I AM JONAH: an experimental bilingual haiku sequence by Gabriel Rosenstock

 

                                      I AM JONAH

by Gabriel Rosenstock

                   1

Is mé Ióna mac Aimití

cloisim guthanna

guthanna ón duibheagán

 

                   I am Jonah son of Amittai

                   I hear voices

                   voices from the deep

 

2

laistigh díom is lasmuigh

atá na guthanna seo

aithním iad is ní aithním

 

these voices are within

and without

familiar and strange

3

guthanna uisciúla ag glaoch orm

teangacha guairneáin

istigh ionam – beo!

 

watery voices calling to me

swirling tongues

alive – inside me

 

4

tostanna

nárbh eol dom cheana

ag leathnú amach go fíor na spéire i gcéin

silences

like I’ve never known before

extending to the far horizon

5

de chine eile mé

dá réir sin

caithfear amach mé

 

of another race am I

and therefore

I shall be cast out

 

6

cé hé an Tiarna

a chruthaigh na farraigí

agus an talamh tirim

 

who is the Lord

who made the seas

and dry land

 

7

guth faoileáin

ag gearradh tríom –

scréach bhreithe mo mháthar

 

the voice of a seagull

rips through me –

my mother’s birth cry

8

mise mise mise

faoi ndeara an stoirm mhór seo

mise amháin

 

it is I I I

I am the cause of this great storm

I alone

 

9

mise amháin a shuaimhneodh í

trí thumadh go domhain

i gcroí an dorchadais

 

only I can quieten it

by diving deep

into the heart of darkness

 

10

táim ag dul i laige

le giorra anála –

leanfad orm ag canadh

 

I grow weak

short of breath –

must go on singing

 

11

an dorchadas seo

cad é féin

an é m’athair é?

 

this darkness

what is it

is it my father

12

an mise an dorchadas seo leis

an dorcha atáimse

cá bhfuil colmán geal m’ainme

 

am I this darkness too

am I dark

where is the bright dove of my name

13

cad faoi ndeara don mhíol mór seo

trua a ghlacadh dom

is mé a shlogadh

 

why does this whale

take pity on me

and swallow me

14

an bolg seo          an míol mór seo

cad  . . . cé thú féin

an tú mo mháthair

 

this belly             this whale

what       who are you

are you my mother

 

15

a mháithrín

mise atá ann – Ióna –

do choilmín

 

little mother

it is I – Jonah –

your little dove

16

an eitleoidh mé dhuit

a mháithrín dhil

an eitleoidh mé uait

 

shall I fly for you

dearest little mother

shall I fly away

 

17

féach, a mháithrín

táim ag eitilt

do mhíle súil ag breathnú orm

 

look, mother

I am flying

your thousand eyes watching me

18

tiarna na smugairlí róin

cad is ainm dó

a mháithrín, an eol duit

 

the lord of jellyfishes

what is his name

mother do you know it

19

an cuimhin leat, a mháithrín

mé ag snámh ionat

mo smig os cionn an aigéin chosmaigh

 

do you remember, mother

I swam in you

my chin above the cosmic ocean

 

20

cá bhfuilir anois

i measc na réalt

an léir duit mé led’ mhíle súil

 

where are you now

among stars

can you see me with a thousand eyes

 

21

 

cloisim thú

im’ bhuille croí féinig:

a Íóna a cholmáin, ar sé

 

I hear you

in my own heartbeat:

Jonah little dove, it says

22

fiú má éagann an ghrian

m’ainm á rá aige

m’ainm á rá

 

even though the sun may die

it says my name

says my name

23

Is mé Ióna mac Aimití

cloisim guthanna

guthanna ón duibheagán

 

                   I am Jonah son of Amittai

                   I hear voices

                   voices from the deep

 

 

Gabriel Rosenstock’s latest volume of haiku is Stillness of Crows.

 

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