An unusual posting for me. I wrote this haiku, or haibun, I suppose, in Spanish while in Mexico, and translated it into English. Among other things, I got a new insight into translation. It’s no easier just because you wrote the original.
Fuera de la madrugada
salta el sol
corazón palpitante
Out of the darkness
leaps the sun
like a beating heart
It’s that time again. As usual, respond in kind if you wish.
Like everyone else
by the time they reach Mexico
the North Wind has forgotten its task
Big noises drift and blend and bend
Along the big-bosomed beach afternoon
Pelicans snag the wind and troop off
Into the indifferent sky
The snag-tailed grackles call
“Sweet pea! Sweet Pea!”
Or, if Russian,
“A drink! Come have a drink!”
And then the people, in solar gratitude
Lined up, eyes closed, skin offered
Without reservation
To some unseen eternity
Gods for the moment
exiles child 