English Original
dawn swim --
making a butterfly of water
of light
Plum Afternoon, 2017
Kristen Deming
Chinese Translation (Traditional)
破曉時分游泳 --
水光閃爍像是
一隻蝴蝶
Chinese Translation (Simplified)
破晓时分游泳 --
水光闪烁像是
一只蝴蝶
Bio Sketch
Kristen Deming was an accomplished haiku poet and lover of literature. Her haiku collection, Plum Afternoon was a finalist in the Haiku Society of America's Merit Book Award in 2017. As a past president of the Haiku Society of America and active member in the haiku community in Japan for many years, one of Kristen's enduring contributions to the haiku communities around the world was a weekly poetry column in the Japan Times called "Haiku Moments" that she co-wrote with a Japanese colleague for six years, helping to open the world of haiku to English speakers and to give glimpses of Japanese culture through the lens of haiku.
L1 sets the scene and mood while Ls 2&3, a description of butterfly stroke (the hardest swim stroke), are visually and emotionally arresting.
ReplyDeleteThis is a fine example of imagistic shasei haiku!