Friday, February 9, 2018

One Man's Maple Moon: Re-Election Tanka by M. Kei

English Original

in a small town where
the peeling picket fences
are no longer white,
a mayor with a similar reputation
runs for re-election

Modern English Tanka, 1:3, Spring 2007

M. Kei


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

小鎮上
油漆剝落的柵欄
不再是白色,
一位有類似聲譽的市長
想要競選連任

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

小镇上
油漆剥落的栅栏
不再是白色,
一位有类似声誉的市长
想要竞选连任


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. A visually evocative and symbolically rich simile is subtly established between the two parts of the tanka.

    A timely, sociopolitically conscious tanka on the power dynamic between race and identity politics.

    ReplyDelete