the old woman
climbs aboard the bus
invisible
behind the smell
of her pastrami sandwich
Eric A. Lohman
Chinese Translation (Traditional)
老婦人
爬上公共汽車
她的五香熏牛肉
三明治的氣味
使她消失無形
Chinese Translation (Simplified)
老妇人
爬上公共汽车
她的五香熏牛肉
三明治的气味
使她消失无形
Bio Sketch
Eric A. Lohman is from Powder Springs, GA . He is a psychiatric social worker, composer and poet. He works in the emergency department of a large urban medical center, evaluating and assisting the homeless, the chemically dependent and the chronically mentally ill. Much of his poetry reflects his response to and efforts to cope with that reality.
Structurally and thematically speaking, the poem is framed by these symbolically contrasting phrases, "old woman" and "pastrami sandwich" (the classic New York Jewish deli becoming a symbol of carnal desire/the ethos of excess), and the multivalent central line/word, "invisible," says something loudly about the people around the old woman/the society the old woman lives in.
ReplyDeleteA well-crafted tanka written in an objective,understated tone.