my mother sings
as she brushes her hair
of fine silver …
lament for the girl
missing from the mirror
Kokako, 15, 2011
Gavin Austin
Chinese Translation (Traditional)
當媽媽梳理
纖細的銀白頭髮時
她在唱歌 ...
哀嘆昔日的小女孩
從鏡子裡消失了
Chinese Translation (Simplified)
当妈妈梳理
纤细的银白头发时
她在唱歌 ...
哀叹昔日的小女孩
从镜子里消失了
Bio Sketch
Gavin
Austin, lives in Sydney, Australia and writes mostly short fiction and
poetry. His work has appeared in many Australian and international
publications and has been successful in numerous writing competitions.
Gavin was the Featured Poet for the January 2016 edition of cattails.
The thematically poignant juxtaposition of a silver-haired woman and a young girl missing from the mirror works well by evoking the audio-visual imagination and reflection on aging (gracefully). And Gavin's heartfelt tanka reminds me of the following remark:
ReplyDelete“Your face is marked with lines of life, put there by love and laughter, suffering and tears. It's beautiful.”
― Lynsay Sands