frosty night ...
the horse’s breath
melts a star
Honorable Mention, 2019 Harold G. Henderson Haiku Contest
Martha Magenta
Chinese Translation (Traditional)
寒冷的夜晚 ...
一匹馬的吐氣
融化一顆星星
Chinese Translation (Simplified)
寒冷的夜晚 ...
一匹马的吐气
融化一颗星星
Bio Sketch
Martha
Magenta lived in England, UK. Her haiku and tanka had 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.
This haiku takes us far from city lights, to a field or a paddock. With the use of sensory and evocative words we can see a warm cloud of horse-breath puff up and momentarily obscure a star. That horse and poet are so close on such a cold night might imply good husbandry. A blanket could be being cinched on, or hay being offered. The surprising observation at the end serves to bring the time and place into sharp focus. For a split- second what is impossibly far away is replaced by what is so very near, right in front of us. That such a brief moment is noticed, appreciated, and skillfully shared, is the hallmark of a good haiku.
ReplyDelete-- excerpted from judges' commentary, accessed at http://www.hsa-haiku.org/hendersonawards/henderson-judges2019.htm