Friday, June 21, 2013

One Man's Maple Moon: Young Man and Old Hand Tanka by Neal Whitman

English Original

a young man and his dog
both sleeping on a park bench
with one buck in his hat --
an old hand saunters past
and lifts … hat and bill

Atlas Poetica, 12, Winter 2011

Neal Whitman


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

一個年輕人和他的狗
在公園的長椅上睡覺
一塊錢在他的帽子裡 --
一個老手溜達過去
拿走 ...帽子和一元鈔票

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

一个年轻人和他的狗
在公园的长椅上睡觉
一块钱在他的帽子里 --
一个老手溜达过去
拿走 ...帽子和一元钞票


Bio Sketch

Neal Whitman of Pacific Grove, California, is a member of the Yuki Teikei Haiku Society, Haiku Poets of Northern California, Haiku Society of America, and Tanka Society of America. Over the past five years he has published over 400 haiku, haibun, and tanka and haiga with his wife, Elaine, who is a photographer.

1 comment:

  1. In Neal's well-crafted tanka, these contrastive behaviors speak volumes about the young man and old hand at a societal level.

    The detailed description and the good choice of a verbal phrase make this tanka work thematically effectively.

    ReplyDelete