whale migration
under a dark sky
a darker sea
Third Prize, 2017 New Zealand Poetry Society Haiku Contest
Simon Hanson
Chinese Translation (Traditional)
鯨魚遷徙
在陰暗的天空之下
一片更陰暗的大海
Chinese Translation (Simplified)
鲸鱼迁徙
在阴暗的天空之下
一片更阴暗的大海
Bio Sketch
Simon
Hanson lives in sub-tropical Queensland, Australia where he enjoys his
proximity to the Pacific Ocean and areas of rainforest. He is a
committee member of the Australian Haiku Society and is published in
various journals and anthologies.
... Whales migrate to polar areas in summer (to feed) and warmer waters in winter (to breed) with different types having different summer destinations. For instance, in the Pacific it may be the Philippines, Hawaii or Mexico; or the South Pacific and Indian Oceans. The repeated use of ‘dark’ leads me to suspect that winter is coming and the whales are off to warmer climes. How do we know whales are passing? By spotting their backs or tail fins for sure but, and this is a particularly subtle use of a sensory element, also by their sound as they shoot super-heated air out of their blowholes. Sometimes hearing this whooshing sound or spotting the spout is the only way to know whales are nearby.
ReplyDeleteThe poet’s location is wide open – on the water or on land? At any rate we know that colour has gone from the sky, but again the poet is leaving the interpretation open – is it a storm brewing or night falling? An elegantly crafted haiku that ends with an echo of ‘wine-dark sea’ from Homer’s masterpiece about another epic sea-voyage...
-- excerpted from the judge's commentary, accessed at https://poetrysociety.org.nz/nzps-international-haiku-contest-2017/