he chose
surgery to become
a woman
posing as a man
to see his grandchildren
Ignatius Fay
Chinese Translation (Traditional)
他選擇
手術成為
一個女人
卻裝作男人
去看他的孫子
Chinese Translation (Simplified)
他选择
手术成为
一个女人
却装作男人
去看他的孙子
Bio Sketch
Ignatius
Fay is a retired invertebrate paleontologist. His poems have appeared
in many of the most respected online and print journals, including The Heron’s Nest, Modern Haiku, Ars Poetica, Gusts, Chrysanthemum and Eucalypt. Books: Breccia (2012), a collaboration with fellow haiku poet, Irene Golas; Points In Between (2011), an anecdotal history of his first 23 years. He is the new editor of the Haiku Society of America Bulletin. Ignatius resides in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada
In the upper verse, the man changes himself to a woman of his own volition while in the lower verse, s/he poses as a man out of his great love for his grandchildren.
ReplyDeleteIgnatius' heart-wrenching tanka challenges readers to rethink body and gender identity.
For more info. about these issues, see the 2005 award-winning movie, Transamerica, or read Judith Butler's Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity.
Below is my tanka written for Bree, the protagonist of Transamerica:
ReplyDeleteis life more
than the sum of its parts?
s/he stands
between the doors of
male and female restrooms
Bright Stars, IV, 2014