Friday, June 16, 2023

Butterfly Dream: Skeleton Haiku by Winona Baker

English Original

orthopedic clinic --
the skeleton watches
leaves fall

Nature Here is Half Japanese, 2010

Winona Baker 


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

骨科診所 --
一個人體骷髏模型觀看
樹葉飄落

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

骨科诊所 --
一个人体骷髅模型观看
树叶飘落


Bio Sketch

Winona Baker was born in March 18, 1924 and moved to British Columbia, Canada in 1930. Living in Nanaimo, she raised four children with her husban. A haiku specialist, she received the top global prize in the 1989 World Haiku Contest in honour of Matsuo Basho’s 300th anniversary. She published Moss-Hung Trees. The title came from her prize-winning haiku. Her work had been translated into Japanese, French, Greek, Croatian, Romanian, and Yugoslavian.  She passed away in Nanaimo on October 23, 2020.

1 comment:

  1. L1 sets the thematic setting while the image of the "skeleton," which is used mainly as a stand-in for the N, watching "leaves fall," Ls2&3, effectively conveys a sense of inevitability.

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