English Original
winter fog
might as well be blind
in this void
the only sound
my walking stick
red lights, December 2018
Neal Whitman
Chinese Translation (Traditional)
冬季濃霧
不如是個瞎子
在這個恍惚空間
唯一發出聲音
是我的手杖
Chinese Translation (Simplified)
冬季浓雾
不如是个瞎子
在这个恍惚空间
唯一发出声音
是我的手杖
Bio Sketch
Neal Whitman lives with his wife, Elaine, in Pacific Grove, California, where he is a docent at Point Pinos Lighthouse. Visitors who come there from near and far inspire him to write poetry that takes the “particular" to convey the “universal". Neal is Vice President of the United Haiku and Tanka Society.
The upper verse sets the scene and mood of the tanka while the lower verse works well on two levels, literal and symbolic.
ReplyDeleteThe collocation of "fog", "blind," and "void," adds emotional weight and psychological depth to the tanka.