barefoot afternoon
my feet sharing the sweetgrass
with a hill of ants
Cattails, April 2014
Lesley Anne Swanson
Chinese Translation (Traditional)
赤腳的清涼下午
我的雙腳與像小山丘的一群螞蟻
共享香草
Chinese Translation (Simplified)
赤脚的清凉下午
我的双脚与像小山丘的一群蚂蚁
共享香草
Bio Sketch
Lesley
Anne Swanson has lived in Northern California, the Southwest, and the
Pacific Northwest, but now calls Pennsylvania home. Always a wordsmith,
she discovered tanka in 2011 and has been enthralled ever since.
L1 sets the mood and tone of the poem while combined with the emotive verb, "share," the culturally rich image of sweetgrass (known for its sweet smell that arose when it is trodden on and also known as peace grass, which is strewn before church doors on saints' days in northern Europe) in L2 effectively conveys a sense of peacefulness and relaxation.
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