Thursday, August 24, 2017

One Man's Maple Moon: Bay’s Darkness Tanka by M. Kei

English Original

no wind tonight
a puddle of silver
in the bay’s darkness,
a full moon
off the port bow

Heron Sea,Short Poems of the Chesapeake Bay, 2007

M. Kei


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

今晚沒風
在海灣的黑暗之中
一片銀白,
船的左舷弓之外
有一輪明月

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

今晚没风
在海湾的黑暗之中
一片银白,
船的左舷弓之外
有一轮明月 


Bio Sketch

M. Kei is a tall ship sailor and award-winning poet who lives on Maryland’s Eastern shore. He is the editor of Atlas Poetica: A Journal of World Tanka. His most recent collection of poetry is January, A Tanka Diary. He is also the author of the award-winning gay Age of Sail adventure novels, Pirates of the Narrow Seas. He can be followed on Twitter @kujakupoet, or visit AtlasPoetica.org.

1 comment:

  1. Combined with the zoom-in technique, the contrasts (darkness vs moonlight; bay vs ship ...) within this cinematic bipartite tanka are visually and emotionally effective.

    ReplyDelete