Friday, December 22, 2017

One Man's Maple Moon: Uncertainty Tanka by Janet Lynn Davis

English Original

clouds of smoke
from a too-hot skillet --
my thoughts
swirl with the uncertainty
of what's to come

A Hundred Gourds, 4:3, June 2015 

Janet Lynn Davis


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

雲朵般的煙霧
從過熱的煎鍋上升起 --
我的想法
與未來的不確定性
一起擺盪不停

Chinese Translation (Simplified)


云朵般的烟雾
从过热的煎锅上升起 --
我的想法
与未来的不确定性
一起摆荡不停


Bio Sketch

Janet Lynn Davis lives in Texas (USA). Her tanka and other poems have appeared in numerous online and print venues over the past several years. She served as vice president of the Tanka Society of America during 2014 and 2015

1 comment:

  1. In this bipartite tanka, the prefatory image ("jo", Ls 1&2) is logically metaphorical or at least resonates closely with the emotional point of the main statement (Ls 3-5) of the poem.

    A fine example of a visually and emotionally evocative poem modeled on traditional Japanese tanka.

    ReplyDelete