English Original
night crossing
Tijuana border guard
in dark glasses
First Prize, Haiku Society of America Senryu Award, 2014
Neal Whitman
Chinese Translation (Traditional)
夜間過境
蒂華納邊境警衛
戴著墨鏡
Chinese Translation (Simplified)
夜间过境
蒂华纳边境警卫
戴着墨镜
Bio Sketch
Neal Whitman lives with his wife, Elaine, in Pacific Grove, California, where he is a docent at Point Pinos Lighthouse. Visitors who come there from near and far inspire him to write poetry that takes the “particular" to convey the “universal". Neal is Vice President of the United Haiku and Tanka Society.
This senryu sets the scene in an evocative way. We consider the word “sunglasses” to be the keystone without which there would be no poem. We can take this senryu on different levels.
ReplyDeleteThe poem speaks to us because it indicates the deliberate “blindness” of the border guard towards the illegals crossing the border. When we think of the border guard wearing sun- glasses at night, this can also evoke the image of a “shady” person—pun intended. Is he/she a criminal? Or, if the person wears shades, but isn’t “shady,” perhaps he is trying to pass himself off to others as the epitome of cool or toughness as an enforcer.
-- excerpted from the judge's comments, accessed at https://www.hsa-haiku.org/senryuawards/2014-senryu-judges.htm