New Year’s Eve bath --
I failed to become
a swan
Frogpond, 28:2, Spring/Summer 2005
Fay Aoyagi
Chinese Translation (Traditional)
除夕澡 --
我沒能成為
一隻天鵝
Chinese Translation (Simplified)
除夕澡 --
我没能成为
一只天鹅
Bio Sketch
Fay
Aoyagi （青柳飛）was born in Tokyo and immigrated to the U.S. in 1982. She
is currently a member of Haiku Society of America and Haiku Poets of
Northern California. She serves as an associate editor of The Heron's Nest.
She also writes in Japanese and belongs to two Japanese haiku groups;
Ten'I (天為) and "Aki"（秋), and she is a member of Haijin Kyokai (俳人協会).
The earlier version of Fay's "New Year's Eve Bath" haiku above was the following one published in The Heron’s Nest, 5:4, April 2003:
ReplyDeleteNew Year’s Eve bath --
I fail to become
a swan
This poem alludes to the haiku below written by Sumio Mori and translated by her:
my wife on New Year’s Eve
taking a bath
as though she is a swan
And five years later, Yu Chang published the following haiku in Acorn, 20, Spring 2008, a deliberate parody of Fay’s:
lavender scent
I fail to become
a bee
Below is excerpted from Fay's article, titled "Dissection of the Haiku Tradition," which can be accessed at https://fayaoyagi.wordpress.com/essay/
ReplyDeleteYou may not realize what I failed to become. On the surface, what I wanted to write about was my failure of finding Mr. Right that year again. Still, I am taking a bath on New Year’s Eve like the beloved wife of Sumio Mori. I may not be a swan, but I am a bird that has strong wings to fly.