English Original
beach memorial ...
the war veteran sunbathes
without his prosthesis
Honourable Mention, 2021 John Bird Dreaming Award for Haiku
Suresh Babu
Chinese Translation (Traditional)
海灘追悼式 ...
一位退伍軍人曬日光浴
沒有他的義肢
Chinese Translation (Simplified)
海滩追悼式 ...
一位退伍军人晒日光浴
没有他的义肢
Bio Sketch
Suresh Babu is an English teacher in a residential school in India. His haiku, senryu and free-verse poetry have been published in numerous journals and anthologies. He also does minimalist drawings which accompany his poems. He was awarded the first prize in the International Haiku Contest organized by the Haiku Society of Constanta in the year 2020.
Highlighted by the contrasting tones and moods conveyed in the first two lines (beach "memorial" vs the "war" veteran "sunbathes") of the haiku, the twist/surprise ending is visually poignant and thought-provoking. It but only speaks loudly about the aftermath of a war, but also shows the veteran's character/state of mind/most importantly, personal response to this obligatory and formulaic ceremony.
ReplyDeleteAnd it might be interesting to do a comparative reading of the following haiku:
all that remains --
dreams of jungle,
sand, sky
Marilyn Hazelton