Cheeked Poems

lost, not lost

...
my dearest love oft' pledged her soul
          for life, though life then took its toll
               my heart the thread-bare casualty
     of her regrets (though ne'er of me)
now she breath...

The Masnavi of Giti and Saeed - Part 3, 4 and 5

...Part Three — Zuhrah's Song (1)

O knower of love and mystic's wine,
Sweet mistress of the dance divine!

With harp and lute she weaves her tune,
Her music soars beyond the moon.

A queen whos...

Red Quiet

...There is snow in my wounds—
Soft, crystalline lies
Melting slow into the bruises you painted
Like frost on raw skin.
Your words,
Those lovely razors,
Cut so elegantly
I mistook the sting for s...

Ballad Of Her Moonlit Tune

..."The stars beckoned her song to reach the crescent moon"

In a quiet glade where the willows weep,
And fireflies dance as the world finds sleep,
A girl with cheeks like a rosy bloom
Would sing t...

The Coat

...Long ago in Littleton, when just a little lad                                              
My parents bought a coat for me of rusty-orange plaid.
Not made for higher fashion, nor one of tailored f...

Perfect In Every Way

...
She's like the essence of a coral rose 
a latent bloomer with a heart of gold 
And when she speaks to me in prose 
deep inside, she opens doors of old
 
Rosy cheeked and full of vitality 
a t...

Dear Miss Muffet

...I write to you, dear Miss Muffet,
who once sat upon a tuffet.
It was sixty long years ago,
when your story, then, was told.
Unfortunate details would unfold 
as a spider's yarn unrolled, 
if yo...

Pivotal Figures And Aspects

...The fearless soldier with a glowing and youthful look
aims his rifle toward his enemy behind the barrack,
while thoughts are focused on practical and clever survival;
the concept of horrifying dea...

The Wanderer, Part II, translation of the ancient Anglo-Saxon poem

...The Wanderer, Part II

Awakening, the friendless man confronts the murky waves,
the seabirds bathing, broadening out their feathers,
the hoar-frost, harrowing hail & snow eternally falling…

Th...

Sappho Translations XV

...Sappho Translations XV by Michael R. Burch

Gaia, rainbow-crowned, garbs herself in myriad hues. (168c)

We ran like fawns from the symposium: me, Cleis and reckless Gongyla. (168d)

Destiny is...

Sappho Translations III

...Sappho Translations III by Michael R. Burch


Bed the bride with the beautiful feet,
or bring her to me!
—Sappho, fragment 103b, translation by Michael R. Burch

I long helplessly for love. Ga...

September Falls

...Somewhere I hear Earth's ever ticking clock
Emptying the grains of Summers’ sandy seas
Parting from birds flying South in flocks
Time for leaves to fall from ancient tr...

Imagin All the Poeple

...Another generation of himself
unzipped his soul like a banana,
stepping instantly
into another dimension of
the same dream.

Never died - never born,
it was an implanted imaginary life...

Suzy and June

...
Suzy with her cute black curls
and red rose in her hair
plays with June. These rose-cheeked girls
have lots of love to share.

Tea parties make both girls grin.
Some sweet tea they have made....

I See Myself in Everything

...
I endure my arrogance like a leftover twin  
absorbed during gestation,  
seeing myself in everything, not only the eyes  
that watch me rocking back and forth in a corner 
in order to flip my ...

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