English Original
petal after petal
red on red
how many
layers of makeup
to look undead
Special Feature:Work, Tanka Society of America, April 2023
Lorelyn De la Cruz Arevalo
Chinese Translation (Traditional)
一片花瓣接著一片花瓣
紅上加紅
要上多少層
的容妝
看起來才像不死
Chinese Translation (Simplified)
一片花瓣接着一片花瓣
红上加红
要上多少层
的容妆
看起来才像不死
Bio Sketch
Lorelyn is a self-published Filipino author of Twin deLights: Haikuna Matata and Hainaku! It's Pundemic! I am Balot. Acovida dito. Her poetry has been published in anthologies and journals, such as The Haiku Foundation, Presence, Mainichi, ESUJ-H, and Lothlorien Poetry Journal.
There is an implied, visually and emotionally resonant simile effectively established between "red petals falling on red petals, Ls 1&2 and "layer upon layer of makeup," Ls 3&4.
ReplyDeleteAnd the "rhetorical question" raised in Ls 3-5 reveals not only the N's frustration (as indicated in, L3 how "many") but also her protest/outcry (as implied from L5, "look" "undead.")
It might be interesting to do a thematic comparative reading of my poem below:
the new hire
dressed in a burka ...
for three months
everyone notices her
but no one sees her
Failed Haiku, 8:90, June 2023
FYI: UCI School of Social Sciences, June 7, 2018: "Women who wear makeup at work are getting paid more, according to study," accessed at https://www.socsci.uci.edu/newsevents/news/2018/2018-06-07-penner-patch.php
And The Muse, June 19, 2020: "Does Your Makeup Matter at Work?"
The study, conducted by researchers at Boston University and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, found that women who don a “professional” amount of makeup in the office were regarded as “capable, reliable, and amiable,” and ultimately, “more competent” than those women who shunned the use of it... accessed at https://www.themuse.com/advice/does-your-makeup-matter-at-work