English Original
the meal
we always ate together
breakfast
now a coffee
in the car
Ignatius Fay
Chinese Translation (Traditional)
過去
我們總是一起
享用早餐
如今我獨自坐在車裡
喝咖啡
Chinese Translation (Simplified)
过去
我们总是一起
享用早餐
如今我独自坐在车里
喝咖啡
Bio Sketch
Ignatius Fay is a retired invertebrate paleontologist. His poems have appeared in many of the most respected online and print journals, including The Heron’s Nest, Modern Haiku, Ars Poetica, Gusts, Chrysanthemum and Eucalypt. Books: Breccia (2012), a collaboration with fellow haiku poet, Irene Golas; Points In Between (2011), an anecdotal history of his first 23 years. He is the new editor of the Haiku Society of America Bulletin. Ignatius resides in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada.
The buildup to/surprise in this middle-of-the-story tanka is poignantly effective, leaving dreaming room for readers to fill in their own life stories/lived experiences.
ReplyDeleteHappy [relationships] are all alike; every unhappy [relationship is unhappy in its own way.
-- paraphrasing The first sentence of Leo Tolstoy's novel, "Anna Karenina"