English Original
In the First Nation legends, the white raven comes to guard the moon and stars from evil
(Editor's Note: see To the Lighthouse: Joshi (Prefatory Note) as a Poetic Device )
a full moon
in the winter sky
the white raven
circling
Vancouver Island
Rebecca
Drouilhet
Chinese Translation (Traditional)
在加拿大原住民的傳說中，白烏鴉會來保衛月亮和星星遠離邪惡
冬季天空中
出現一輪圓月
一隻白烏鴉
盤旋於
溫哥華島
Chinese Translation (Simplified)
在加拿大原住民的传说中，白乌鸦会来保卫月亮和星星远离邪恶
冬季天空中
出现一轮圆月
一只白乌鸦
盘旋於
温哥华岛
Bio Sketch
Rebecca
Drouilhet is a 59-year-old retired registered nurse. Her haiku and
tanka have appeared in numerous print and electronic journals. In 2012,
she won a Sakura award in the Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival Haiku
Invitational. She and her husband, Robert Michael Drouilhet have
written a book of haiku titled Lighting a Path.
Rebecca's middle-of-the-story tanka is a good example of how to utilize a note (the joshi, the prefatory note in this case) in such a short poem.
ReplyDeleteStructurally speaking, this tanka is made up of two parts: the prefatory note and the tanka.
The prefatory note establishes the thematic context of the poem, and on a denotative level, this one-scene tanka, technically/cinematically speaking, works effectively as an establishing shot (an extreme wide long shot in this case) that conveys a sense of yugen (through this unusual and riveting image of the "white raven" circling Vancouver Island under the moonlit sky); on a connotative level, this riveting image reveals a troubling relationship between Canadian indigenous peoples and the British Columbia government (represented by this sociopolitically influential island)
Note: For more info. about "yugen", see my "Poetic Musings: Ezra Pound’s "Metro Poem" as a Yugen Haiku," http://neverendingstoryhaikutanka.blogspot.ca/2013/04/poetic-musings-ezra-pounds-metro-poem.html
FYI: Below is the opening passage of "The Blossoming of “Idle No More”. Canada’s First Nations Movement," published on GlobalResearch, http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-blossoming-of-idle-no-more-canadas-first-nations-movement/5373516
ReplyDeleteThe First Nations-led movement Idle No More emerged in Canada in December 2012 to protest legislation that threatened both the rights of First Nations and environmental protections. The movement has since spread into the U.S. and beyond – and has become one of the central voices in the struggle for Indigenous and ecological justice.
ReplyDelete ....
Share with you Dionne Brand's inspiring comment on poetry:
Poetry is here, just here. Something wrestling with how we live, something dangerous, something honest.
-- 'On Poetry,' last essay in "Bread Out Of Stone: Recollections on Sex, Recognitions, Race, Dreaming and Politics," p.183