English Original
I had a friend,
we lived with a river
between us ...
in this autumn dusk
one pheasant's long cry
Honorable Mention, 2018 Fleeting Words Tanka Contest
we lived with a river
between us ...
in this autumn dusk
one pheasant's long cry
Honorable Mention, 2018 Fleeting Words Tanka Contest
Kanchan Chatterjee
Chinese Translation (Traditional)
過去
我有一個朋友
住在河的對岸 ...
在這個秋天的黃昏
一隻雉雞的長鳴
Chinese Translation (Simplified)
过去
我有一个朋友
住在河的对岸 ...
在这个秋天的黄昏
一只雉鸡的长鸣
Bio Sketch
Kanchan Chatterjee is a fifty year old government service holder in the finance department of Government of India. He writes poems, especially haiku, tanka and haibun. He has won several haiku awards and has been published in various online and print poetry journals. His haiku appeared regularly in NHK’s program, "Haiku Masters," in Japan. He was a ‘Pushcart Award’ nominee in 2012.
The contrasts (past vs present; companion vs loneliness; implied from the long call without answering back, ...) between the two parts of the tanka are visually and emotionally poignant. And an implied simile is subtly established between the lone speaker and the pheasant.
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