English Original
our bodies
listen
to light
Listen to Light, 1980
Raymond Roseliep
Chinese Translation (Traditional)
我們的身體
傾聽
晨光
Chinese Translation (Simplified)
我们的身体
倾听
晨光
Bio Sketch
Raymond Roseliep (August 11, 1917 – December 6, 1983) was a Catholic priest and a haiku poet. He has been described as "the John Donne of Western haiku." He won the Haiku Society of America Harold G. Henderson award in 1977 and 1982. Two of his better known collections of haiku are The Still Point – Haiku of Mu, 1979 and Listen to Light, 1980
This is an extremely short "one-sentence" haiku written in a fresh and intimate way.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, it's our "bodies," not "we," that "listen" to light. It effectively conveys a sense of "contemplative" "relaxation" in the wake of something not mentioned in the haiku
Secondly, what's left unsaid is at least as potent as what's stated in the haiku. For example, our bodies, [lying down side by side], listen to light, conveys a sense of sexual contentment.
Finally, this haiku is the last one of his haiku sequence below:
After Dusk
asleep
the firefly
is fueling
sparks
however small
light lovers
our bodies
listen
to light
Listen to Light, 1980
This knowledge adds one more layer of meaning to the haiku.
Finally, the following haiku works well as its prequel:
in weeds where we love
sudden lantern
of a firefly
Frogpond, 6:2, 1983
Raymond Roseliep