SciFaiku by Tom Brinck
sunday afternoon
white skywhales drift above
a blue arctic sea
Translation by Sandy Fleming, 2004
Annotated version:
Notes:
- remember to read downwards in columns, not across;
- the first sign for "whale" shows the whale's blowhole;
- the next three signs for "whale" show the whale's tail coming up and sliding down again as it dives;
- the sign for "whale" is repeated three times in different places, showing three whales in a row;
- repeating a noun three times like this usually indicates an indeterminate number of objects, not just three;
- the sea is signed low down at the waist while the whales are signed high above the head, showing that the whales are high above the sea.
SciFaiku by Tom Brinck reproduced by permission of the author.
