my aunt, a nun,
encouraged me to think,
to question --
lacking answers
I lost the faith
Ignatius Fay
Chinese Translation (Traditional)
我姑姑是修女，
以往她鼓勵我去思考，
去質疑 --
由於從未得到答案
我失去了我的信仰
Chinese Translation (Simplified)
我姑姑是修女，
以往她鼓励我去思考，
去质疑 --
由於从未得到答案
我失去了我的信仰
Bio Sketch
Ignatius
Fay is a retired invertebrate paleontologist. His poems have appeared
in many of the most respected online and print journals, including The Heron’s Nest, Modern Haiku, Ars Poetica, Gusts, Chrysanthemum and Eucalypt. Books: Breccia (2012), a collaboration with fellow haiku poet, Irene Golas; Points In Between (2011), an anecdotal history of his first 23 years. He is the new editor of the Haiku Society of America Bulletin. Ignatius resides in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada.
The tanka captures attention with the honesty and clarity of the first three lines, then takes flight with the ground-shaking statement stated in the last two lines, demonstrating a paradigmatic example of the struggle/"conflict" between faith and reason.
ReplyDeleteThis poem reminds me of the remark made by Søren Kierkegaard, one of the fathers of existentialism and a theologian known for the concept of "leap of faith:"
Without risk, no faith... If I am able to apprehend God objectively, I do not have faith; but because I cannot do this, I must have faith.