Wednesday, November 19, 2008

In honor of our friend Cory, I bring to you the first ever Chicago Commons ESL Second Language Haiku Fest.

I charged my students with the task of completing several haiku during class today. Here are the English renditions. Keep in mind, this is their second or third language.

the spring has come here
pretty colors we can see
when flowers are born

the flowers are born
just in this beautiful time
then they go to die

the cold water runs
in some long, beautiful shapes
it gives me some peace



And then they wrote haiku in Spanish, which were later translated into English. Keep in mind that the translation will no longer keep the syllabic pattern necessary in haiku.

las olas del mar
con su dulce sonido
calman mi estres

the waves of the ocean
with their sweet sound
calm my stress


con su dulce canto
los bellos pajaritos
dan alegria

with their sweet song
the beautiful birds
give me joy


agua limpia
que corre por el rio
da mucha vida

clean water
that runs to the river
gives much life


las flores cantan
una gran melodia
para nosotros

the flowers sing
a grand melody
for us



and my personal favorite:

el agua corre
dulce y melodiosa
en una rosa

the water runs
sweet and melodiously
in a rose


4 comments:

cory said...

this is my fav'rite
blog post from you guys ever
congrats to the folks!

Rachel said...

I'd like something involving GWAR lyrics.

Indian Lake Papa said...

It's all Greek to me - I have trouble w/southern Michigan!

Grant and Leandra said...

Think about you both a lot. We've been out of contact for a while, but we think about you both. We're both doing well, just very busy and wishing we had more time to do things like visit you or read or explore.

That didn't have anything to do with the post (although all of the haikus are lovely!).

Peace!