Collaborative Haiku Poem – マスク後

mask gone
the face looks unfamiliar
do I know her?

(Yoko Kelley)
マスク無し名前と顔が一致せず
マスクなし　なまえ と かお が　いっち せず

A recently seen newspaper article, told by a college teacher: she was greeted by an unmasked student. The teacher returned the greeting without much thought. A few hours later, the teacher realized the student belonged to her class and e-mailed hastily apologizing for her bluntness. Mask mandate was started over one year ago, meaning the new students came to colleges already in masks. Thus, teachers never saw faces of students without masks until recently. From now on, teachers’ task is to connect name and face of each student correctly.

　新聞で見た記事です。ある大学の先生の話：大学内で学生に挨拶されお座なりに返礼した数時間後、学生が自分のゼミの生徒と気付きあわててE-メールで謝ったそうです。昨年の春、学生が大学に来た時は既にマスク着用令が出た後で、その後一年間余り、マスク着用した顔しか見なかった結果、このような笑い話となったわけです。これから生徒の名前と顔とを一致させるのが大仕事ですね。

Collaborative Haiku Poem
– Yoko Kelley
– Illustration by Norman Kelley
Omaha, Nebraska ネブラスカ州オマハ市