Here are a few more haiku, in Irish this time, which I found on the Irish Gaelic translation forum. Some of the translations are my own, so may not be entirely correct.
Tá sé in ann dom
Bheith ag foghlaim Gaeilge
Go deireadh an saoil
I have to
be learning Irish
to the end of my days
tá mo shaol go breá
ag foghlaim le mo chairde
aon anam amháin!
my life is so nice
learning with my good friends here
one soul together
An crann úll lasmuigh
lán le torthaí na gréine
M’obair féin romham
The apple tree outside
full of fruit of the sun
My own work is done
céard a réaltacht í
ach titim agus éirí
an bhfuil a fhíos againn?
what’s reality
but falling and then rising
do we know for sure?
Here’s one I just composed in Welsh
cymaint o ieithoedd
yn gwthio am le gwag
yn fy mhen
so many languages
jostling for space
in my head
Traditionally in Japanese there’s more than just the syllable-count element. I don’t recall much about the details, but there is a lot of traditional symbolism, and then I believe there’s a “twist” of sorts in the last line. I’m sure I’m not representing it right, but it adds layers to what otherwise becomes a lexico-arithmetic exercise (which can itself be no mean feat at times).
(And yes, don’t go looking it up, lexico-arithmetic is my own nonce coinage…)
Gabriel Rosenstock is a master of the Haiku as Gaeilge….b’fheidir go bhfuil aithne air cheana..Caisc shona dhaoibh go leir..