English Original
after the rain
trees and sky
between cobblestones
tsuri-dōrō, 16, July/August 2023
Emil Karla
Chinese Translation (Traditional)
雨後
在鵝卵石之間
樹木和天空
Chinese Translation (Simplified)
雨后
在鹅卵石之间
树木和天空
Bio Sketch
Emil Karla writes short forms of prose and poetry. His short stories and poems have appeared in French and Belgian literary journals and have won a few prizes in literary competitions. His haiku have appeared in several English-language journals, such as Presence, Seashores, Scarlet Dragonfly Journal, tsuri-dōrō, and Kingfisher.
This haiku exemplifies contemporary, imagistic poetry that relies on reader participation to complete the experience.
ReplyDeleteL1, "after the rain," establishes the environmental context. Crucially, the haiku never explicitly mentions a puddle or a reflection. Instead, Ls 2&3, "trees and sky / between cobblestones," prompt the reader to discover the reflection independently. This delayed realization creates a deeply satisfying "aha" moment.
Furthermore, the haiku executes an elegant shift in scale. It compresses the vastness of the trees and sky into the narrow, fractured spaces between stones. This juxtaposition shifts the focus from mere description to a deeper meditation on human perception. By utilizing restrained language devoid of adjectives or overt emotional cues, the poet trusts the concrete imagery to evoke an organic reader response.