the veena
mom played everyday --
an off note
as my fingers brush
years of dust away
Editor’s Choice, Cattails, May 2015
Shrikaanth Krishnamurthy
Chinese Translation (Traditional)
過去媽媽每天都在彈
印度的弦樂器 --
當我用手指擦去
多年積累的塵埃時
我聽到走調的聲音
Chinese Translation (Simplified)
过去妈妈每天都在弹
印度的弦乐器 --
当我用手指擦去
多年积累的尘埃时
我听到走调的声音
Bio Sketch
Shrikaanth Krishnamurthy is a psychiatrist from Bengaluru India, living in England. A trained vocalist and a composer in Indian classical music, he writes in Kannada, Sankethi, Tamil and English languages. His haikai writings have been published in reputed journals and anthologies and won prizes, worldwide. He is currently the Editor of Blithe Spirit, journal of The British Haiku Society.
This Editor’s Choice is by Shrikaanth Krishnamurthy who lives in the United Kingdom. It is written about his mother and around a musical instrument, but it’s more than that, it's musical insofar as its tanka form is song-like with a melodic rhythm of 3,5,3,5,5. We feel all those old memories flooding back as the author’s fingers brush “years of dust away.” Thank you for this well written and memorable tanka.
ReplyDelete-- excerpted from the editor's comment, which can be accessed at http://www.unitedhaikuandtankasociety.com/tanka152=EC.html
On a second reading, the structurally and thematically central line, "an off note," becomes infused with emotional and symbolic significance.