Sunday, May 30, 2021

One Man's Maple Moon: Driftwood Tanka by Martha Magenta

English Original

I try to make sense
of my half-forgotten past
I begin to resemble
the driftwood
cast out of the sea

Ribbons, 13:1, Winter 2017

Martha Magenta


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

我試圖理解
一半已遭被遺忘的過去
我開始看起來
像是一根浮木
被拋出大海

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

我试图理解
一半已遭被遗忘的过去
我开始看起来
像是一根浮木
被抛出大海
 
 
Bio Sketch

Martha Magenta lived in England, UK. Her haiku and tanka had appeared in a number of journals, and anthologies. She was awarded Honourable Mentions for her haiku in The Fifth Annual Peggy Willis Lyles Haiku  Awards, 2017, and in the 71st Basho Memorial English Haiku Contest, 2017, and for her tanka in UHTS  “Fleeting Words” Tanka Contest 2017.

1 comment:

  1. The upper verse sets the theme and mood while the implied simile in the lower verse adds emotional weight and psychological depth to the tanka.

    It might be interesting to do a comparative reading of the following driftwood tanka:

    driftwood
    at the foot
    of a sand dune
    nobody around
    I talk to it

    Takuboku Ishikawa

    ReplyDelete