English Original
I stretch
my arms to the sea
as if I unfurl
white sails --
the sea sings a requiem
Ribbons, 18:1, Winter 2022
Aya Yuhki
Chinese Translation (Traditional)
伸展我的雙臂
走向大海
如同展開
一片片白帆 --
大海唱著安魂曲
Chinese Translation (Simplified)
伸展我的双臂
走向大海
如同展开
一片片白帆 --
大海唱着安魂曲
Bio Sketch
Aya Yuhki was born and now lives in Tokyo. She started writing tanka more than thirty years ago and has expanded her interests to include free verse poetry, essay writing, and literary criticism. Aya Yuhki is Editor-in-Chief of The Tanka Journal published by the Japan Poets’ Society. Her works are featured on the homepage of the Japan Pen Club’s Electronic Library.
The opening simile in Ls 1-4 is visually and emotionally evocative, while the twist/surprise ending in L5 adds emotional weight and psychological depth to this existentially poignant tanka
ReplyDeleteAya's tanka could be read as a sequel to my solo somonka, "Leap of Faith" below:
"Leap of Faith," a solo somonka for Søren Kierkegaard
among shadows
in this attic room
I hear
years of lonely nights
stacked against my mind
the waves
lapping against my feet ...
am I afraid
to say a final farewell
to this sunny world
Whispers, June 23, 2015
FYI: "To the Lighthouse: Twist/Surprise Ending," accessed at http://neverendingstoryhaikutanka.blogspot.com/2021/06/to-lighthouse-twistsurprise-ending.html