English Original
reading
of village life
I yearn ...
yearn for a time I never lived
and a thatched place I never saw
Gusts, 33, Spring/Summer 2021
Naomi Beth Wakan
Chinese Translation (Traditional)
閱讀
我渴望
的鄉村生活 ...
渴望一段我從未生活過的時光
還有一間我從未見過的茅草屋
Chinese Translation (Simplified)
阅读
我渴望
的乡村生活 ...
渴望一段我从未生活过的时光
还有一间我从未见过的茅草屋
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.
Ls 1-3 set the theme while concrete, visually and emotionally evocative image of Ls 4&5 enahnces the tone and mood of this tanka about yearning for a "simpler life."
ReplyDeleteBooks and doors are the same thing. You open them, and you go through into another world
--Jeanette Winterson
However, this "simpler/village life" tanka leaves two questions unanswered: "why and how."
And it might be interesting to do a thematic comparative reading of my tanka below:
birdsongs
at morning lightfall
alone
in the thatched hut
of an everyday mind
Special Commendation for Embodying Sanford-Style
2021 Sanford Goldstein International Tanka Contest