Sunday, May 28, 2023

One Man's Maple Moon: Past Griefs Tanka by Sanford Goldstein

English Original

again
this catalogue
of past griefs
and I keep washing
the same dish

This Tanka World, 1977

Sanford Goldstein 


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

再一次
想起這個過去的悲傷
明細目錄
我一直在清洗
相同的餐盤

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

再一次
想起这个过去的悲伤
明细目录
我一直在清洗
相同的餐盘


Bio Sketch

Sanford Goldstein has published tanka for more than fifty years.  He was born in 1925 and passed away in May 2023. Long ago, he wrote haiku, but decided to focus on tanka. His latest books, three in the last two years, have each said this would be his last.

1 comment:

  1. The jux. of the "catalogue" of "past" griefs and washing the "same dish" is visually and emotionally poignant, revealing something psychologically significant about the speaker's coping/managing with loss and grief.

    And it might be helpful to do a thematic comparative reading of the following tanka:

    this grief
    not the grief expected
    no tears
    just miles of sand
    and endless desert

    Spring's First Caress, 2015

    Brian Zimmer

    ReplyDelete