Saturday, November 2, 2019

One Man's Maple Moon: Wish-Fulfilling Tree Tanka by Sonam Chhoki

English Original

to paint you
the wish-fulfilling tree
I have used
some ink of the night
on sheaves of moon-lit clouds

Eucalypt, 18, 2015

Sonam Chhoki


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

為了你
描繪一顆行願樹
我採用
黑夜的一些墨水
畫在月照雲彩的繩輪上

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

为了你
描绘一颗行愿树
我采用
黑夜的一些墨水
画在月照云彩的绳轮上


Bio Sketch

Sonam Chhoki finds the Japanese short form poetry resonates with her Tibetan Buddhist upbringing.  She is inspired by her father, Sonam Gyamtsho, the architect of Bhutan's non-monastic modern education and by her mother, Chhoden Jangmu, who taught her: “Being a girl doesn’t mean you can’t do anything.” She is the principal editor, and co-editor of haibun for the United Haiku and Tanka Society journal, cattails.

1 comment:

  1. Ls 1&2 set the theme that is infused with Tibetan Buddhist iconographic significance while the riveting image of Ls 3-5 successfully enhances the visually and emotionally suggestive power of the tanka.

    Note: Wish-fulfilling tree is a celestial tree in Tibetan Buddhist iconography.

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