English Original
an afternoon
as ordinary
as seagulls
but two lovers
pose forever
M. Kei
Chinese Translation (Traditional)
一個午後
如同海鷗般
平凡
但兩位戀人
卻擺出永恒的姿態
Chinese Translation (Simplified)
一个午后
如同海鸥般
平凡
但两位恋人
却摆出永恒的姿态
Bio Sketch
M. Kei is a tall ship sailor and award-winning poet who lives on Maryland’s Eastern shore. He is the editor of Atlas Poetica: A Journal of World Tanka. His most recent collection of poetry is January, A Tanka Diary. He is also the author of the award-winning gay Age of Sail adventure novels, Pirates of the Narrow Seas. He can be followed on Twitter @kujakupoet, or visit AtlasPoetica.org.
What makes this tanka effective is the contrast between ephemeral time and arrested time.
ReplyDeleteLs 1-3, "an afternoon / as ordinary / as seagulls," establish a scene of complete normalcy. Seagulls are almost a shorthand for the everyday at a beach or waterfront—ubiquitous, unremarkable, and transient. The opening has a calm, observational tone.
Ls 4&5, "but two lovers / pose forever," introduces the turn (but), transforming the ordinary afternoon into a moment that becomes permanent. L5, "pose forever," suggests a photograph, sculpture, or memorial without explicitly naming it. The ambiguity is a strength because it lets readers supply the context.
The tanka also plays with two kinds of time:
the fleeting duration of an afternoon,
the permanence implied by "forever."
That temporal tension gives the tanka emotional resonance.
The tanka below could be read as its sequel:
Deleteall our yesterdays
scatter like white feathers
in the salt wind --
still, you come into my dreams
when the seagulls call
NeverEnding Story, May 2, 2026
Marion Alice Poirier