English Original
barking dogs ...
the neighbors
singing karaoke
Jack Fruit Moon, 2009
Robert D. Wilson
Chinese Translation (Traditional)
狗吠聲 ...
鄰居們
唱卡拉OK
Chinese Translation (Simplified)
狗吠声 ...
邻居们
唱卡拉OK
Bio Sketch
Robert D. Wilson is Co-Owner of Simply Haiku.
Ls 1&3 present two distinct audio tracks—dogs barking and humans singing—while L 2 acts as the perfect pivot connecting them.
ReplyDeleteTraditional haiku often feature birdsong or the sound of wind. Replacing these with "barking dogs" and "subpar karaoke" gives the poem an effective, gritty spin on the traditional “soundscape of nature.”
Furthermore, the barking dogs can be read as an analogy for the “singing” neighbors, subtly blurring the distinction between animal noise and human noise. This extremely concise, six-word haiku effectively captures an ordinary, comic nighttime soundscape of contemporary life.
The following can be read as its sequel :-)
Deletepretending the karaoke singer is pretending
bottle rockets, Fall 2014
Pat Tompkins