Shēngxiào / 生肖

First published in Bacopa Literary Review 2019, pages 66–67. This sequence also received first prize for haiku ($300) in the Bacopa Literary Review 2019 prizes, and was nominated for a Pushcart Prize. The same issue also included my sequences “Still I Go” and “Haiku Lessons.” See also Mary Bast’s Bacopa Literary Review blog post on 13 October 2019 about this sequence. See also “Three Haiku Sequences,” with my commentary on this sequence that also appeared as a guest posting on 15 January 2020 on the Bacopa Literary Review Editors’ Blog. This sequence also appeared in This Morning's Tides: Commencement Bay Haiku 10-Year Anniversary Anthology (Tacoma, Washington: Commencement Bay Haiku, 2022), pages 79–80. Sequence originally written in late December of 2017.       +


year of the rat—

three African violets

by the mended violin



year of the ox—

peach blossoms

left in the letterbox



year of the tiger—

the glow of cineraria

in misty moonlight



year of the rabbit—

the unfinished painting

of purple jasmine



year of the dragon—

a bleeding heart

fallen to the mantel



year of the snake—

yellow orchids

for the election winner



year of the horse—

a pair of calla lilies

nodding in a vase



year of the goat—

a red carnation

in the journalist’s lapel



year of the monkey—

the encyclopedia opens

to chrysanthemums



year of the rooster—

talking so much in the garden

she misses my gladiolas



year of the dog—

rose bushes hiding

a garden gnome



year of the pig—

the abundance

of hydrangeas