Butterfly Dream: Tsunami of Mosquitoes Haiku by Ali Znaidi

English Original

after the hurricane 

a tsunami

of mosquitoes

Haiku Laureate, 2022 Hexapod Haiku Challenge

Ali Znaidi

Chinese Translation (Traditional)

颶風過後

像海嘯一般強大

群聚的蚊子

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

飓风过后

像海啸一般强大

群聚的蚊子

Bio Sketch

Ali Znaidi (b.1977) is a Tunisian poet, haikuist, writer, and translator living in Redeyef, Tunisia. A former English teacher with a degree in Anglo-American studies, Znaidi published a haiku collection, Bye, Donna Summer! (2014), and his haiku have been included in top international haiku journals. His honors include a nomination for the Pushcart Prize in 2018, a silver medal in the UPLI Global Poetry Contest in 2015, the Grand Prize in the 8th Yamadera Bashō Memorial Museum English Haiku Contest in 2016, and a Special Recognition/Lauréates in the 2013 Fujisan Haiku Contest. Follow him on Twitter at @AliZnaidi.

Poetic Musings: After the Hurricane Haiku by Ali Znaidi

after the hurricane 

a tsunami

of mosquitoes

Haiku Laureate, 2022 Hexapod Haiku Challenge

Ali Znaidi

Commentary: The buildup to the last line is unexpected yet visually and emotionally poignant. Ali's shasei (sketch from life) haiku provides a realistically convincing and powerful take on an all-too-familiar human  experience seen from a different lens: it's not about bodies buried in mud and rubble, or floating in water, which is obvious to us, but about "countless objects filled with still water – the perfect habitat for developing mosquitoes. Mosquitoes are not just a nuisance; they can also be incredibly dangerous, as disease vectors of medical and veterinary importance. In fact, vector-borne diseases kill more than 700,000 people annually, more than an order of magnitude more than die in natural disasters. This haiku piles disaster on disaster, skillfully referencing a second natural disaster, a tsunami, to metaphorically describe the onslaught of mosquitos that comes after a hurricane. The third line startles the reader, almost adding an element of humor through its surprise." (judge's comments)