Monday, September 8, 2014

One Man's Maple Moon: Fog Tanka by Aya Yuhki

English Original

soon the fog
will come and wrap me
I sit
on an old tree stump
with many annual rings

Eucalypt, 16, 2014

Aya Yuhki


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

很快地
霧將會籠罩大地
我獨坐在
有許多年輪
的老樹樁上


Chinese Translation (Simplified)

很快地
雾将会笼罩大地
我独坐在
有许多年轮
的老树桩上


Bio Sketch

Aya Yuhki was born and now lives in Tokyo. She started writing tanka more than thirty years ago and has expanded her interests to include free verse poetry, essay writing, and literary criticism. Aya Yuhki is Editor-in-Chief of The Tanka Journal published by the Japan Poets’ Society. Her works are featured on the homepage of the Japan Pen Club’s Electronic Library.

2 comments:

  1. Commentary by Dorothy McLaughlin (Eucalypt, E–News, 52, September, 2014)

    For Aya Yuhki, fog is something to dread, as she waits with resignation on the stump of a tree with its record of many days, many years, fearing that at the end of her life she won't remember, won't be able to read her mind's diary. The fog is like a shawl that seems to give no comfort or warmth, soaked with the winter's chill rains.

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  2. Ls 1&2 successfully set the tone and mood while the image of the lonely speaker sitting on an old tree stump in Ls 3-5 gives the reader mental space to pause and reflect on one's mortality.

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