end of summer
air hangs heavy over
a decaying seal
I too may disappear
under a burden of sighs
Haiku Heute, September 2006
Jane Reichhold
Chinese Translation (Traditional)
夏天結束了
一隻腐爛的海豹
散發出濃厚的臭味
在嘆息的重擔之下
我也可能像這樣地消逝
Chinese Translation (Simplified)
夏天结束了
一只腐烂的海豹
散发出浓厚的臭味
在叹息的重担之下
我也可能像这样地消逝
Bio Sketch
Jane
Reichhold was born as Janet Styer in 1937 in Lima , Ohio , USA . She
had published over thirty books of haiku, renga, tanka, and
translations. Her latest tanka book, Taking Tanka Home was translated into Japanese by Aya Yuhki. Her most popular book is Basho The Complete Haiku by Kodansha International. As founder and editor of AHA Books, Jane also published Mirrors: International Haiku Forum, Geppo, for the Yuki Teikei Haiku Society, and she had co-edited with Werner Reichhold, Lynx for Linking Poets since 1992. Lynx went online in 2000 in AHApoetry.com the web site Jane started in 1995. Since 2006 she had maintained an online forum – AHAforum
In Jane's heart-wrenching tanka, L1 (end of summer) is not merely to add a seasonal reference, but to signify a process of the decaying of life, which is initiated by Mother Nature. And a poignant simile is effectively established between Ls 2&3 (decaying seal under the heavy, stinky air) and (the speaker afraid of death under a burden of sighs) through emotionally poignant and symbolically rich imagery.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing, Chen-ou as I don't remember reading this particular tanka of Jane's. I can almost imagine a discordant soundtrack accompanying this piece of work, like in a film when you just know something bad is going to happen.
ReplyDeletemarion