English Original
in a window
two red candles burning
I cling to their warmth
this long wintry night
before your return
Thelma Mariano
Chinese Translation (Traditional)
在一個窗口內
兩支紅蠟燭在燃燒
我緊靠著它們的溫暖
在你回來之前
這個漫長的冬夜
Chinese Translation (Simplified)
在一个窗口内
两支红蜡烛在燃烧
我紧靠着它们的温暖
在你回来之前
这个漫长的冬夜
Bio Sketch
Thelma Mariano is the author of Night Sky: a Selection of Tanka Poetry. She lives in Montreal and has published her tanka in literary journals as well as in various anthologies including Fire Pearls and Take Five: Best Contemporary Tanka.
A sense of longing conveyed in Mariano's tanka is highlightened by the visually and emotionally evocative and symbolically rich jux. of "two" burning "red candles" and a "long" "wintery night."
ReplyDeleteAnd the poem below could be read as a counter tanka/sequel to Mariano's:
beside me
an illusory chair --
no more nights now
of waiting
and longing for him
Ferris Wheel: 101 Modern and Contemporary Tanka, 2006
Tamiko Ohnishi