English Original
barber shop mirror
more wrinkle and sag
than i thought
my hair invisible
on the white apron
Arithmetic, 2020
George Swede
Chinese Translation (Traditional)
理髮店鏡子顯示出
比我心中想像
有更多的皺紋和下垂的皮膚
白色圍裙上我的頭髮
白得看不見
Chinese Translation (Simplified)
理发店镜子显示出
比我心中想像
有更多的皱纹和下垂的皮肤
白色围裙上我的头发
白得看不见
Bio Sketch
George Swede's most recent collections of haiku are Almost Unseen (Decatur, IL: Brooks Books, 2000), Joy In Me Still (Edmonton: Inkling Press, 2010) and micro haiku: three to nine syllables (Inspress, 2014). He is a former editor of Frogpond: Journal of the Haiku Society of America (2008-2012) and a former Honorary Curator of the American Haiku Archives (2008-2009).
George's tanka effectively builds, line by line, to a thematically significant and visually and emotionally poignant ending that reveals the theme of aging.
ReplyDeleteAnd it might be interesting to do a thematic comparative reading of his another tanka about aging, which could be read as a sequel:
outdoor café
a man as old as i
with a smile
that reveals a truce
with sadness
Arithmetic, 2020