English Original
strange, this life
no parents no mate no boss
to struggle against,
at night I fall asleep
to a chorus of frogs
Simply Haiku, 9:1, Spring, 2011
Peggy Heinrich
Chinese Translation (Traditional)
奇怪, 這樣的生活
沒有父母伴侶老闆
需要與之抗爭,
夜晚, 蛙鳴
伴我入眠
Chinese Translation (Simplified)
奇怪, 这样的生活
没有父母伴侣老板
需要与之抗争,
夜晚, 蛙鸣
伴我入眠
Bio Sketch
Peggy Heinrich's haiku have appeared in almost every haiku journal both nationally and internationally and in many anthologies. Awards include Top Prize in the Yamadera Basho Memorial Museum English Haiku Contest in both 2009 and 2010. Peeling an Orange, a collection of her haiku with photographs by John Bolivar, was published in 2009 by Modern English Tanka Press. Forward Moving Shadows, a collection of her tanka, with photographs by John Bolivar, was published in 2012.
This tanka juxtaposes social absence—"no parents no mate no boss" (L2)—with the gentle natural presence of "a chorus of frogs" (L5). The movement from the struggle implied in L3 to the peaceful surrender of sleep in L4 is especially effective.
ReplyDeleteRather than presenting independence as either liberating or lonely, the tanka suggests a form of existential freedom in which the usual human structures of authority, obligation, and companionship have fallen away, leaving the speaker to find solace in the rhythms of the natural world.