one dark night
in an Iowa winter I arrived
my cries unnoticed …
cold for the last time
I now depart in silence
Denis M. Garrison
Chinese Translation (Traditional)
愛荷華州的冬天
一個漆黑的夜晚，我回來了
我的哭聲沒有引起他人的注意 ...
這是最後一次感到寒冷
現在我默默地離開
Chinese Translation (Simplified)
爱荷华州的冬天
一个漆黑的夜晚，我回来了
我的哭声没有引起他人的注意...
这是最后一次感到寒冷
现在我默默地离开
Bio Sketch
Denis M. Garrison, from Iowa, now lives in Maryland. His childhood was spent in Japan, youth in Europe, Africa and western Pacific. His poetry’s widely published. Garrison’s print collections include First Winter Rain, Eight Shades of Blue, Hidden River, Sailor in the Rain and Other Poems, and Fire Blossoms.
The upper verse depicts a poignant scene while the symbolically rich lower verse enhances the tone and mood of this middle-of-the-story tanka about tragic losses (at least one described in L3; the other implied from Ls 4&5), layered with multiple meanings.
ReplyDeleteAnd the cumulative effects of these phrases, "dark night," "Iowa winter," "cries unnoticed,"cold for the last time," and "depart in silence," add emotional weight and psychological depth to the tanka.