you speak of grief
as if it were punishment
a curse, a blight
I sing it as a lullaby
for the child I never held
A Hundred Gourds, 4:2, March 2015
Sonam Chhoki
Chinese Translation (Traditional)
你談到悲傷
好像它是懲罰，詛咒，毀滅
而我卻將它看做是
為我從未抱過的孩子
所唱的搖籃曲
Chinese Translation (Simplified)
你谈到悲伤
好像它是惩罚，诅咒，毁灭
而我却将它看做是
为我从未抱过的孩子
所唱的摇篮曲
Bio Sketch
Born and raised in the kingdom of Bhutan. Sonam Chhoki is inspired by her father, Sonam Gyamtsho, the architect of Bhutan's non-monastic modern education. Her Japanese short form poetry has been published in journals and anthologies in several countries. She is the current haibun and haiku editor of the UHTS journal, cattails.
Within a short space of five lines, Sonam effectively showcases distinctly different gendered attitudes towards grief through sharpened contrasts ("punishment,
ReplyDeletea curse, a blight" vs "a lullaby")of emotional responses.
And the poignantly fresh simile in the lower verse lifts the poem up a notch.