Saturday, July 26, 2014

One Man's Maple Moon: Period Tanka by Motoko Michiura

English Original

Dead of night
returning home exhausted
from the interrogation --
my period begins to flow
like rage.

a long rainy season: haiku & tanka

Motoko Michiura
trans. by Leza Lowitz


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

夜深人靜
審訊後回到家裡
筋疲力盡 --
我的月經
開始憤怒地湧流

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

夜深人静
审讯後回到家里
筋疲力尽 --
我的月经
开始愤怒地湧流


Bio Sketch

Motoko Michiura was born in Wakayama Prefecture, Japan, in 1947. She has published four books of poetry, and is well known for her poetry concerning her experiences as a student activist at Waseda University in the 1960s and 1970s. She received the 25th Modern tanka Society Prize for the 1980 publication of Helpless Lyricism.

1 comment:

  1. In the lower verse, the thematic and tonal shift through the effective use of a simile (my period begins to flow like a raging river) embodies a political dimension.

    Motoko's sociopolitically conscious tanka shows the reader that the personal is Still political.

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