English Original
on the porch
Dad's geraniums in clay pots
blushing red --
no green trees for our view
just the Mystic River bridge
Marion Alice Poirier
Chinese Translation (Traditional)
在門廊上
爸爸種在陶盆裡的天竺葵
花瓣泛紅 --
從我們的視線範圍看不到綠樹
只有神秘河大橋
Chinese Translation (Simplified)
在门廊上
爸爸种在陶盆里的天竺葵
花瓣泛红 --
从我们的视线范围看不到绿树
只有神秘河大桥
Bio Sketch
Marion Alice Poirier is a lifetime resident of Boston, MA. She began writing haiku in 2001 and eventually began to teach haiku in workshops on Poetry Circle and Emerging Poets. She also write short poetry and have been published in on-line haiku and short poetry journals like Tinywords, Hedgerow and The Heron's Nest.
The contrast between the natural world Dad cultivates in the opening three lines and the built landscape beyond the porch in the closing lines is quietly affecting.
ReplyDeleteLs 4&5 recast Ls 1-3: Dad is not simply tending geraniums but creating beauty where little exists naturally. The flowers become a response to absence, bringing colour and life to a view otherwise dominated by concrete and steel.
I especially like the word "just." L 5 could have read "only the Mystic River bridge," but "just" has a more conversational, remembered quality. It sounds like someone looking back on a familiar view without embellishment or complaint. The bridge is neither romanticized nor condemned; it is simply what was there, making the red geraniums all the more vivid.