Friday, September 12, 2025

One Man's Maple Moon: Aftersound Tanka by Linda Jeannette Ward

English Original

it hasn’t stopped
where your hands
slid all over me
a deep humming
like the aftersound of bells
                                     
Scent of Jasmine and Brine, 2007

Linda Jeannette Ward 


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

它沒有停止
當你的雙手
滑過我全身
深沉的嗡嗡聲
像鐘響的餘音

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

它没有停止
当你的双手
滑过我全身
深沉的嗡嗡声
像钟响的余音


Bio Sketch

Linda Jeannette Ward was best known for her tanka poetry, published in journals internationally, and included in two collections: A Frayed Red Thread (Clinging Vine Press, 2000) and Scent of Jasmine and Brine (Inkling Press, 2007). Her tanka won 2nd and 3rd prizes in the Tanka Society of America's annual competition, as well as four Tanka Splendor Awards. And her collection, a delicate dance of wings, received the Haiku Society of America's 2003 Merit Book Award for Best Book of Haibun. 

1 comment:

  1. Linda Jeannette Ward expertly manages to weave two senses, rich with meaning, into the one tanka. However, neither overpowers the other. Each complements and elevates to raise the sensual awareness of the entire poem.

    -- excerpted from "To the Lighthouse: Sensing Tanka: Perceiving Life Beyond the Ordinary" by David Terelinck, accessed at http://neverendingstoryhaikutanka.blogspot.com/2017/10/to-lighthouse-sensing-tanka-perceiving.html

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