born of stones
sand and goat dung
the silk road
unfurls its wares
from coast to coast
Cattails, Autumn 2017
Marilyn Fleming
Chinese Translation (Traditional)
石頭
風沙, 和羊糞修築而成
的絲綢之路
開展商品業務
從東海岸到西海岸
Chinese Translation (Simplified)
石头
风沙，和羊粪修筑而成
的丝绸之路
开展商品业务
从东海岸到西海岸
Bio Sketch
Marilyn
Fleming is a Wisconsin short form poet and sumi-e haiga artist. Her
special interests are Asian forms of poetry (haiku tanka and haibun.)
She is widely published in US as well as internationally. To see some
of her recent work, visit her website or follow her on twitter: @mflem9811
In comparison with the contemporary Chinese "One Belt One Road" (New Silk Road) Project "implemented in 2013 , involving infrastructure development and investments in 152 countries and international organizations in Asia, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and the Americas," the silk road (L3) sketched in the tanka hits the reader with nostalgia (implied from Ls 1&2) for a stable or even romanticized past (Ls 4&5): "a network of trade routes which connected the East and West,and was central to the economic, cultural, political, and religious interactions between these regions from the 2nd century BCE to the 18th century."
ReplyDelete