English Original
and time goes by
drawing on my face
its latest wrinkles —
who cares if deep inside
still a flight of butterflies
Chrysanthemum journal, 34, April 2025
Maria Tosti
Chinese Translation (Traditional)
時光流逝
在我臉上留下
最新的皺紋—
誰會在乎如果內心深處
仍有一群蝴蝶翩翩起舞
Chinese Translation (Simplified)
时光流逝
在我脸上留下
最新的皱纹—
谁会在乎如果内心深处
仍有一群蝴蝶翩翩起舞
Bio Sketch
Maria Tosti is an Italian author and artist from Perugia. She made her literary debut in 2014 with a multilingual poetry collection. Although she enjoys exploring various forms of poetry, she is particularly drawn to short poems and Japanese poetic forms. Her passion for photography, drawing, and painting also inspires her to create visual poetry.
This tanka captures the very essence of the form by juxtaposing a vulnerable acknowledgment of aging with a joyful, life-affirming assertion of emotional vitality.
ReplyDeleteLs 1-3 offer an evocative and almost tender portrayal of the passage of time:
and time goes by
drawing on my face
its latest wrinkles —
There is something particularly effective about the image of time drawing wrinkles on the face. Rather than presenting time simply as a thief, stealing youth and beauty, the poet personifies it as an artist, gradually adding new lines to the canvas of a human life. This gives the image a creative quality, softening what might otherwise be an uncomfortable reflection on aging. The word "latest" is also significant: it suggests an ongoing process, with each new wrinkle becoming another mark of a life being lived.
The em dash at the end of L 3 provides an especially effective dramatic pause. It creates both a visual and emotional turning point, allowing the reader to absorb the reality of physical aging before being introduced to the poem's delightful counterargument.
Ls 4&5, "who cares if deep inside/ still a flight of butterflies," shift the poem's perspective from the external to the internal, from the visible signs of aging to the invisible vitality of the spirit. The rhetorical question, "who cares", conveys a defiant and carefree attitude. It dismisses the importance of outward appearances and suggests that chronological age need not dictate how one feels, experiences life, or responds to the world.
The image of a flight of butterflies is particularly lovely. Butterflies evoke lightness, freedom, transformation, beauty, and renewal. The expression a flight also suggests movement and abundance rather than a solitary flicker of youthful feeling. There is still a whole world of excitement, curiosity, wonder, and perhaps even romantic possibility alive within the speaker.
The contrast between the weight and permanence suggested by wrinkles and the lightness and movement of butterflies is especially effective. The first three lines move at a measured, almost contemplative pace, reflecting the steady passage of time. By contrast, the final two lines seem to lift and flutter, their rhythm echoing the vitality of the butterflies themselves. This movement reinforces the poem's emotional transformation.
Ultimately, the tanka offers a charming and quietly profound meditation on aging. It does not deny the physical changes that accompany the passing years, nor does it attempt to disguise them. Instead, it proposes that there is something far more important than the face we present to the world: the life, wonder, spontaneity, and capacity for joy that remain within us.
Its underlying message is beautifully simple: Time may write its story on our faces, but it need not extinguish the butterflies in our hearts.