English Original
rows of petunias
all pink and evenly spaced
to think
my life could have been
that predictable
Thelma Mariano
Chinese Translation (Traditional)
一排排矮牽牛花
全是粉紅色, 間距均勻
想一想
我的人生本來可以
如此地可預測
Chinese Translation (Simplified)
一排排矮牵牛花
全是粉红色, 间距均匀
想一想
我的人生本来可以
如此地可预测
Bio Sketch
Thelma Mariano is the author of Night Sky: a Selection of Tanka Poetry. She lives in Montreal and has published her tanka in literary journals as well as in various anthologies including Fire Pearls and Take Five: Best Contemporary Tanka.
In contrast with the artistic/artificial, i.e. man-made, arrangement of these visually appealing pink petunias, commonly perceived as a symbol of passion and love, the speaker's musing on/regret about Life, Ls 3-5 seems to be individualist and simplistic without consideration of the life impacts caused by sociopolitical forces, such as war or social unrest, or environmental factors, such as extreme weather or earthquake.
ReplyDeleteThe speaker's musing reminds me of the following saying from pop psychology:
The control center of your life is your "attitude.”
― Norman Cousins
And it might be interesting to do a thematic comparison reading of my tanka below:
I keep asking
why me? there's no rhythm
to this life,
its days like today scattered
by Fate among the rest
NeverEnding Story, April 28 2025