I’ve been learning German lately, and something that I found fun was writing a poem, then immediately translating it to a German version that captures the same form and feeling.

Sometimes, I feel I can do little else,
But I can give my hair to the birds.

I brush out my undyed brown strands
And waft them aloft, above.

I hope they'll be part of
Some hidden, warm nest

Of the birds I
Hear at night,

When I 
Rest.

Manchmal, ich denke nichts kann ich machen,
Aber, mein Haar ist für die Vögel.

Ich bürste meine Haare und
Hebe es in den Himmel.

Ich hoffe sie werden 
Eine kleine Nest

Für die Vögel
Ich höre 

In der
Nacht.

(In my draft, I switched to red ink when I had to look up translating help.)

I’ll definitely be doing this again. It gave me the chance to sort of re-compose and re-examine the poem, giving it more context to be understood, albeit only for those who have access to both languages.

I think more of these will be forthcoming!