One Man's Maple Moon: Grass Fire Tanka by Fumiko Nakajo

English Original

a distant grass fire

burning in the evening

intimate

like a special stranger

I think of my husband

Breasts of Snow, 2004

Fumiko Nakajo 

Chinese Translation (Traditional)

遠處的草原野火

在夜間燃燒

親密地

像是一個特別的陌生人

我想念我的丈夫

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

远处的草原野火

在夜间燃烧

亲密地

像是一个特别的陌生人

我想念我的丈夫

 

Bio Sketch

Fumiko Nakajo (中城ふみ子, 1922-54) was a strong-willed woman who lived a tragic life. She died from breast cancer at the age of 32, just few months after her first collection of 50 tanka, titled Chibusa Soshitsu (The Loss of Breasts), won the first prize in a nationwide contest sponsored by a major magazine. She is, though almost unknown outside of Japan, considered to be the third in the three most famous Japanese female poets in the last century, right up there with Akiko Yosano and Machi Tawara.