in a small town where
the peeling picket fences
are no longer white,
a mayor with a similar reputation
runs for re-election
Modern English Tanka, 1:3, Spring 2007
M. Kei
Chinese Translation (Traditional)
小鎮上
油漆剝落的柵欄
不再是白色，
一位有類似聲譽的市長
想要競選連任
Chinese Translation (Simplified)
小镇上
油漆剥落的栅栏
不再是白色，
一位有类似声誉的市长
想要竞选连任
Bio Sketch
M. Kei is a tall ship sailor and award-winning poet who lives on Maryland’s Eastern shore. He is the editor of Atlas Poetica: A Journal of World Tanka. His most recent collection of poetry is January, A Tanka Diary. He is also the author of the award-winning gay Age of Sail adventure novels, Pirates of the Narrow Seas. He can be followed on Twitter @kujakupoet, or visit AtlasPoetica.org.
A visually evocative and symbolically rich simile is subtly established between the two parts of the tanka.
ReplyDeleteA timely, sociopolitically conscious tanka on the power dynamic between race and identity politics.