I charge
down the highway
crashing
into butterflies
rushing toward birth
Journeys: Getting Lost, 2014
Carole Johnston
Chinese Translation (Traditional)
我急速駛離
高速公路
衝向
一群蝴蝶中
朝向新生
Chinese Translation (Simplified)
我急速驶离
高速公路
衝向
一群蝴蝶中
朝向新生
Bio Sketch
Carole
Johnston has been writing Japanese short form poetry for five years and
has published haiku and tanka in various print and online journals.
Her first chapbook, Journeys: Getting Lost, is forthcoming from
Finishing Line Press. Retired from teaching, she drives around writing
poems about landscape. Visit her on Twitter (@morganabag) to read more
of her poetry.
Carole skillfully employs Onihishigitei, the style of demon-quelling force, in Ls 1-4 to depict a visually and emotionally violent image while the thematic twist in L5 successfully takes this tanka up a notch.
ReplyDeleteNote: Onihishigitei is the style of demon-quelling force, and it is characterized by its “strong or even vulgar diction.” (Brower, p. 406) This style refers to poems whose “imagery or treatment conveys an impression of violence. Such poems are found in particular in Book XVI of Man’yoshū." (Brower and Miner, p. 247). For more info., see "To the Lighthouse: Onihishigitei, Style of Demon-Quelling Force ," http://neverendingstoryhaikutanka.blogspot.ca/2013/05/to-lighthouse-onihishigitei-style-of.html