Thursday, November 6, 2014

One Man's Maple Moon: Silhouette Tanka by Susan Constable

English Original

in silhouette
a woman sitting alone
beside the dock
the sound of a wave
turning into itself

Ribbons, 6:4, 2010

Susan Constable


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

一個女人
獨自坐在碼頭旁
的側影
海浪的聲音
轉向它自己

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

一个女人
独自坐在码头旁
的侧影
海浪的声音
转向它自己


Bio Sketch

Susan Constable’s tanka appear in numerous journals and anthologies, including Take Five. Her tanka collection, The Eternity of Waves, was one of the winning entries in the eChapbook Awards for 2012. She is currently the tanka editor for the international on-line journal, A Hundred Gourds

1 comment:

  1. The upper verse vividly depicts a lonely scene while the lower verse enhances the tone and mood. And L5 skillfully indicates that the women is submerged in her own world.

    This well-crafted "middle-of-the-story" tanka reminds me of the opening scene of The French Lieutenant's Woman.

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