One Man's Maple Moon: Dawn Tanka by A A Marcoff

English Original

walking

at dawn

seeing the world

as it was

before me

Blithe Spirit, 14:2, June 2004

A A Marcoff

Chinese Translation (Traditional)

黎明時分

獨自漫步

觀看世界

就如同它呈現

在我面前

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

黎明时分

独自漫步

观看世界

就如同它呈现

在我面前

 

 

Bio Sketch

A A Marcoff is an Anglo-Russian poet who lives near the beautiful River Mole in southern England. For 20 years he has been learning to "listen to the river," as in Hesse's "Siddhartha."  As Eliot said, "the river is within us." This is his walking meditation.

One Man's Maple Moon: Wings of the River by A A Marcoff

English Original

an egret
then a gull
then a butterfly
these are the wings
of the river

Time Haiku, 44, 2016

A A Marcoff


Chinese Translation (Traditional)
   
首先是一隻白鷺
然後一隻海鷗
再來是一隻蝴蝶
這些是河流
的翅膀

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

首先是一只白鹭
然后一只海鸥
再来是一只蝴蝶
这些是河流
的翅膀


Bio Sketch

A A Marcoff is an Anglo-Russian poet who was born in Iran and has lived in Africa, Iran, France and Japan, where he taught at a high school in Tokyo. He has settled in England and lives near the beautiful River Mole.

Poetic Musings: Mist Tanka by A. A. Marcoff

I am

I am not

I am

as I walk in & out

of mist

Take Five: Best Contemporary Tanka, 2009

A. A. Marcoff

Commentary:

Structurally speaking, Marcoff's minimalist (15-syllable/word) tanka varies slightly  from the classic short-long-short-long-long syllabic structure, and it is divided into two parts: one theme statement about ever-shifting subjectivities and one visually evocative and symbolically rich image of the speaker walking in and out of mist.

Thematically speaking, the opening theme statement is fully grounded in the closing image. This short tanka works effectively on at least two levels, literal and metaphoric, invoking profound existential angst ("I am/I am not/I am") through this theologically/philosophically laden metaphor -- life as a mist, which reminds me of the following passage from James 4:14, New Testament (NIV):

Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.