what to do
with these old pillows …
each one
filled with the feathers
of a thousand dreams
Commended, 2015 Mandy’s Pages Tanka Contest
Susan Constable
Chinese Translation (Traditional)
該怎麼處理
這些舊枕頭 ...
每一個
都填滿一千個夢想
的羽毛
Chinese Translation (Simplified)
该怎么处理
这些旧枕头...
每一个
都填满一千个梦想
的羽毛
Bio Sketch
Susan Constable’s haiku and tanka appear in numerous journals and anthologies. Her tanka collection, The Eternity of Waves, was
one of the winning entries in the eChapbook Awards for 2012. She
co-edited the 2014 anthology for the Seabeck Haiku Retreat and is a
co-editor for the 2016 TSA Anthology.
Below is excerpted from the judge's comment, which can be accessed at http://www.mandys-pages.com/contests/annual-tanka-contest/184-atc-2015-winners
ReplyDeleteThis Commended tanka again used a fresh image to show emotion. There are many poems written about dreaming, but this is a fresh take with years of dreams being tied to old pillows that have outlived their usefulness. How many everyday items do we take for granted? The tanka opens with quite a seemingly mundane image and then, like a pillow being flipped over to the cool side on a hot summer night, it surprises us with a wistful observation that in its reference to “a thousand dreams” is reminiscent of Heian Court Poetry and the notion of a “pillow book.” The reader is left wanting to know more of these dreams, and the persons who dreamed them.