English Original
finally
taking baby steps
to accept myself
I eye those glazed tarts
at the local patisserie
Atlas Poetica, 33, 2018
Samantha Sirimanne Hyde
Chinese Translation (Traditional)
終於
我邁出嬰兒的步伐
接受自己的體型
我瞪著當地糕點店
的那些釉面餡餅
Chinese Translation (Simplified)
终于
我迈出婴儿的步伐
接受自己的体型
我瞪着当地糕点店
的那些釉面馅饼
Bio Sketch
Samantha Sirimanne Hyde was born in Sri Lanka and now lives in Australia. She enjoys dabbling in short fiction, free verse, haiku, tanka and other Japanese poetry forms.
The tasty tarts, "high in sugar and containing refined flour and unhealthy oils," in Ls 4&5 gives a hint as to why the speaker struggles with his/her identity (in relation to body type/weight).
ReplyDeleteAnd the one-word opening line intensifies this struggle, adding emotional weight to the tanka.
This is a fine example of character tanka. For more examples, see "To the Lighthouse: Character/Persona Tanka," accessed at http://neverendingstoryhaikutanka.blogspot.com/2022/09/to-lighthouse-characterpersona-tanka.html