A Thousand Fireflies

Today I’m featuring tanka by Luminita Suse of Ottawa.

From the start Luminita was a natural tanka poet. These tanka are from her book A Thousand Fireflies/ Milles Lucioles, (2011, Ottawa, Petits Nuages), with translations by Mike Montreuil.

his face on my mind
I walk dark streets
yet all I see is light
imagine it even
on the other side of the moon

son visage dans mes pensées
je marche dans les rues sombre
je vois seulement de la lumière
imagine cela
l’autre côté de la lune

Her tanka take me so many places, many of them interior. They are fresh and straightforward.

again you don’t
answer phonecalls
today slowly
becomes the time
friends start to change

de nouveau tu ne réponds pas
aux appels téléphoniques
ce jour deviant lentement
celui où les amis
commencent à changer

We are familiar with feelings like this. There’s a vague hopelessness, but with an understanding of important things learned and accepted. There is a broken heart, but a wise broken heart. The breaking has allowed something greater in.

not easy
the way out of sorrow
only the moon
passes through
pine needles

ce n’est pas facile
de s’évader du chagrin
seule la lune
passe à travers
les aiguilles de pins

From deep sorrow, a brightness that comes from a simple observation. The moon passing through pine needles as metaphor for transience as well as oneness…

It’s always a pleasure to read Luminita’s poems!