In celebration of the day, we simply took all the Artaud haiku assemblages from Haiku Revelation and ran them through Bing Translate on an ARTAUD scheme: Afrikaans, Rundi, Thai, Albanian, Uzbek (Latin), Dogri, and the return to English. The haiku format was obliterated along the way, but the resultant longish lines, some quite consciously moved around for effect, seem to work, or at least they exist in the present. And we will argue, “The snake’s bones in the dream of the sky represent an unknown creature seeking refuge” is a Bretonian gem in translation.  “I will revive the enchantment of language with the warmth of my feet,” is a close second, and could also be a BTR motto of sorts. Or of socks.

The poem:

True poetry exists in the present – the seeker. 
 The snake’s bones in the dream of the sky represent an unknown creature seeking refuge. 
 I smile at God with my teeth; I always endure the torment that creates suffering.  
 Angels bestow extraordinary words upon the madman angel.  
 An actor must shape nature with the assistance of Will Van and Mal Man.  
 I will revive the enchantment of language with the warmth of my feet.  
 As a human, I recognize my needs.
Opium is a fragile passion intertwined with the pain of existence.  
We must view ourselves as a barrier and cleanse our hearts of life’s despair.  

No idea what to make of Will Van and Mal Man, though the latter sounds like a nickname for Artaud himself. They don’t Bing-search to anything meaningful.

At any rate, we asked Chat and Gemini to illustrate the great “snake’s bones” line in the manner of Dalí, thinking this would be interesting, and Gemini (left) was interesting, though we could probably do without the usual soft clocks, while Chat did not even make an effort. It was seeking refuge somewhere, probably smoking opium. Or is this rare Dalíesque restraint actually a stroke of brilliance? But it’s not even Dalíesque. It looks more like Thomas Hart Benton. We would ask Chat how this happened, but it’s busy elsewhere. As an AI, we recognize its needs.