English Original
mountain pass
headlights on the edge
of a thunderhead
First Prize, 2006 Porad Award
Ernest J. Berry
Chinese Translation (Traditional)
山隘
車頭燈照射
在雷雨雲邊緣
Chinese Translation (Simplified)
山隘
车头灯照射
在雷雨云边缘
Bio Sketch
Ernest J. Berry was born in 1929 in Christchurch, New Zealand. After a decade of shepherding, he spent several years in business before retiring to a beach in Mexico where he rediscovered his boyhood love of poetry. He un-retired in 1993 and settled in Picton. After founding Picton Poets in 1994, he started teaching haiku in workshops, secondary schools and haiku meetings. Two of his haiku books were honoured with Merit Book Awards from The Haiku Society of America.
This haiku is strong because of the many reverberations between its images. As you read the first two lines, the poet takes you to the steep drop-off of a twisting mountain road. But suddenly it’s even more dramatic—the beams from an oncoming car are at the edge of an evening thundercloud that may flash like lightning. Or perhaps the beams of the poet’s car are projecting into space toward the thunderstorm. The towering thunderhead and the mountain resonate with their size and shape and the threat of rumbling thunder or rock falls. In just these few words, the poet has let us step into his or her shoes and feel the excitement and imminent danger... excerpted from the judge's commentary, accessed at https://sites.google.com/site/haikunorthwest/porad-haiku-award/2006-porad-award-winners
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