at night
lying in the ICU
with death
lurking in the shadows
I find reasons to live
Ignatius Fay
Chinese Translation (Traditional)
夜晚
我躺在加護病房
死亡
潛伏在暗處
我找理由要活下去
Chinese Translation (Simplified)
夜晚
我躺在加护病房
死亡
潜伏在暗处
我找理由要活下去
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
As shown, this tanka builds, poetic phrase ("ku")/line by poetic phrase ("ku")/line, to a thematically and emotionally powerful ending that has the most weight and reveals the theme of an existential crisis ([find]ing "reasons" to live).
ReplyDeleteThis tanka reminds me of the key theme explored in Viktor Frankl's "Man's Search for Meaning:"
It is the striving to find a meaning in one's life that is the primary, most powerful motivating and driving force in humans.