day of reckoning -
under running tub water
my sister
vomits
a 4 year old secret
Matsukaze
Chinese Translation (Traditional)
清算的日子 –
在浴缸水衝擊之下
我的姐姐
嘔吐出
一個四年之久的秘密
Chinese Translation (Simplified)
清算的日子 –
在浴缸水衝击之下
我的姐姐
呕吐出
一个四年之久的秘密
Bio Sketch
Matsukaze is a classical/operatic vocalist, thespian, and minister. He began writing haiku seriously around 2005, and tanka around 2006. He was recently re-introduced to tanka in 2013 by M. Kei, editor of Atlas Poetica: A Journal of Poetry of Place in Contemporary Tanka. He lives in Louisiana; dividing his time between there and Houston, TX.
Juxtaposed with a theologically connotative phrase, "day of reckoning," and the water image, the twist at the end of the poem is elevated to a religio-psychological level. The good verb choice, vomit, adds emotional weight to the poem.
ReplyDeleteA well-crafted, middle-of-the-story tanka. What's left unsaid is more important than what's said.