan, the main rainy season, which lasts from mid-May through to mid-June, is a period of time referred to as Meiyu Jijie (梅雨季節), meaning "plum rain season" as it coincides with the plum season. The island can expect heavy rainfall during the plum rain season, during which about 25 percent of the annual rainfall in northern Taiwan falls.



Taipei memories
here in a flash, gone in a flash...
snow on snow


I sleep in Taipei
but wake up in Ajax...
another winter dawn



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Sun Moon Lake
one by one I catch stars
for her

Note:
Sun Moon Lake, situated in Nantou County, Taiwan, is the island’s largest lake as well as the most famous tourist attraction.


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Yuanxiao Festival
soaring lanterns light up
the Taipei sky

Lantern Festival, Yuanxiao Festival 元宵節


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. Chen-ou Liu
Confessions of A Germanophile 　


. WKD : Chen-ou Liu - Urban Haiku




Read more of his poems on his poetry blog (external LINK)
Poetry in the Moment
http://chenouliu.blogspot.com/


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. TAIWAN SAIJIKI . 　


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