the answer is yes no yes breaking waves
Touchstone Individual Poem Award, 2015
Robert Epstein
Chinese Translation (Traditional)
答案是不是是破浪而出
Chinese Translation (Simplified)
答案是不是是破浪而出
Bio Sketch
Robert
Epstein, a psychologist and haiku poet/anthologist, lives and works in
the San Francisco Bay Area. He has edited four anthologies: The Breath of Surrender; Dreams Wander On; The Temple Bell Stops; and Now This. He has written two books of haiku: A Walk Around Spring Lake; and Checkout Time is Noon, as well as a chapbook titled, What My Niece Said in His Head: Haiku and Senryu
“This poem shows how we can be indecisive and still find solace in the natural world and its rhythm. Perhaps, this poem also highlights uncertainty in a relationship.”
ReplyDelete“This poem embodies the shift in and out of decisiveness through the poem's rhythm, echoing the swell and crash of waves. A reminder that change is the nature of life itself.”
“Faced with a perplexing problem/decision, it is easy to imagine seeking solitude at the beach. But the repetitive breaking waves bring no answers — just options. Yes. No. Yes. No. Unlike plucking daisy petals (“he loves me; he loves me not”), there is no finite answer. The waves come on without letup (back and forth: the one-line format illustrates that perfectly) — and without definitive resolution.”
-- Comments from the Panel, which can be accessed at https://www.thehaikufoundation.org/touchstone-awards-for-2015/