English Original
first frost
smoother than my day
the clock’s second hand
World Haiku Series, 2019
Ignatius Fay
Chinese Translation (Traditional)
初霜
時鐘的秒針比我的一天
走得更順利
Chinese Translation (Simplified)
初霜
时钟的秒针比我的一天
走得更顺利
Bio Sketch
Ignatius Fay was a retired invertebrate paleontologist. His poems had appeared in many of the most respected online and print journals, including The Heron’s Nest, Modern Haiku, Ars Poetica, Gusts, Chrysanthemum and Eucalypt. Books: Breccia (2012), a collaboration with fellow haiku poet, Irene Golas; Points In Between (2011), an anecdotal history of his first 23 years. He was the editor of the Haiku Society of America Bulletin. Ignatius resided in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada.
The comparison between the passing of a day (L2) and that of the clock (L3) is fresh and thought-provoking, and juxtaposed with the result of it ('smoother" in L2), visually evocative and symbolically rich L1 greatly enhances the tone and mood of this poignant haiku about Time's passing, functioning like a foreshadow of things to come.
ReplyDeleteAnd the sentiment conveyed in Ls 2&3 reminds me of the following tanka:
three best friends dead
before they reached sixty
an ankle vein
pulses faster than my
watch’s second hand
Arithmetic, 2020
George Swede
FYI: "It is with great sadness that we must report on the death, on Saturday November 5th, 2022, of paleontologist, friend, mentor, and haiku poet Ignatius Fay.' -- excerpted from Haiku Canada NewsLetter.