English Original
funeral over
my shadow
walks alone
Runner-up, BHS Museum of Haiku Literature Awards, February 2018
Rachel Sutcliffe
Chinese Translation (Traditional)
葬禮結束
我的影子
獨自走路回家
Chinese Translation (Simplified)
葬礼结束
我的影子
独自走路回家
Bio Sketch
Rachel Sutcliffe had suffered from a serious immune disorder for over 16 years; throughout this time writing had been her therapy, and it kept her from going insane! She was an active member of the British Haiku Society and has been published in various journals including Prune Juice, Failed Haiku and Hedgerow.
A sense of loneliness is poignantly conveyed through the jux. of the "funeral over, L1" and the "speaker walk[ing home] alone, Ls 2&3" without comforting companions.
ReplyDeleteAnd the choice of this verbal phrase, "my shadow"/not I, "walks alone," adds symbolic significance and emotional weight to the haiku.
And the following haiku could be read as a prequel to the one above:
we talk
about survival rates
winter sky
cattails, 1, 2014
Rachel Sutcliffe