a large stone
marks the spot where she drowned
from behind me
a crow pierces the stillness
as the river rushes on
Thelma Mariano
Chinese Translation (Traditional)
一塊大石頭
標誌她淹死之處
當河水奔湧而上
從我身後
一隻烏鴉穿越寂靜
Chinese Translation (Simplified)
一块大石头
标誌她淹死之处
当河水奔湧而上
从我身後
一只乌鸦穿越寂静
Bio Sketch
Thelma
Mariano won a number of international Tanka Splendor awards in the last
15 years and has published tanka in literary journals around the world.
She lives in Montreal near the rapids of the St. Lawrence River, which
often inspire her. She is also an author of contemporary women’s
fiction.
Thelma's heartfelt tanka is made up of fives poetic phrases/ku and structured into two parts, where there is a thematically and emotionally dialectical relationship between death ("where she drowned" and the "crow") and life ("life goes on just like a river flow"). The symbolically rich images of the flying crow and the rushing river add psychological depth to the poem.
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