summer heat
passing through this hole
in the shelter wall
it reminds us again
the war is not over
Hifsa Ashraf
Chinese Translation (Traditional)
夏天的熱氣
穿過避難所牆上
的這個洞
它再次提醒我們
戰爭還沒有結束
Chinese Translation (Simplified)
夏天的热气
穿过避难所墙上
的这个洞
它再次提醒我们
战争还没有结束
Bio Sketch
Hifsa Ashraf is from Pakistan. She writes short stories, and poetry in different languages (Urdu, English, and Punjabi). Her haiku, senryu, tanka, and haiga have been published in different online journals. She won third place in the Mandy’s Pages Annual Tanka Contest, 2017. Her short stories have been published in a UK based English magazine.
Hifsa's effectively builds, poetic phrase (ku)/line by poetic phrase (ku)/line, to a thematically significant and emotionally powerful ending: "the war is not over." On second reading, these symbolically rich phrases, 'summer heat" and "this hole in in the shelter wall," combined with "again," successfully add emotional weight to the tanka.
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