two monarchs
disappear into the fog
as mysteriously
as they appear ...
will I see my daughter again?
Hifsa Ashraf
Chinese Translation (Traditional)
兩隻帝王蝶
神秘地消失在霧中
然後再次
神秘地出現 ...
我會再見到我的女兒嗎？
Chinese Translation (Simplified)
两只帝王蝶
神秘地消失在雾中
然后再次
神秘地出现...
我会再见到我的女儿吗
Bio Sketch
Hifsa
Ashraf is from Pakistan. She is a lecturer and HR consultant by
profession. She writes short stories, columns, and poetry in different
languages. Her poetry has been published in various online journals. Her
short stories have been published in a UK-based English magazine.
Technically speaking, modeled on traditional Japanese tanka, this heartfelt poem is made up of five poetic phrases (ku) and structured into two parts (“jo,” the prefatory image and the main statement/question) between which an emotionally dialectical relationship is effectively established.
ReplyDeleteAnd thematically and emotionally speaking, Hifsa's tanka reminds me of the following tanka:
Why did you vanish
into empty sky?
Even the fragile snow,
when it falls,
falls in this world.
Izumi Shikibu