fragrance of green tea --
I sharpen my old pencil
under the moon's light
First Prize, 2014 Haiku Now! Awards
Nicole Pottier
Chinese Translation (Traditional)
綠茶飄香 --
在月光下我削尖
我的老鉛筆
Chinese Translation (Simplified)
绿茶飘香 --
在月光下我削尖
我的老铅笔
Bio Sketch
Nicole Pottier lives in Normandy, France. She studied foreign languages and literature. She has published poetry and essays in literary magazines, and her haiku have been published in print and online journals, including Haiku Canada, Diogen Pro Kultura, Ploc!, Haikouest , World Haiku Review , Haiku, Albatros, and brass bell.
Nicole Pottier’s first prize poem places itself deliberately within the tradition, bravely taking on a conventional imagery of tea and moonlight. Whether such a position is possible, whether the tradition is still viable, seems to be its concern. Quiet as the poem is, nothing is taken for granted here, everything is at risk.
ReplyDeleteIt is alertness that sharpens the old pencil. The poet waits in readiness, aware that the time is late, in full appreciation of the dignity of tradition but on guard against any complacency. The poem has an admirable concision; much is covered in the small space. It holds to a reticence of plain diction, flowing evenly through its seventeen syllables. Everything is suggested, nothing resolved. We are given the fragrance of tea, not its taste. At the end of the poem, far from being brought to a closure, we have not yet begun. Tradition is ahead of us, a privilege and a task.
-- excerpted from the judge's comment, which can be accessed at http://www.thehaikufoundation.org/haikunow-awards-for-2014/
Thank you Chen-ou Liu. It's a great pleasure for me to be part of your project.
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