English Original
tree to tree
I go seeking for words
to express my heart
more vividly -- only a bee
bumbling among leaves
Ribbons, 18:3, Fall 2022
Aya Yuhki
Chinese Translation (Traditional)
從一棵樹到另一棵
我在尋找文字
能夠有聲有色地
表達我的心意 -- 只有一隻蜜蜂
在樹葉間翻滾
Chinese Translation (Simplified)
从一棵树到另一棵
我在寻找文字
能够有声有色地
表达我的心意 -- 只有一只蜜蜂
在树叶间翻滚
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 two parts of the tanka establishes a simile between the speaker and a bee, and whether the speaker's goal, the search for right words, is achievable is indicated by the incompetence of this bee bumbling among leaves, not flitting/working among flowers.
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