English Original
still pond
a lily breaks
the silence
The Haiku Bag, 1999
Naomi Beth Wakan
Chinese Translation (Traditional)
清靜的池塘
一朵百合打破
沉默
Chinese Translation (Simplified)
清静的池塘
一朵百合打破
沉默
Bio Sketch
Naomi Beth Wakan is the inaugural Poet Laureate of Nanaimo (2014–16) and the Federation of British Columbia Writer’s Inaugural Honorary Ambassador. She has published over fifty books. Her most recent book of essays, On the Arts, came out in 2020 (Shanti Arts). Her trilogy, The Way of Tanka, The Way of Haiku, and Poetry That Heals was published by Shanti Arts in 2019. Wakan is a member of The League of Canadian Poets, Haiku Canada, and Tanka Canada. She lives on Gabriola Island, British Columbia, Canada, with her husband, the sculptor Elias Wakan.
Enhanced by scene-cum-mood-setting L1, unexpected yet visually evocative and symbolically rich Ls 2&3 effectively convey a sense of yugen, opening up an interpretative space for the reader's imagination / reflection.
ReplyDeleteFor more about yugen (幽玄; lit., depth and mystery), see my "Poetic Musings" post, "Ezra Pound’s "Metro Poem" as a Yugen Haiku," accessed at http://neverendingstoryhaikutanka.blogspot.com/2013/04/poetic-musings-ezra-pounds-metro-poem.html