English Original
drifting snow ...
lips of the newborn
suckle in sleep
Tug of the Current, 2004
Kristen Deming
Chinese Translation (Traditional)
一陣飄雪 ...
新生兒的嘴唇
在睡夢中吮吸
Chinese Translation (Simplified)
一阵飘雪 ...
新生儿的嘴唇
在睡梦中吮吸
Bio Sketch
Kristen Deming was an accomplished haiku poet and lover of literature. Her haiku collection, Plum Afternoon was a finalist in the Haiku Society of America's Merit Book Award in 2017. As a past president of the Haiku Society of America and active member in the haiku community in Japan for many years, one of Kristen's enduring contributions to the haiku communities around the world was a weekly poetry column in the Japan Times called "Haiku Moments" that she co-wrote with a Japanese colleague for six years, helping to open the world of haiku to English speakers and to give glimpses of Japanese culture through the lens of haiku.
The multi-sensorily evocative image of Ls 2 &3 turns the chilly weather scene in L1 into a heartwarming, comfort one.
ReplyDeleteThis is a fine example of "understatement haiku."
And it might be interesting to do a thematic comparative reading of my haiku below:
light of snow
my newborn’s chest rises
with every breath
Autumn Moon Haiku Journal, 5:1, Fall/Winter 2021-2022