Saturday, February 2, 2019

One Man's Maple Moon: Gulf Tanka by Laurence Stacey

English Original

explaining Jim Crow
to my freshman students
the gulf
between cries
of cicadas

American Tanka, 25, June 2015

Laurence Stacey


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

解釋
吉姆克勞歧視法
給我的大一新生們聽
在蟬鳴聲之間
的隔閡

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

解释
吉姆克劳歧视法
给我的大一新生们听
在蝉鸣声之间
的隔阂


Bio Sketch

Laurence Stacey is a PhD student in Kennesaw State University's International Conflict Management program. His dissertation focuses on representations of conflict in visual media. Laurence also teaches literature at both Chattahoochee Technical College and Reinhardt University.
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3 comments:

  1. Chen-ou Liu, 劉鎮歐February 2, 2019 at 9:30 AM

    The upper verse sets the "unpleasant" yet thematically important theme while gulf and cicadas' cries in the lower verse work well literally and symbolically, enhancing the tone and mood of the tanka.

    Note: "Jim Crow laws were state and local laws that enforced racial segregation in the Southern United States. All were enacted in the late 19th and early 20th centuries by white Democratic-dominated state legislatures after the Reconstruction period. The laws were enforced until 1965."

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  2. Chen-ou Liu, 劉鎮歐February 2, 2019 at 9:30 AM

    Laurence's socio-politically conscious tanka reminds me of my tanka written for Black History Month, which is celebrated in North America in February

    Emory President praised
    the three-fifths compromise...
    on the backs
    of a row of black students
    "This is 5/5 outrageous"

    NeverEnding Story, February 28, 2013

    Note: "The 1787 three-fifths compromise allowed each slave to be counted as three-fifths of a person in determining how much Congressional power the Southern states would have."

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