English Original
this credit card
already at its limit
I employ
this frosty morning
to scrape my windshield
American Tanka, 1, 1996
Zane Parks
Chinese Translation (Traditional)
這張信用卡
已經用到了它的極限
這個寒冷的早晨
我利用它
刮我的擋風玻璃
Chinese Translation (Simplified)
这张信用卡
已经用到了它的极限
这个寒冷的早晨
我利用它
刮我的挡风玻璃
Bio Sketch
Zane Parks lives with his wife Bridget and cats Boaz and Miss Kitty on the gulf coast of Florida. He writes haiku, senryu, tanka and related forms. His books, tiny dropping and Journey are available at lulu.com.
The poet describes an objective scene with tactile immediacy. We hear the scrape of the windshield, see the white trails of frost curl from the credit card. The credit card may be at its limit financially, but not physically, and now it is gaining even further use as a makeshift ice scraper. The introspectiveness comes from the poet’s awareness that he shouldn’t be maxing out his credit car, just as he would be better off using a proper ice scraper. Not only is he misusing the credit card to scrape the windshield, it seems he is also misusing it financially. The poet is aware of this double misuse and becomes aware of it through this understatedly presented introspective moment.
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