Kiri Poems - Poems about Kiri

chickens commit hara kiri

...Those chickens commit harra-kiri daily said Nan
Of free-range livestock with beaks, she was not a great fan
How do they do it? Asked her cousin curious Scar
Easy; they run out in the road, in fron...

Mad macha

...


      Mad macha 

Take your seat belt tight open the 
Seal of your engine oil now starting the rapid rain of tension,
U know friends I kept loosening my memory for the last four days I am s...

Regrets of a woke therapist

...I was a woke shrink, I sadly write this verse.
My patients came in bad shape, ended up worse.

Today there was Cohen, who thought he was French.
I told him either way, his privilege gave a stench...

Zen Death Haiku Iv

...ZEN DEATH HAIKU IV

These are my modern English translations of Japanese Zen Death Haiku. 

The moon
hovering above the snow-capped mountains
rained down hailstones
—Sekitei Hara, loose transl...

Suicide of Books

...For long bookcase-bound,
Some books committed suicide.
‘Few readers were found’,
The suicide note had decried,
Sobered, the rest of books cried.

The shock of the news
Caused many in library
...

My Most Popular Poems On the Internet Ii

...My most popular poems on the Internet (II)

A number of my poems and translations have gone viral, according to Google, and some have been copied onto hundreds to thousands of web pages. That’s a l...

Matsuo Basho Haiku Translations Ii

...Dusk-gliding swallow, 
please spare my small friends
flitting among the flowers! 
—Matsuo Basho translation by Michael R. Burch

A bee emerging
from deep within the peony's hairy recesses
flie...

Matsuo Basho Haiku Translations

...The first soft snow: 
leaves of the awed jonquil 
bow low
—Matsuo Basho translation by Michael R. Burch

Come, investigate loneliness! 
a solitary leaf
clings to the Kiri tree
—Matsuo Basho t...

Poems About the Coronavirus I

...Poems about the Coronavirus I


yet another iffy coronavirus haiku #1
by michael r. burch

plagued by the Plague
i plague the goldfish
with my verse



yet another iffy coronavirus haiku ...

More Iffy Coronavirus Haiku

...yet another iffy coronavirus haiku #1
by michael r. burch

plagued by the Plague
i plague the goldfish
with my verse



yet another iffy coronavirus haiku #2
by michael r. burch

sunflowe...

Poems About Poets I

...Poems about Poets I


The Wonder Boys
by Michael R. Burch

for Leslie Mellichamp

The stars were always there, too-bright cliches:
scintillant truths the jaded world outgrew
as baffled poet...

Ancient Haiku

...These are translations of some of the oldest Japanese waka, which evolved into tanka, renga and haiku. 

While you decline to cry,
high on the mountainside
a single stalk of plumegrass wilts.
—O...

Seppuku :: Diabolo

...


Enemies won't spare those brave; by
opting seppuku, chose to die
never bothered.

Seppuku was not to commit,
‘twas to perform, ought to befit
ever honoured.

Event was part o...

Haiku Translations of the Oriental Masters

...Grasses wilt:
the braking locomotive
grinds to a halt
—Yamaguchi Seishi, translation by Michael R. Burch

Oh, fallen camellias,
if I were you,
I'd leap into the torrent!
—Takaha Shugyo, trans...

Suicide Prevention

...I was-
suicidal    when my baby died-
possessed with death
          when my love left 

a name    engraved    buried deep

and went into a dark pit
running from life    happiness was gone
 ...

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