Poet Profile

Victor P. Gendrano

I am a retired librarian from the Los Angeles County Public Library. For 13 continuous years, 1987-1999, I published and edited Heritage magazine, an English-language quarterly on Filipino culture, arts and letters. Since my high school days, I have been writing poems bilingually, in English and Tagallog, a Philippine major language. I've been writing haiku and related Japanese poetic forms since 2000. My poems have been published in anthologies and numerous print and online magazines, including The Heron's Nest, World Haiku Review, Mainichi Daily News, Lynx, Ribbons, and others.

Awards and Other Honors: Honorable Mention, Mainichi Daily News International Haiku Contest (2009); Third Place, Mainichi Daily News Annual Selection (2005)

Books Published: Rustle of bamboo leaves: Selected haiku and other poems (Lulu Press, 2005); Haiku and Tanka Harvest (CreateSpace, 2011).

sleepless night
I touch gently
her empty space

winter eve
on top of the fireplace
grandpa's lost pipe

sunny morning
a dewdrop holds
the universe

widower’s first date
her aggressiveness
unsettles his driving

spring rain
her parasol opens
to take him in

dining alone
the piped-in music plays
our love song

Credits: "sleepless night" - The Daily Yomiuri (Sept. 30, 2003); "sunny morning" - Mainichi Daily News (Jan 1, 2005), Third Place, 2005 Annual Selection; "spring rain" - The Heron’s Nest VII:2 (2005); "winter eve" – Honorable Mention, Mainichi Daily News International Haiku Contest (2009; "widower’s first date" – Sketchbook 3:10 (2008); "dining alone" - Notes from the Gean 1:3 (2009)