staring back at me
from the mirror
my father’s face
with the sad eyes
of my mother
Frank Dietrich
Chinese Translation (Traditional)
父親的臉
帶有母親
的悲傷眼睛
從鏡子裡的映影
凝視著我
Chinese Translation (Simplified)
父亲的脸
带有母亲
的悲伤眼睛
从镜子里的映影
凝视着我
Bio Sketch
Born in Berlin, Frank Dietrich now lives in Düsseldorf, Germany, where he works as an English teacher and private tutor. He studied English literature in London (UK) and Germany.
Enhanced by the inversion technique with a special emphasis on "staring" that bookends the tanka with the "sad eyes" of the speaker's mother, this middle-of-the-story tanka effectively builds, line by line, to a visually and emotionally powerful ending that reveals the tensions in the parent and adult child relationship.
ReplyDeleteFrank's "reflection in the mirror" tanka reminds me of the following tanka with a thematic focus on one parent (only) re/published on NeverEnding Story:
Deletehow can I be
so angry
over her remark ...
look long in the mirror
see my father staring back
NeverEnding Story, December 15, 2016
Thomas Martin
these eyes
staring back from the mirror
no longer mine...
when did I start living
in denial?
Chrysanthemum, October 2014
Shloka Shankar
this misty night
I hold up a mirror
to myself ...
(what's the difference
between my father and me?)
NeverEnding Story, June 16, 2019
Chen-ou Liu
in the mirror
Father's face and mine
overlapping
on New Year's morning
I take an ice-cold shower
Lynx, 28:3, October 2013
Chen-ou Liu
Life is a mirror and will reflect back to the thinker what he thinks into it.
-- Ernest Holmes