her grandson’s lips
just a little like hers
Chinese whispers
First Prize, 2011 New Zealand Poetry Society’s Haiku Competition
Gregory Piko
Chinese Translation (Traditional)
她孫子的嘴唇
有一點像她的嘴唇
耳語遊戲
Chinese Translation (Simplified)
她孙子的嘴唇
有一点像她的嘴唇
耳语游戏
Bio Sketch
Gregory
Piko's haiku have been awarded Second Prize in the 'Kusamakura'
International Haiku Competition, received a Touchstone Award from The
Haiku Foundation, won first prize in the New Zealand Poetry Society’s
International Haiku Competition and appeared in Haiku in English: The First Hundred Years. Gregory blogs at www.gregorypiko.com.
Even on the superficial level, this is an interesting image. A child whispering into an old woman’s ear (or vice versa), playing a game. The contrast between their physical appearance – old with young, male with female. Or is it more abstract? His lips are “just a little” like hers – we don’t know how young he is. Could he be learning to speak? Practicing new words, and not quite making the right sounds, the right shapes with his lips? We talk about learning our ‘mother tongue’, but grandmothers are often just as important, especially in modern families where mum might be at work much of the day. And then there’s another possibility – genetics. Inheritance. He is her grandson, and so only carries one quarter of her genes. Enough to be ‘like’, but ‘just a little’. And the game of chinese whispers is a perfect metaphor for the way that genetic information changes through generations.
ReplyDeleteThis poem was in my top five from the first read-through. What gives it the edge in the end is how satisfying, how meaningful even on a superficial reading. From the ‘moment’ of noting a resemblance, to a consideration of the whole complexity of familial inheritance, with each layer complementing the next. The perfect synthesis of emotion and intelligence. Subtle, and very very good...
-- excerpted from the judge's commentary, accessed at https://poetrysociety.org.nz/nzps-international-poetry-competition/2011-poetry-competition-results/