Wednesday, August 20, 2014

One Man's Maple Moon: Reunion Tanka by Marilyn Humbert

English Original

high school reunion
the same antagonists
vie to be first...
lorikeets squabble
on the bird bath edge

Ribbons, 10:1, Winter 2014

Marilyn Humbert


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

高中同學聚會
同樣的對手
競相爭第一 ...
戲水槽邊
吸蜜鸚鵡在鬥嘴

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

高中同学聚会
同样的对手
竞相争第一 ...
戏水槽边
吸蜜鹦鹉在鬥嘴


Bio Sketch

Marilyn Humbert lives in the Northern Suburbs of Sydney NSW surrounded by bush. Her pastimes include writing free verse poetry, tanka, tanka prose and related genre. She is the leader of Bottlebrush Tanka Group and member of the Huddle and Bowerbird Tanka Groups. Her tanka appears in Australian and international journals.

2 comments:

  1. A simile is well established between the two parts of the poem. Marilyn's relatable tanka reminds me of her another poem using the same image of a bird bath edge, but with a different focus:

    on the edge
    of the birdbath
    a mudlark
    sinks into his reflection
    i turn into my shadow

    Atlas Poetica, 14, Spring 2013

    Both of her tanka are our Today's Food for Thought

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  2. One more comment:

    Marilyn's tanka above could be read as a solo somonka:

    high school reunion
    the same antagonists
    vie to be first...
    lorikeets squabble
    on the bird bath edge

    on the edge
    of the birdbath
    a mudlark
    sinks into his reflection
    i turn into my shadow

    For more info. about somonka, see my "To the Lighthouse" post, titled "Somonka, A Pair of Corresponsive Tanka," which can be accessed at http://neverendingstoryhaikutanka.blogspot.ca/2014/07/to-lighthouse-somonka-pair-of.html

    ReplyDelete