English Original
heading down
was more difficult
than going up –
behind me was a peak
below … a parking lot
Gusts, 27, Spring/Summer 2018
Neal Whitman
Chinese Translation (Traditional)
往下走
比向上爬
更加困難 --
我身後是一座高峰
下面... 是一個停車場
Chinese Translation (Simplified)
往下走
比向上爬
更加困难 --
我身后是一座高峰
下面... 是一个停车场
Bio Sketch
Neal Whitman lives with his wife, Elaine, in Pacific Grove, California, where he is a docent at Point Pinos Lighthouse. Visitors who come there from near and far inspire him to write poetry that takes the “particular" to convey the “universal". Neal is Vice President of the United Haiku and Tanka Society.
The speaker's indecisive personality is skillfully portrayed through an analogy of of climbing up/down a mountain.
ReplyDeleteA fresh and relatable character tanka!
For more, see "To the Lighthouse: Character/Persona Tanka," accessed at http://neverendingstoryhaikutanka.blogspot.com/2022/09/to-lighthouse-characterpersona-tanka.html