Wednesday, February 13, 2019

One Man's Maple Moon: Sign of Trouble Tanka by Marilyn Fleming

English Original

white rump
of a flicker in flight
hightailing it
at the first sign of trouble
my past comes back to haunt me

A Hundred Gourds, 5:1, 2015

Marilyn Fleming


Chinese Translation (Traditional)


在拼命飛逃時
一隻鳥的白臀
左右晃動
在麻煩顯現第一個跡象時
我的過去回過頭來困擾我

Chinese Translation (Simplified)


在拼命飞逃时
一只鸟的白臀
左右晃动
在麻烦显现第一个迹象时
我的过去回过头来困扰我 


Bio Sketch

Marilyn Fleming is a Wisconsin short form poet and sumi-e haiga artist. Her special interests are Asian forms of poetry (haiku tanka and haibun.) She is widely published in US as well as internationally.  To see some of her recent work, visit  her website or follow her on twitter: @mflem9811

1 comment:

  1. The striking, suspenseful image of Ls 1-3 effectively symbolizes L4 while L5 adds emotional weight and psychological depth to the tanka, conveying a mood of deepening pessimism.

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