Sunday, November 30, 2014

One Man's Maple Moon: Dark Wing Tanka by Brian Zimmer

English Original

this hour
of clarity each day
before dawn
and the dark wing
casts its shadow

Gusts, 18, Fall/Winter 2013

Brian Zimmer


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

每天
在拂曉之前
這一小時的清明
以及黑暗之翼
投射它的陰影

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

每天
在拂晓之前
这一小时的清明
以及黑暗之翼
投射它的阴影


Bio Sketch

Brian Zimmer wrote from the banks of the Mississippi River in St. Louis, Missouri. His work had appeared in various international print and online journals. He took inspiration from a variety of sources, including the ancient Japanese poetic-diary (utanikki) and free-form, poetic "essay" (zuihitsu).

2 comments:

  1. The shift (from the concrete/physical to the abstract/inner; from being clear to being shadowy...) is poignant, and the use of "each day" adds emotional weight to the poem.

    This tanka effectively depicts the "dark wing[s] of one's long night"

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  2. For more information about Brian Zimmer, see the memorial issue of Haibun Today, 8:4, December 2014.

    For more information about his tanka and his view of tanka, see "Dark Wings of Night: Brian Zimmer's View of Tanka and His Tanka," which can be accessed at http://neverendingstoryhaikutanka.blogspot.ca/2014/11/dark-wings-of-night-brian-zimmers-view.html

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