Long Agonies Poems

I see people moving, but going nowhere
I see people moving with their hands thrown in the air
I see people moving but they have nothing to share
Bags and pans, old kettle, and old man
The scavenger, the...

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Archaic Torso of Apollo
by Rainer Maria Rilke
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

We cannot know the beheaded god
nor his eyes' forfeited visions. But still
the figure's trunk glows with the strange vitality
of a lamp lit from within,...

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The Panther
by Rainer Maria Rilke
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

His weary vision's so overwhelmed by iron bars,
his exhausted eyes see only blank Oblivion.
His world is not our world. It has no stars.
No light. Ten thousand...

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Despite his impatience to show me his hell,
He waited for me in my rest, 
Lying upon the ground, I awoke in prayer,
Thanking God above and asking Him for guidance

“My heart is Yours, always,
From the moment...

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This is my translation of the first of Rilke’s Duino Elegies. Rilke began the first Duino Elegy in 1912, as a guest of Princess Marie von Thurn und Taxis, at Duino Castle, near Trieste on...

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Within the frame a sepia scene
a dusty porch   a rickety chair   
the fabric of your dusky face creased
with ceaseless sunbaked woes
your old pair of getaway feet gives 
a different walk of...

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The Wedding Ceremony of the Dead, Part One, Translation of Pierre Emmanuel’s Les Noces de la Mort by T. Wignesan

Orgy of stone !
I drank hate in your inferior parts
And bathed during a wild summer our...

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Renee Vivien Translations


Song
by Renée Vivien
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

When the moon weeps,
illuminating flowers on the graves of the faithful,
my memories creep
back to you, wrapped in flightless wings.

It's getting late; soon we will sleep
(your eyes...

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I have been writing this verse since last night
But my heart was so heavy, my tongue cleaved  
To the roof of my mouth and it felt as though 
Something has fallen through the roof
I...

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CRAP MISSION :
This is ANDERSON WALKINGSHOES.... 
VERSE 1:
Well, all the signs I saw,
Were stroke for us all.
Expressing ourselves in accord,
It's simple for me coming forth.
Their fallacies knocking my door;
Screaming my name based on plots.
And I'm...

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“Clap your terrible wings, vivacious serpent of old!
Imagine my plight as dangerous as your spite,
Stomp your clawed feet on these prison floors,
Peace shall always follow the sink of your fangs…”

Silenced were the wailing demons round,
Crouched...

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Pyramus was the handsome young man
Thisbe the fair maiden of Babylon.
The houses of their parents did adjoin 
Neighborhood brought the two in relation.
And the acquaintance ripened into love
And the fire within them burnt with bright...

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*** In the Dream Foretold *** A Devotion Series Poem

I am getting over paralysis from nerves twisted along my spine.  The agonies are
passing, but not gone, so I am standing, leaning over the kitchen...

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Here's a penny for your thoughts
Maybe a nickel or a dime for your thoughts
Maybe even a quarter or dollar bills for your thoughts 

Perhaps, you don't care enough to be around me tonight
Moreover, I'll be...

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we're going all the way down the road of fate      
Well-being depends on a collective plate.  
Our souls are laden with sorrow and debate,     
And...

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Deep down my heart veins,

There prevails the clouds of 

darkness that rains

But I condense them like 

morning dew,

Apply on my eyes with its kohl,

And the world hymns, so divine 

and beautiful.



Sometimes my blood runs cold...

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The mystical maid of the seasonal change, in summer darns a
Gown of evergreen, with rose petal blossoms of bows, and leaves
Ribbons woven intertwine through thorns and beauty.
In the rush the colder winds blow at natures...

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Once upon a night so bleak,
frozen silent laid the creek --
air of death, pushed, swore
and swore...as if were fists
pounded the frail, wood door;

shutters noised, bolting and
banging; metal hinges oddly
clanging – cupboard glasses
adding more tumultuous tang,...

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Ethereal lanterns of our divine light in the sacred flame of our deep love, illuminating the sanctuary of our souls in sparkling nights of elysian bliss, the mergence of our spirits in the resplendency of...

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6.

                                  ...

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"I truly feel that it is only when humanity can genuinely show love and
         respect, by nurturing and protecting the environment and all forms of 
 ...

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You said to me
"I want to be buried here
Under that little citrus tree..."
You smiled, decidedly
I looked at you perplexed
This was after your disdainful speech to me

I imagine queuing in the quiet, mournful strings
As a dim...

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Vasava – 
An untold story                              ...

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A raw poem. Whoever would like to rearrange, reorganize it has the right. I'd like to thank them all. I promise I will never make a claim for that 

A husband knows, but he pretends...

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Le Bateau ivre (“The Drunken Boat”), an Excerpt
by Arthur Rimbaud
translation by Michael R. Burch

The impassive river carried me downstream
as howling warriors slashed the bargemen's throats,
then nailed them, naked, to their former posts,
while I observed all...

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