Friday, October 28, 2016

One Man's Maple Moon: Butterfly Tanka by ai li

English Original

observe the butterfly
under glass
a garden
eternal
in its silence

still 4: three, 2000

ai li


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

觀察
關在玻璃內的蝴蝶
一個花園
以它沉默的形式
永恆地存在

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

观察
关在玻璃内的蝴蝶
一个花园
以它沉默的形式
永恒地存在


Bio Sketch

ai li is a Straits Chinese haiku and tanka poet. She writes about Life, Love and Loss, bringing healing and prayer to her poems. She is the founding editor and publisher of still, moving into breath and dew-on-line and the creator of cherita. Find her essence and poems at: https://www.amazon.com/aili/e/B0080X6ROC/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1469884842&sr=1-2-ent

1 comment:

  1. ai’s tanka effectively builds, line/poetic phrase (ku) by line/poetic phrase (ku), to an emotionally powerful and thematically significant ending, which has the most weight and sparks the reader's reflection on the relationship between man and nature.

    This philosophic tanka reminds me one of the haiku by Jim Kacian

    my fingerprints
    on the dragonfly
    in amber

    Third Place, 2003 Kusamakura International Haiku Competition.

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