Saturday, February 16, 2013

One Man's Maple Moon: Willow Tanka by Claire Everett

English Original

you say you know me
better than I know myself ...
still waters
the willow bends
to touch the sky

Multiverses, 1:1, 2012

Claire Everett


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

你說你比我
更加認識我自己 ...
靜止河水
楊柳彎腰
去輕觸天空

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

你说你比我
更加认识我自己 ...
静止河水
杨柳弯腰
去轻触天空


Bio Sketch

Claire Everett lives with her husband and children in North Yorkshire, England. Her poetry has been published in short form journals worldwide. She served on the editorial team for Take Five Best Contemporary Tanka, Volume 4, 2011 and in December of the same year she became Tanka Prose Editor for Haibun Today. Claire has just launched Skylark, a UK tanka journal dedicated to tanka in all its forms.

1 comment:

  1. The structurally well-placed third line, "still waters," whose reflective surface provides a perfect medium for gazing, adds one more level of meaning to this relationship tanka, and turns it into a reflection one.

    Ls 4&5 could be read as an implied authorial comment on the statement made in Ls 1&2, or figuratively and dialogically speaking, Ls 1&2 could be interpreted as an authorial reflection (pun intended) on the intimate relationship between the willow and the river, one that signifies the kind of relationship between the author and the one she loves.

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