EVERY NIGHT
I SEND YOU FLOWERS
TANKA
GABRIEL ROSENSTOCK
IN RESPONSE TO THE ART OF ODILON REDON
Gabriel Rosenstock is a bilingual poet, tankaist,
novelist, haikuist, short story writer, playwright,
essayist and translator.
Blog | Books | Website
Published in association with:
Cross-Cultural Communications
239 Wynsum Avenue Merrick, NY 11566-4725/USA
Tel: 516/868-5635 Fax: 516/379-1901
Email: cccpoetry@aol.com
Is mian leis an údar buíochas a ghabháil leis an
gComhairle Ealaíon as Sparánacht
a chur ar fáil dó a chuirfidh ar a chumas tanka Gaeilge a
chleachtadh agus a shaothrú.
The author gratefully acknowledges receipt of an Arts
Council bursary to enable him to pursue
ongoing experiments in Irish-language tanka.
3
EVERY NIGHT I SEND YOU
FLOWERS
TANKA
GABRIEL ROSENSTOCK
IN RESPONSE TO THE ART OF ODILON REDON
5
I
seans nach eol duit
gur uaimse a tháinig
blátha fiáine seo na hoíche
níl fhios agam féin é
seans gur uaitse a tháinig – domsa
perhaps You do not know
they came from me
wild flowers of the night
i do not know myself
perhaps they came from You – for me
7
II
siúil leis an mBúda
i measc na mbláth
oidí dósan is dúinne
a gcumhracht is a ndath
milis a meath gach nóiméad
walk with the Buddha
among flowers
his teachers and ours
their perfume and their hues
moments of sweet decay
9
III
is labhair an abhainn
i nguth nár chualamar
leis na cianta
is foirmíodh gach briathar
go domhain im’ chroí féin
and the river spoke
in a tongue we have not heard
in over a thousand years
each word formed
in the depths of my own heart
11
IV
cá ngabham anois
an domhan ar bharr lasrach
á leá os ár gcomhair
san fholús sin
ba chliabhán dúinn fadó
where is there left to go
a world in flames
see, it fades before our eyes
melts into the nothingness
that cradled our beginning
13
V
bhí an uile ní
i súil mo ghrása
ó thús ama
fíorghrá ag bláthú
leis na cianta gan fhios dúinn
in my beloved’s eye
all of creation
since the beginning of time
love takes aeons
to blossom and be known
15
VI
seolaim mo thaibh