Thursday, December 7, 2017

One Man's Maple Moon: Old House Tanka by Susan Constable

English Original

night settles
into the cracks and crannies
of this old house --
I close my eyes to hear
the slow escape of secrets

Skylark, 3:1, 2015

Susan Constable


Chinese Translation (Traditional)
  
經由這個老房子
的裂痕和細縫
夜幕降臨 --
我閉上眼睛傾聽
緩慢逃逸的秘密

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

经由这个老房子
的裂痕和细缝
夜幕降临 --
我闭上眼睛倾听
缓慢逃逸的秘密


Bio Sketch

Susan Constable’s haiku and tanka appear in numerous journals and anthologies. Her tanka collection, The Eternity of Waves, was one of the winning entries in the eChapbook Awards for 2012. She co-edited the 2014 anthology for the Seabeck Haiku Retreat and is a co-editor for the 2016 TSA Anthology.

1 comment:

  1. The mood of Susan's atmospheric tanka is effectively conveyed through evocative imagery infused with symbolic significance, and I think her poem could be read as a sequel to the following tanka:

    empty beds
    in the old house
    at night
    the furnace whispers
    its litany of names

    Gusts, 16, Fall/Winter 2012

    Brian Zimmer

    ReplyDelete