English Original
poppies at dusk
in my dream, he says yes
the boy lost to war
Songbirds, 2022
Richa Sharma
Chinese Translation (Traditional)
黃昏時分的罌粟花
在我的夢裡, 他說我願意
我的孩子在戰爭中喪生
Chinese Translation (Simplified)
黄昏时分的罂粟花
在我的梦里, 他说我愿意
我的孩子在战争中丧生
Bio Sketch
Richa Sharma resides in Delhi NCR, India. Since 2019, her work has appeared in numerous online and print journals dedicated to short Japanese poetry. Her work has been appreciated in various international contests, and she also served as a contest panelist judge in the 2nd Trailblazer Contest, 2023.
L1 sets the scene infused with symbolic and emotional significance while Ls 2&3 show the "courage (L2) and sacrifice (L3)" of the speaker's son who served his country.
ReplyDeleteAnd the tanka below could be read as a prequel to the haiku:
dreading
the call that says
he’s gone ...
two petals left
on the last poppy
A Hundred Gourds, 3:3, June 2014
Kirsten Cliff Elliot
Thank you, Chen-ou Liu 🙏
ReplyDelete