Iraq: A bilingual photo-haiku portfolio
Gabriel responds to images from Iraq by the acclaimed photographer Maxime Crozet.
Iraq . . .
all that has gone
all that remains
an Iaráic . . .
a bhfuil imithe
is a bhfuil fágtha
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a mirage?
former palace of Saddam Hussein
in Babylon
ciméara?
seanphálás Saddam Hussein
sa Bhablóin
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remember us
the martyrs say
remember remember remember
cuimhnigh orainn
a deir na mairtírigh
cuimhnigh cuimhnigh cuimhnigh
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strip Blair of his knighthood!
so say the winds
among ruins
bain an ridireacht de Bhlair
a deir na gaotha
i measc na bhfothrach
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ah, where is Tara
where is Troy?
Kirkuk . . .
á, cá bhfuil Teamhair
cá bhfuil an Traí?
Kirkuk . . .
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pock-marked
with bullet holes . . .
West Mosul
crosach
i ndiaidh na n-urchar . . .
Mosul Thiar
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drithliú fós
ó na laethanta a bhí . . .
seancheárta
a light still glows
from former days . . .
old forge
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tae cumhra . . .
laghdaíonn sé bréantas
British Petroleum
scented tea . . .
lessens the stench
of British Petroleum
■ Gabriel Rosenstock’s latest book is a collection of satirical tales, Mullah Nasrudin Is Alive and Well (New York: Cross-Cultural Communications, 2022).
