Wednesday, April 12, 2017

One Man's Maple Moon: Cigar Smoke Tanka by H. Gene Murtha

English Original

nothing works
not even a smile
tonight
three women walk
thru my cigar smoke

Biding Time: Selected Poems 2001-2013

H. Gene Murtha


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

什麼方法都沒用
甚至一個笑容都沒有
今晚
三個女人穿過
我的雪茄煙

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

什么方法都没用
甚至一个笑容都没有
今晚
三个女人穿过
我的雪茄烟


Bio Sketch

H. Gene Murtha, a naturalist and poet, sponsored and judged the first haiku contest for the inner city children of Camden, NJ., for the Virgilio Group, of which he was a lifetime member. He was widely published for his work in haikai literature from the USA to Japan.

2 comments:

  1. Gene’s tanka effectively builds, poetic phrase (ku)/line by poetic phrase (ku)/line, to a visually and emotionally powerful ending: one blow after another ... after another to one's sense of masculinity, which is embodied in "[smoking] cigar."

    According to Sigmund Freud, a cigar is a phallic symbol and is representative of masculinity and raw energy.

    The following quote is constantly misattributed to him:

    Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar [and not a penis].

    -- Sigmund Freud



    that has the most weight and reveals the theme of betrayal.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Gene and his poems are for all time, like Shakespeare, yes, Basho. Thank you.

    ReplyDelete