English Original
Kala Ramesh
Chinese Translation (Traditional)
母親感嘆
年老體衰
我瞅見她
如同一條彎曲的枝條
掛滿果實
Chinese Translation (Simplified)
母亲感叹
年老体衰
我瞅见她
如同一条弯曲的枝条
挂满果实
Bio Sketch
Kala Ramesh is the Founder and Director of Triveni Haikai India, the Founder and Managing Editor of haikuKATHA Journal, an anthologist, and an external faculty member of Symbiosis International University Pune, where she taught a 60-hour haikai course from 2012 to 2021 — a first in India. She has organised eight major haiku festivals and to bring haiku into everyday spaces, Kala has initiated several successful projects in India.
In L 3, the pivotal shift, "I see her," reframes the mother’s self-perception. It transforms her lament of "being old and bent" in L 2 into the speaker’s loving counter-vision: "a curved branch / laden with fruit" in Ls 4&5.
ReplyDeleteThis image suggests that her physical bending is not a sign of decay, but rather the natural weight of a generous, deeply lived life rich with experience. The tanka successfully avoids sentimentality by allowing this quiet, powerful metaphor to carry the emotional weight.