English Original
letting my tongue
deeper into the cool
ripe tomato
The Haiku Anthology, 1999
Michael McClintock
Chinese Translation (Traditional)
讓我的舌頭
更深地進入那陰涼
熟透的番茄裡面
Chinese Translation (Simplified)
让我的舌头
更深地进入那阴凉
熟透的番茄里面
Bio Sketch
Michael McClintock's lifework in haiku, tanka, and related literature spans over four decades. His many contributions to the field include six years as president of the Tanka Society of America (2004-2010) and contributing editor, essayist, and poet for dozens of journals, anthologies, landmark collections and critical studies. McClintock now lives in Clovis, California, where he works as an independent scholar, consultant for public libraries, and poet. Meals at Midnight [tanka], Sketches from the San Joaquin [haiku] and Streetlights: Poetry of Urban Life in Modern English Tanka, are some of his recent titles.
...Sensuality surrounds the whole image of this haiku. The words that McClintock uses, cause the reader to slow down when reading. In doing so, reader savors each word. Words like, tongue, deeper, cool, and tomato cannot be said fast, the words themselves are designed to be said more slowly. This slowness creates the sensuality present in the haiku. Once again, McClintock places spaces before the second line and then a double space before the third. This spacing also adds to the pausing effect in the haiku. The image of a tongue penetrating the tomato provokes sexual and sensual connotations as well. I must pose the question: is he really talking about a tomato? Maybe he is, maybe he is not. Even if I had asked him, which I unfortunately did not, I cannot be sure that he would tell me the truth.
ReplyDeleteThere is definitely more to this haiku than a person eating a tomato. I believe this notion is clearly demonstrated through McClintock’s word choice. He specifically uses words that can have an erotic connotation. He did, after all, have a haiku or two included in the collection, Erotic Haiku, edited by Rod Willmot. That information would lead me to believe that McClintock is indeed talking about more than a eating a tomato... excerpted from "Adria Neapolitan
on Michael McClintock's Haiku," accessed at https://www.brooksbookshaiku.com/MillikinHaiku/writerprofiles/NeapolitanOnMcClintock.html
For more of erotic haiku, see "To the Lighthouse: Erotic Haiku," accessed at http://neverendingstoryhaikutanka.blogspot.com/2016/09/to-lighthouse-erotic-haiku.html