Wednesday, June 13, 2018

Butterfly Dream: Clay Buddha Haiku by Jackson Smith

English Original

old pond ...
a clay Buddha stares
into water's sound

Jackson Smith


Chinese Translation (Traditional)
   
古塘 ...
一座泥土佛像凝視
池水的聲音

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

古塘...
一座泥土佛像凝视
池水的声音


Bio Sketch

Jackson Smith is a writer and homemaker from Chicago, Il. He is a grateful heart transplant recipient. He first started writing to cope with isolation during the time in the hospital spent waiting for a new heart to become available. 

1 comment:

  1. Evaluated in the context of the Buddhist interpretation of Basho's old pond haiku, the image of a "clay Buddha [staring]/into water's sound" effectively adds emotional weight and psychological depth to Jackson's allusive haiku.

    Notes:

    1 Robert Aitken’s "A Zen Wave: Bashô’s Haiku and Zen," which can be accessed at http://www.bopsecrets.org/gateway/passages/basho-frog.htm

    2 "The Ripples from a Splash: A Generic Analysis of Basho’s Frog Haiku" by Chen-ou Liu, Magnapoets, #7, January 2011, which can be accessed at http://haikureality.theartofhaiku.com/esejeng96.htm

    ReplyDelete