Valentine's Day
at the diner
with eyes cast down
the old couple
sits in silence
A Hundred Gourds, 5:2 March, 2016
S. M. Kozubek
Chinese Translation (Traditional)
情人節
在小餐館裡
這對老夫妻
眼睛低下
沉默地靜坐
Chinese Translation (Simplified)
情人节
在小餐馆里
这对老夫妻
眼睛低下
沉默地静坐
Bio Sketch
After retiring from practicing law, S. M. Kozubek spends more time now writing poems. His haiku and tanka have appeared in Frogpond, A Hundred Gourds, Prune Juice, Modern Haiku, bottle rockets, Skylark, is/let, Red Moon Anthology, hedgerow, and other publications. He is a member of the Haiku Society of America.
This understated tanka is bookmarked by these two emotionally contrasting phrases, "Valentine's Day" and "in silence", and what's left unsaid is at least as important as what's said. And collocated "with eyes cast down," the concluding phrase is pregnant with multiple meanings.
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