Tuesday, March 19, 2019

One Man's Maple Moon: Abandon Tanka by Martha Magenta

English Original

the jasmine
spreads over the garden
with abandon
my hair unfurls unrestrained
on your pillow without you

The Bamboo Hut, Autumn 2016

Martha Magenta


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

廢棄的花園裡
隨處都是茉莉花
你不在
在你的枕頭上我的頭髮
無拘無束地攤開

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

废弃的花园里
随处都是茉莉花
你不在
在你的枕头上我的头发
无拘无束地摊开


Bio Sketch

Martha Magenta lives in England, UK. Her haiku, and tanka have appeared in a number of journals, and anthologies. She was awarded Honourable Mentions for her haiku in The Fifth Annual Peggy Willis Lyles Haiku  Awards, 2017, and in the 71st Basho Memorial English Haiku Contest, 2017, and for her tanka in UHTS  “Fleeting Words” Tanka Contest 2017.

1 comment:

  1. The juxtaposition between the two parts of the tanka is visually and emotionally effective, and on second reading, an implicit simile is effectively established between the jasmine and the speaker.

    ReplyDelete