English Original
salal in shadow—
another train sign
riddled with bullet holes
Modern Haiku, 52:2, Summer 2021
Michael Dylan Welch
Chinese Translation (Traditional)
陰影中薩拉爾灌木—
又一個火車標誌
佈滿彈孔
Chinese Translation (Simplified)
阴影中萨拉尔灌木—
又一个火车标志
布满弹孔
Bio Sketch
Michael Dylan Welch is the founder of the Tanka Society of America (2000), and co-founder of Haiku North America conference (1991) and the American Haiku Archives (1996). In 2010 he also started National Haiku Writing Month (NaHaiWriMo), which takes place every February, with an active Facebook page. His personal website is www.graceguts.com, which features hundreds of essays, reviews, reports, and other content, including examples of his published poetry.
ReplyDeleteThis economically effective haiku achieves its power through a stark, resonant juxtaposition across three lines and two contrasting images.
L1, “salal in shadow,” immediately establishes a specific Pacific Northwest landscape. By choosing salal—a tough, shade-tolerant evergreen shrub deeply tied to Indigenous cultural values—the haiku introduces an element of ancient persistence; its roots can survive for centuries.The em-dash after “shadow” functions as a classic haiku cut (kireji), creating a vital visual and emotional pause before the sudden introduction of human violence shown in Ls 2&3, "another train sign / riddled with bullet holes."
The word “another” quietly implies a systemic, unisolated habit of casual destruction, creating a tense friction between nature’s endurance and human violence. Furthermore, the word “riddled” operates effectively on two levels: it literally details the physical bullet damage while metaphorically suggesting a space that is permeated, broken, or diseased. Ultimately, the haiku leaves the reader in the quiet tension between the lasting vitality of the land and the scarred, violent markers of human presence.
FYI: "Salal (Gaultheria shallon) is a tough evergreen shrub native to western North America, famous for its thick leathery leaves, urn-shaped pink-white flowers, and dark blue edible berries. It thrives in coastal forests, serves the floral industry, and holds deep cultural value for Indigenous peoples."