Flower Eulogy Poems

There dwells, in pale eastern shade
Under dark pillars, Himalayan
Forged in thunder’s dome
A lonely flower
Seven years a virgin locked
Now spiraling flush and flame
Parting petals
Awake and tremble
Only...

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               Dearest Brother
We've been through both heaven and hell together.
From the...

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Sojourner to far-flung climes;
When you return,
Will you remember the evening songs
Chorused by chirping under the baobab tree?
Will you still remember the fame of the great...

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I
Alan Watts says we live forever
In children if we can bear
There is no joy in going on, ever
And ever as a dying tree or flower

II
He...

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Looking back, one thing comes clean-glass clear
you were always there for me subduing every fear.

I tried to do my duty, be a husband strong and...

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A farewell with a token of gratitude...

To my dear Rosies,
For the thousand colorful blooms, you gave, 
For the everlasting fragrance, you showered on us, 
For...

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Lament for the Makaris ("Lament for the Makers/Poets")
by William Dunbar [c. 1460-1530]
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
 
i who enjoyed good health and gladness
am overwhelmed...

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Hiroshima Poems 2

I lived as best I could, and then I died.
Be careful where you step: the grave is wide.
-Michael R. Burch, "Epitaph for a...

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Epitaph for a Palestinian Child
by Michael R. Burch

I lived as best I could, and then I died.
Be careful where you step: the grave is wide.

This...

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Fiona, fair beauty, fleet footed and fancy free,
Flits over the field,
Full of life and fun, a joy to see.
 
She’s my Bonnie canine, sweet and...

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I can’t ever know what flowers they gave her,
on that brittle coffin,
Because those flowers belonged in the garden she made,
(That after they let grow wild...

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Every dawn I yawn quiet, florescence I inhibit softly
A clear image I peep, nature settles calmly
Her intentions are infectious like a blossomed flower
Reminds me of...

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I died beside her departure
Railroad tracks empty
Bloodless heart
Ashes black...

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CXXVI

The time of life, that's not quite summer yet
Why flowers bid farewell late February
A seemingly unnecessary death
But fair to grace his holy sanctuary

It may perhaps...

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Through dark ages 
Through ugly ages 
Through pale-faced lanky ages 
We've crawled through the thorns of life and leapt fearlessly over life's hurdles. 
Through the...

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