Tuesday, August 22, 2017

One Man's Maple Moon: Fable Tanka by ai li

English Original

reading you
that fable
at bedtime
my wings
in shadow

still 3: two, 1998

ai li


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

睡前
朗讀那個寓言
給你聽
我的翅膀
在陰影中

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

睡前
朗读那个寓言
给你听
我的翅膀
在阴影中


Bio Sketch

ai li is a Straits Chinese haiku and tanka poet. She writes about Life, Love and Loss bringing healing and prayer to her poems. She is the founding editor and publisher of still, moving into breath and dew-on-line and the creator of cherita. Find her essence and poems at: https://www.amazon.com/aili/e/B0080X6ROC/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1469884842&sr=1-2-ent

2 comments:

  1. The thematically and emotionally dialectic relationship is well established between the two parts of this minimalist tanka (of 10 words and 14 syllables), and its lower verse ("my wings (imagination)/in shadow")works effectively on at least two levels, literal and symbolic.

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  2. ai li's fable tanka reminds me of Michael Dylan Welch's visual haiku on the "elves" in children's book.

    See "Butterfly Dream: Bookshelves Haiku by Michael Dylan Welch," https://neverendingstoryhaikutanka.blogspot.ca/2015/01/butterfly-dream-bookshelves-haiku.html

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