English Original
midnight silence ...
my wife opens the curtains
to let in moonlight
David He
Chinese Translation (Traditional)
午夜的寂靜…
我妻子打開窗簾
讓月光照進來
Chinese Translation (Simplified)
午夜的寂静…
我妻子打开窗帘
让月光照进来
Bio Sketch
David He has been working as an Advanced English teacher for 35 years in a high school in China. So far he has published twenty short stories in English. In recent years he has published haiku and tanka in print journals and e-zines, including Acorn, The Heron’s Nest, Frogpond, Ribbons and Cattails.
L1 sets the mood and tone of the haiku while symbocally rich Ls 2&3, which imply that the speaker is awake but has no interaction with his wife, are layered with multiple meanings.
ReplyDeleteThis is a fine example of midd-of-the-story "relationship haiku" infused with visually and emotionally evocative imagery.
And it might be interesting to do a thematic comparison reading of my "relationship haiku" below:
the silence
enters my migrant heart ...
midnight moon
The Zen Space, Spring 2022