beside me
an illusory chair --
no more nights now
of waiting
and longing for him
Ferris Wheel: 101 Modern and Contemporary Tanka, 2006
Tamiko Ohnishi
translated by Kozue Uzawa and Amelia Fielden
Chinese Translation (Traditional)
在我身旁
有一把想像的椅子--
從現在開始不再有
等待他和渴望他
的不眠夜晚
Chinese Translation (Simplified)
在我身旁
有一把想像的椅子--
从现在开始不再有
等待他和渴望他
的不眠夜晚
Bio Sketch
Tamiko Ohnishi (1924~94). Born in Morioka, Iwate, Japan. One of the founders of Keisei (Formation) Tanka Group and the leader of Hatoh (High Wave) Tanka Group. Author of many award-winning tanka collections. Her sudden death (heart failure) was mourned by many tanka poets.
The intense and conflicting feelings are conveyed through the psychologically effective juxtaposition of the speaker's wishful thinking ("illusory chair") and her own volition ("no more nights now/of waiting/and longing for him")
ReplyDeleteEach deals with loss in a different way. For Ohnishi it is a chair, imagined now because there is no longer the need for a real one, and denied longing highlights the poignancy of a real longing that can never again be assuaged.
ReplyDelete-- David Anthony