Long Antiquities Poems

MICHELANGELO: Modern English Translations

Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564) is considered by many experts to be the greatest artist and sculptor of all time. These are modern English translations of his poems and epigrams by Michael R. Burch.



SONNET:...

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Once upon a time, there lived a boy called Simon.
He was an ordinary boy who did what ordinary nine year old
boys do: collecting bugs and putting them in jars,
speaking to imaginary friends, riding a bike...

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'BRRRING BRRRING' said the telephone

“Oh hello” said the wide viewfinder to the telephone. “How are you today?” The telephone fell silent. Very silent. It had no battery with which to call, speak, shout or do...

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In borrowed plumes
a masquerade we stage.
Thoughts echo doctrines 
passions are preordained.
From broken families 
where fractured spirits weep
Mothers of soulful sorrow 
With eyes that never sleep.

We inherit canvases 
pre-primed with societal skews.
But the brush trembles in...

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A Meandering Cocophony of Thought that Evades Fate

Contractual obligations toward your future self
Non-Factual invocations that deprive you of your health 
Actual comparisons between poverty and wealth 
Emmanuel on the eve of a heavenly operation of...

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The Dragon Riders Saga IV
Suddenly the hot breath if death came searing upon his back
As he turned around the creature ever quickly did attack

Thrown from the cave he turned and arched hard into a dive
Speed...

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Chapter..........1..........Part..........2..........1b.

To the right,
where God's light had shone bright,
Warrior Queen,
know your beast is come, 
all may not be lost,
he comes from his land of endless night,
indeed, he has heard your plea.
The thunder and lightning,
they now play...

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Slowly, in great pomp and honour,
Ricciard leads his guard,
people on the parapet watching,
creatures of the night lands,
they have come,
ride on, men of honour,
into antiquities pages,
the Dark Man and the Captain,
they head the train.
Distant dreams of...

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The Dragon Riders Saga II

The Dragon had returned to the clearing where he'd left his rider near neardeath
Hearing the strange tale brought mission purpose back and fire to his breath

A healer had found his friend...

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I miss her, Mother Egypt
and those friends I left behind,
timeless history, marvels and mysteries
etched in stone by her own scribes.

Longing for the waters of the nourishing
River Nile and surrounding seas,
the laughter and smiles of everyone
who...

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The maiden's nipples 
swollen, her bosom
flush with excitement,
hailing her goddess as 
she slighted very 
eloquently, puissant.
The goodness they
shared was of sinful
reproach, a somber
obedience of lovers'
admiration.  
The dusk laden sky 
flickered with prose, 
the sorrows...

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Heartbreak and spice, 
everything nice,
Jet pepper and cracked 
cinnamon.
Variety and life, diamonds and 
curls,
Feminine mystique such a sin.
Sorrow and snails, mysterious 
things,
We all know boys will be boys.
With leather and musk, a little 
bit rough,
Trashing...

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Sweet Just the Way I Like It

you're a genius she moaned
there can only be so much money in circulation
he replied halfheartedly fingering her abacus
the moon arose sharp as a razor
and they set about creating a...

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Your honor I wish to state, with utmost rhapsody before the crescent azure, that my client is as white as a Lilly
was it fare that he died, a tender soul twenty one phases of the...

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Magnetic attraction, enchanting dream of a lifetime -
	majestic pyramid attracts my eye, 
	mystique draws me in
	
O, your architecture! Pavilions, colonnades; art enclosing art,
	every square inch deliberately designed,
	ceilings pour forth scintillating splendor
	
Antiquities from Rome, Egypt, the...

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My Dream Vacation

                  To return once more to Italy where the forgotten places
     ...

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The first time I thought of him
His name was playing shortstop;
Too few siesta’s spent, he’s found eighteen.

Stingy Time did swiftly pass us forth,
Spinning nurture, spanning missteps,
Till foundation definition was writ soul-side.

Sparkling child, Number One, 
All...

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On the death bed for cessation, a platform free from brawl, 
I perceive in peace my debilitating breath.
And give off a brief one as I hear my call,
The one from the train to the paradise.

My...

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How do the girls talk, of boys in the bushes and stones in their pockets
How do the boys stalk, to thinking that girls are dreaming of nothing but lockets,
for keeping inescapable kisses trapped in a...

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I browsed thro' an old Sears-Roebuck Catalogue the other day.
The necessaries shown in its pages would be antiquities today.
It illustrated harness, horse shoes, things to tend horse's withers,
And displayed everything from anvils to fifty-one string...

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The anxious sense of self
Forged in a flawed reality
The blind internal drives
Percolating in the cortex just beneath

Ubiquitous is the struggle
Antiquities impressions preside
Reptilian hardwired features
Dominance – an extreme will to survive

Anxiety, fear, and anger
Emotions hard to...

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The pursuit of Poetry is a lifelong affair,
Where one must strive hard to interpret his thoughts.
A scene treasured in the realm of the mind
Must be awesomely penned to justify its course.
Write on and ease your...

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Islam Burning


In deep purple flame
Stapled to the cross
While the peasants yell below
Demon demon demon
Black flags rise
Hearts fail to beat
Humanity has lost this score
The axe swings in the air
Freedom at last
From Islam’s beasts
My head tumbles into...

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To decline in sense by standards, morals and dignity,
perceived decay in honor, faith and most of discipline.
Falling into the process of condition deterioration,
societies antiquities and its embarrassing vulgar declaration.
Excessive indulgences for the riches spoil,
and the...

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Two thousand years, a tragedy is past
Yet it's history still leaves us aghast.

On a night, dreadfully dark
A  volcano erupted, leaving it's historical mark

Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD
The first recorded in all of history

The...

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