each there
for the other --
moon and pine
Still, No. 4, 2001
Michael McClintock
Chinese Translation (Traditional)
每一位
在那裏為了另一位 --
月亮與青松
Chinese Translation (Simplified)
每一位
在那裏为了另一位 --
月亮与青松
Bio Sketch
Michael McClintock's lifework in haiku, tanka, and related literature spans over four decades. His many contributions to the field include six years as president of the Tanka Society of America (2004-2010) and contributing editor, essayist, and poet for dozens of journals, anthologies, landmark collections and critical studies. McClintock now lives in Clovis, California, where he works as an independent scholar, consultant for public libraries, and poet. Meals at Midnight [tanka], Sketches from the San Joaquin [haiku] and Streetlights: Poetry of Urban Life in Modern English Tanka, are some of his recent titles.
This well-crafted haiku has the “spirit of going and returning,” which was advocated by the Shomon/Basho school (For more info. see, To the Lighthouse: Three Formulations about the Use of Cutting)
ReplyDelete"Moon" and "Pine" are often paired together in Chinese Tang Poetry. This symbolically rich haiku reminds me of the following tang poem:
五言古詩
宿王昌齡隱居, 常建
清溪深不測， 隱處唯孤雲；
松際露微月， 清光猶為君。
茅亭宿花影， 藥院滋苔紋。
余亦謝時去， 西山鸞鶴群。
Five-character-ancient-verse
At Wang Changlin's Retreat by Chang Jian
Here, beside a clear deep lake,
You live accompanied by clouds;
Or soft through the pine the moon arrives
To be your own pure-hearted friend.
You rest under thatch in the shadow of your flowers,
Your dewy herbs flourish in their bed of moss.
Let me leave the world. Let me alight, like you,
On your western mountain with phoenixes and cranes.