Friday, September 25, 2020

One Man's Maple Moon: Old Wounds Tanka by Thelma Mariano

English Original

second time around
you hold me tighter now
even in sleep
lest I visit the place
where old wounds lie

Fire Pearls, 2006

Thelma Mariano

 
Chinese Translation (Traditional)

這是第二次
即使在睡夢中
你緊緊抱住我
以免我重返
舊傷口所在之處

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

这是第二次
即使在睡梦中
你紧紧抱住我
以免我重返
旧伤口所在之处 
 
 
Bio Sketch

Thelma Mariano is the author of Night Sky: a Selection of Tanka Poetry. She lives in Montreal and has published her tanka in literary journals as well as in various anthologies including Fire Pearls and Take Five: Best Contemporary Tanka.

2 comments:

  1. The upper verse sets the tone and mood of this relationship tanka while the turn into the mind/dreamscape in the lower verse adds emotional weight and psychological depth to the tanka

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    Replies
    1. The following two tanka could be read as a prequel ("tinge of pink") and a sequel ("time to forgive") to Thelma's:


      this tinge of pink
      in the gray evening sky ...
      I murmur
      to my inner child
      let go of past hurts

      NeverEnding Story, May 9, 2019

      Chen-ou Liu

      time to forgive
      and bury old hurts --
      shadows
      hover in the soft light
      of a day moon

      Ripples in the Sand: TSA Members Anthology 2016

      Marilyn Humbert

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