English Original
peppering
the morning egg
I work through
yesterday’s sedation
and my gift of bad news
Second Place, San Francisco International Haiku, Senryu, and Tanka Contest, 2012
Michael McClintock
Chinese Translation (Traditional)
撒胡椒粉
在早晨的雞蛋
我努力克服
昨天鎮靜劑的藥效
以及我收到的壞消息
Chinese Translation (Simplified)
撒胡椒粉
在早晨的鸡蛋
我努力克服
昨天镇静剂的药效
以及我收到的坏消息
Bio Sketch
Michael McClintock's lifework in haiku, tanka, and related literature spanned over four decades. His many contributions to the field included six years as president of the Tanka Society of America (2004-2010) and contributing editor, essayist, and poet for dozens of journals, anthologies, landmark collections and critical studies. McClintock lived in Clovis, California, where he worked as an independent scholar, consultant for public libraries, and poet. Meals at Midnight [tanka], Sketches from the San Joaquin [haiku] and Streetlights: Poetry of Urban Life in Modern English Tanka, were some of his recent titles.
Below is the Judge's commentary, accessed at https://www.hpnc.org/2012
ReplyDeleteWe don’t know if the bad news is about the poet or about a loved one or a friend. Whatever the news is, the poet has taken something to induce sleep or, perhaps, to reduce pain. Groggy in the morning, he or she needs a stimulant. Strong coffee would be one choice, but the poet has chosen pepper on the morning egg. Maybe lots of black pepper or even cayenne pepper. That would wake anyone up. Line 1 sets the tone of this tanka with peppering, pepper being a condiment that is sharp and biting. Line 5 completes the tanka with the poet’s cynical acceptance of the bad news as a gift. I sense that there is a fighting spirit behind this cynicism, and the poet will get through this difficult time.