English Original
leaving without words
you erased all tomorrows
such finality ...
even in dreams we meet
without words
Kernels, Summer 2013
Sonam Chhoki
Chinese Translation (Traditional)
一言不發地離開
你抹去了所有的明天
這樣的結局 ...
即使在夢中我們相遇
也無話可說
Chinese Translation (Simplified)
一言不发地离开
你抹去了所有的明天
这样的结局 ...
即使在梦中我们相遇
也无话可说
Bio Sketch
Sonam Chhoki finds the Japanese short form poetry resonates with her Tibetan Buddhist upbringing. She is inspired by her father, Sonam Gyamtsho, the architect of Bhutan's non-monastic modern education and by her mother, Chhoden Jangmu, who taught her: “Being a girl doesn’t mean you can’t do anything.” She is the principal editor, and co-editor of haibun for the United Haiku and Tanka Society journal, cattails.
The cumulative effects of the repetition of "without words" (Ls 1&5 bookending the tanka), the centrality of this "finality of a breakup" (Ls 2 & 3), and most importantly, "not talking even in dreams" (Ls 4&5) make this breakup tanka poignantly effective and unbreablely heavy.
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