English Original
back home after work --
on my fresh-painted front door
a bloody hand print
Fire Blossoms, 2008
Denis M. Garrison
Chinese Translation (Traditional)
下班回家 --
在我剛粉刷過的前門上
一個血淋淋的手印
Chinese Translation (Simplified)
下班回家 --
在我刚粉刷过的前门上
一个血淋淋的手印
Bio Sketch
Denis M. Garrison was born in Iowa, USA, and his childhood was spent in Japan, youth in Europe, Africa and western Pacific. His poetry has been widely published. Garrison’s print collections include First Winter Rain,Eight Shades of Blue, Hidden River, Sailor in the Rain and Other Poems, and Fire Blossoms.
What makes this "haiku of everyday life" so effective is its sharp contrast between "the ordinary" and "the unsettling."
ReplyDeleteL1, “back home after work,” establishes a familiar, almost mundane scene. The pivot (“--”) then shifts the reader into something unexpected, and L3, “a bloody handprint,” lands with striking impact.
This haiku effectively evokes everyday violence: small, normalized acts of abuse, harassment, or aggression that can accumulate into a continuum of harm, often targeting vulnerable individuals.