snarls and yelps
of neighbourhood dogs
my inner child
admonishing
my shadow self
Gusts, 28, Fall/Winter 2018
Susan Mary Wade
Chinese Translation (Traditional)
一群鄰居的狗
咆哮和大聲喊叫
我的內心孩子
告誡
我的陰影自我
Chinese Translation (Simplified)
一群邻居的狗
咆哮和大声喊叫
我的内心孩子
告诫
我的阴影自我
Bio Sketch
Susan Mary Wade's tanka have appeared in The Tanka Journal, International Tanka, Gusts, Ribbons, Moonbathing and Frameless Sky. Her work has been anthologised and she has received an award from The International Tanka Competition in Japan on three occasions.
This psychologically bent tanka is bookended by the frightening image of howling dogs (Ls 1&2) and the culturally rich Jungian concept of shadow self (L5), both of which work well as an implied simile to set the theme and mood. And the central line, another Jungian concept, "inner child"(highly popularized by pop psychologists), tries to instill a sense of calmness, by warning/reprimanding the shadow self/L5 firmly.
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