English Original
fireflies --
a Kamikaze mother whispers
her son's name
Fay Aoyagi
Chinese Translation (Traditional)
數不清的螢火蟲 --
自殺式戰鬥機飛行員的母親低聲訴說
她兒子的名字
Chinese Translation (Simplified)
数不清的萤火虫 --
自杀式战斗机飞行员的母亲低声诉说
她儿子的名字
Bio Sketch
Fay Aoyagi （青柳飛）was born in Tokyo and immigrated to the U.S. in 1982. She is currently a member of Haiku Society of America and Haiku Poets of Northern California. She serves as an associate editor of The Heron's Nest. She also writes in Japanese and belongs to two Japanese haiku groups; Ten'I (天為) and "Aki"（秋), and she is a member of Haijin Kyokai (俳人協会).
Evaluated in the socio-cultural context of Japanese literature, the contrasts, thematic, emotional, visual and symbolic, between fireflies and a Kamikaze pilot and his mother are poignantly effective. And the image of a heartbroken mother in a patriarchal wartime society whispering her (dead) son's name adds extra emotional weight and psychological depth to the haiku.
ReplyDeleteNotes
1 "In Japan, where they are called "hotaru," they are beloved – a metaphor for passionate love in poetry since Man'you-shu (the 8th century anthology). Their eerie lights are also thought to be the altered form of the souls of soldiers who have died in war....excerpted from "Why the Firefly (Hotaru) Is Important in Japan?," ThoughtCo, Feb. 5, 2019, accessed at https://www.thoughtco.com/importance-of-the-firefly-2028102
2 In World War II, a Kamikaze was a Japanese aircraft loaded with explosives and making a deliberate suicidal crash on an enemy target. The Japanese people, especially Kamikaze pilots, were indoctrinated to believe in the concept of "Bushido" (the "highest honor" for a man to die for the "Emperor"). The courageous tanka poet, Yosano Akiko attacked its concept in her in/famous poem, "Kimi Shinitamou koto nakare" ("Thou Shalt Not Die"), addressed to her younger brother.