English Original
in welcome
he smears red ochre
on my forehead —
black and white faces
glisten in the firelight
red lights, 17:2
Keitha Keyes
以示歡迎
他將紅色赭石塗抹
在我的額頭上—
黑白相間的臉龐
在火光中閃爍
以示欢迎
他将红色赭石涂抹
在我的额头上—
黑白相间的脸庞
在火光中闪烁
Bio Sketch
Keitha Keyes lives in Sydney, surrounded by antique irons and ship models. She enjoys writing tanka, haiku, senryu, cherita and related genres. Her work is published in many journals and anthologies in Australia and overseas.
This tanka succeeds through restraint, eschewing explicit exposition regarding the ceremony or the relationship in Ls 1-3. Instead, the tactile gesture of applying red ochre implicitly signals profound acceptance. Furthermore, Ls 4&5 transition into a striking, cinematic image where the firelight visually unifies diverse faces, effortlessly broadening individual welcome into a shared communal experience. Ultimately, the tanka achieves a resonant emotional arc that is deeply felt yet entirely free of sentimentality.
ReplyDelete