English Original
to reach an age
when things fall away
unneeded
as spent petals from a flower
as skins of summer snakes
Time Together, 2022
Naomi Beth Wakan
Chinese Translation (Traditional)
到了某個年齡
一切都會凋零
不再被人需要
就像花兒凋謝的花瓣
就像夏天的蛇的蛻皮
Chinese Translation (Simplified)
到了某个年龄
一切都会凋零
不再被人需要
就像花儿凋谢的花瓣
就像夏天的蛇的蜕皮
Bio Sketch
Naomi Beth Wakan is the inaugural Poet Laureate of Nanaimo (2014–16) and the Federation of British Columbia Writer’s Inaugural Honorary Ambassador. She has published over fifty books. Her most recent book of essays, On the Arts, came out in 2020 (Shanti Arts). Her trilogy, The Way of Tanka, The Way of Haiku, and Poetry That Heals was published by Shanti Arts in 2019. Wakan is a member of The League of Canadian Poets, Haiku Canada, and Tanka Canada. She lives on Gabriola Island, British Columbia, Canada, with her husband, the sculptor Elias Wakan.
Naomi's tanka effectively builds, line/ku,poetic phrase by line/ku,poetic phrase, to a thematically significant and visually and symbolically poignant ending that reveals the theme of "wisdom of age."
ReplyDeleteAnd the concluding similes, Ls 4&5, add emotional weight and symbolic significance to the tanka.
And her insightful tanka reminds me of the following:
entering old age
I look less for truth
but find it more --
a mid-winter thaw reveals
pieces of sky
Poetry That Heals, 2018
George Swede