English Original
reflections
of anchored small boats
ripple in the lake
I too feel fragmented
when I think of past ventures
Wind on the Heath, 2020
Naomi Beth Wakan
Chinese Translation (Traditional)
在湖裡
停泊小船漣漪
的倒影
當想起過去種種的冒險
我也覺得是支離破碎
Chinese Translation (Simplified)
在湖里
停泊小船涟漪
的倒影
当想起过去种种的冒险
我也觉得是支离破碎
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.
Bookended by symbolically rich words/phrases, "reflections" and "past ventures," and enhanced by the use of a simile ([rippling] reflections, L1, like [fragmented subjectivity, L4), Naomi's tanka builds, line by line, to a thematically and emotionally poignant ending that reveals the theme of atychiphobia/the fear of failure
ReplyDeleteAnd the following could be read as a prequel to the tanka above:
yet one more
self-help book ...
another trip
around myself, another trip
skirting the edge
Wind on the Heath, 2020
Naomi Beth Wakan