Haiku(s)

After acquiring a certain level with a foreign language some people will start to call you bilingual.

Well, I have a particular definition of the meaning of that word.

The best way I can describe this concept, for which I still don't have a name, is by establishing a parallelism. The whole thing comes down to dimensions. You can have a map, which is a 2D representation of a certain terrain; or you can be in that terrain, experiencing it in 3D.

Now, one can be so acquainted with maps that they are able to picture what's being portrayed with outstanding accuracy. That will be the case with people who are very fluent in a foreign language. But words are magical symbols that hold our entire experience of the world inside of them.

This is why when I say "tree" I have a complete image of what it represents. However, when I say "árbol" ("tree" in my mother tongue), its sound caresses me with its leaves and I feel the cool breeze that its shadow provides on a warm summer afternoon.

"Haiku" is a Japanese word. Although it is much more than that. A haiku is the smallest form of poetry. However, it is much more than that. A haiku is the very essence of life and language; it is an instant, an emotion, a feeling.

I, nevertheless, don't have access to the haiku land. I can only read the map and interpret it in my own way, and dream about what it would be like to wake up under a sakura tree to hear its aroma sing the meaning of its word, and its world.

Here are a few of my instants. A little bird is trapped inside the armor, flapping its wings against the metal. I hope you can hear its chirp and make out its song.

HAIKU 1.

"Hoist the sails

Or your internal stirring

Will sink your vessels"

"Iza las velas

Tu agitación interna

Hunde tus naves"

HAIKU 2.

"A new form of love

The sharpness of our minds

Closed our eyes and souls"

"Rige mi mundo

Su silueta de puntas

Me reconforta"

HAIKU 3.

"So many textures

And all the hidden flavours

Sailed in distant ships"

"Tantas texturas

Sabores escondidos

Barcos lejanos"

HAIKU 4.

"I avoid merging

All of my realities

Homogeneously"

"Evito fundir

De manera homogénea

Mis realidades"

HAIKU 5.

"All things waves and birds

In mighty cold and warmth

Undauntedly"

"Ondas y aves

Inpertérritamente

Con frío o calor"

HAIKU 6.

"A stale heavy warmth

Governs all the sharp corners

Of a creole creed"

"La calma chicha

Gobierna los rincones

Credo criollo"

HAIKU 7.

"Pure geometry

Until she came into sight

Surreal nature"

"Simples geometrías

Entonces ella

Naturareza"

HAIKU 8.

"Way back, in the past

They were simply ideas

All these seeds and roots"

"En el pasado

Semillas y raíces

Fueron ideas"