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open sky :: SAMVAAD | 24th April

Writer's picture: Vandana ParasharVandana Parashar

hosts: Sanjuktaa Asopa & Vandana Parashar


embellishing again the skipped stone of his throat


---- Tanya McDonald

(Frogpond, Volume 45:1, Winter 2022)

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Vandana Parashar
Vandana Parashar
2022年4月29日

I have requested Tanya to visit the website and answer the queries but I guess she is busy with publishing the latest issue of Kingfisher.

Here is what she had shared along with her permission—


“As for the story behind it, it was loosely inspired by a Zoom call with a friend who tells fantastic stories. When I wrote it, I'd been reading NOON: An Anthology of Short Poems, edited by Philip Rowland, and that inspired me to play around with the language and images. It went through several revisions and several rejections before it found a home in Frogpond.”

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Vandana Parashar
Vandana Parashar
2022年4月26日

Wow! Alan, I can’t say that you have nailed it, because I don’t know what Tanya had in mind while writing this, but this definitely resonated with how I interpreted this ku and so asked for Tanya’s permission.

The first thing that came to my mind when I came across this ku was the saying —“ If a woman asks you a question, it’s better to tell her the truth because chances are she’s asking you because she already knows the answer.” 😀

I imagined a woman taking delight in watching a man concocting a lie and fumble and swallow hard, when all along she knows the truth.


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sanjuktaa
2022年4月28日
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Valuable lesson that :-D

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Kavita Ratna
Kavita Ratna
2022年4月25日

Just not about to understand this....

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Alan Summers
Alan Summers
2022年4月25日
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Yep, it might be as simple as observing the man's Adam apple looking suspicious the first time, and using that as a possible indicator for the next time being sure he's telling another lie.


Other than its meaning, did you enjoy the delivery of the haiku as one line?


Alan

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Alan Summers
Alan Summers
2022年4月24日

I can't of course guess what the author is saying, though let's break down the poem:


embellishing again the skipped stone of his throat

---- Tanya McDonald


embellishing

verb gerund or present participle: embellishing

  1. make (something) more attractive by the addition of decorative details or features.


again

adverb

You use again to indicate that something happens a second time, or after it has already happened before.


the

definite article


skipped

usually a verb

See next note

stone

noun

skipped stone = adjective + noun


of

preposition


his

possessive pronoun


throat

noun


Now throat and stone could be purely figurative, or something to do with the "Adam's Apple":

‌The Adam's apple — also known as the laryngeal prominence — is the cartilage…


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Vandana Parashar
Vandana Parashar
2022年4月29日
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Very well said, Alan.

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sanjuktaa
2022年4月24日

I had hoped somebody would help me out with this one.

I still am hopeful...

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