Friday, November 20, 2015

One Man's Maple Moon: Footing Tanka by Keitha Keyes

English Original

as snow
turns to ice
our footing
not so sure now
we slip further apart

red lights, 10:2, June 2014

Keitha Keyes


Chinese Translation (Traditional)
  
正當雪
變成了冰時
不確定我們是否站穩
現在更加滑離
彼此的方向

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

正当雪
变成了冰时
不确定我们是否站稳
现在更加滑离
彼此的方向 


Bio Sketch

Keitha Keyes lives in Sydney but her heart is still in the Australian bush where she grew up. She mostly writes tanka and related genres, revelling in the inspiration, friendship and generosity of these writing communities. Her work appears in many print and online journals and anthologies.

1 comment:

  1. The opening lines not only establish a seasonal context but also resonate closely with the emotional point of the poem while the concluding line works well on at least two levels, literal and metaphoric.

    [Relationship/love], like ice, our footing does betray; Who can tread sure on the smooth, slippery way: Pleased with the surface, we glide swiftly on, And see the dangers that we cannot shun.

    -- paraphrasing John Dryden

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