Thursday, December 20, 2018

One Man's Maple Moon: Smudged Ink Tanka by Sheila Sondik

English Original

smudged ink
on his postcard
not tears
but rain falling
in the miles between us

A Hundred Gourds, 1:2, Winter 2012

Sheila Sondik


Chinese Translation (Traditional)


在他的明信片上
有墨水的污點
它們不是眼淚
而是在我們之間數里之遙的城鎮
正在下雨

Chinese Translation (Simplified)


在他的明信片上
有墨水的污点
它们不是眼泪
而是在我们之间数里之遥的城镇
正在下雨


Bio Sketch

Sheila Sondik is a poet and printmaker in the Pacific Northwest. A long-time lover of haiku (and practitioner of several other Japanese and Chinese art forms), she began writing haiku and tanka in 2010. Her work has been widely published.

3 comments:

  1. The opening image of Ls 1&2 successfully carries emotional significance while these visually and emotionally evocative words, "tears" and "rain[drops]," in Ls 3&4 make L5 thematically and symbolically effective, having the most weight.

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  2. I've read this a dozen times and love it more each time. Thanks for sharing.

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  3. Beautiful Sheila. Yes the first two lines come alive with "smudged" the rest so tender and also visual, as well as felt.

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