Long Arab Poems

See
by Michael R. Burch

See how her hair has thinned: it doesn’t seem
like hair at all, but like the airy moult
of emus who outraced the wind and left
soft plumage in their wake. See how her eyes
are...

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Here We Shall Remain
by Tawfiq Zayyad
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Like twenty impossibilities
in Lydda, Ramla and Galilee ...
here we shall remain.

Like brick walls braced against your chests;
lodged in your throats
like shards of glass
or prickly cactus...

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ALBERT EINSTEIN POEMS

These are "poems" I created from Albert Einstein quotes, changing a word here and there for the sake of meter and rhyme...



A question that sometimes drives me hazy: 
am I or are the...

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First they came for the Muslims

after Martin Niemoller

First they came for the Muslims
and I did not speak out
because I was not a Muslim.

Then they came for the homosexuals
and I did not speak out
because I was...

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Fadwa Tuqan has been called the Grand Dame of Palestinian letters and The Poet of Palestine. These are my translations of Fadwa Tuqan poems originally written in Arabic.



Enough for Me
by Fadwa Tuqan 
loose translation/interpretation by...

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English translations of Arabic poems by Fadwa Tuqan aka "The Poet of Palestine"

Enough for Me
by Fadwa Tuqan 
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Enough for me to lie in the earth,
to be buried in her,
to sink...

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World War II Poems and Holocaust Poems (I)

These are poems about World War II and the Holocaust, which is also called the Shoah in Hebrew. 



Epitaph for a Child of the Holocaust
by Michael R. Burch

I...

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The Story
by Kamal Nasser
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

I will tell you a story ...
a story that lived in the dreams of my people,
a story that comes from the world of tents.
It is a story...

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Oh well I got an angry email to begin my day
Because of my last post on the Jabidah thing yesterday
Galit sa akin but greeted me with Assalamu alaykum.
And kung personal Moro friends ko naman ito...

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I began reading Jane Anna Gordon's "Creolizing Political Theory"
from the back toward the front,
as usual,
because if I appreciate where this narrative journey will end,
then I probably will find we start off with similar questions 
of...

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Such Tenderness
by Michael R. Burch

for the mothers of Gaza

There was, in your touch, such tenderness—as
only the dove on her mildest day has,
when she shelters downed fledglings beneath a warm wing
and coos to them softly, unable...

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Mahmoud Darwish English Translations of Arabic Poems



Palestine
by Mahmoud Darwish
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

This land gives us
all that makes life worthwhile:
April's blushing advances,
the aroma of bread warming at dawn,
a woman haranguing men,
the poetry of Aeschylus,
love's...

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“Ten Years, Somewhere in their Lost Neighbourhood”

Of course,
he said, like a god,
there is no course,
one must simply go with the flow
the penumbra stands waivering its existence,
a kind of deactivation, fuzzy borderline hanging, 
backing the art...

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SIBLING RIVALRY BETWEEN THE CHILDREN OF ABRAHAM

For thousands of years animosity has existed between the Arabs and the Jews, we know this, but what is the reason? 
Let’s go back in time and try to...

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Sinai Campaign, 1967

“Operation Focus” sees Israeli jets streaking, 1
Attacking Arab fighter jets and air force bases, 2
Thus attaining dominance over Middle Eastern skies,
While IDF ground divisions launch into action. 3

Israeli tanks (Pattons, Shermans, and Centurions)
Blitzkrieg...

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Race-Ism

What makes one man or woman better than another?
Should we think differently of those who adapted
to another environment and adapted another color?

If our differences are only skin deep as a tone
why do we unto our...

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(A SHORT COMMENTARY ON THE 21ST CENTURY CIVILIZATION)  


This story goes on to throw light on the 21st century civilization. And in that political era, the religious and political atrocities, which ended up as...

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1: Which region of the globe has the lowest standard of living?

a. the Middle East.
b. sub-Saharan Africa
c. Asia.
d. Latin America.

2: Which of the following is not a country in the Third World?

a. Latin America
b. Asia.
c....

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We will be the trustees of life's passions...
The villas of villainous Rome are burning behind me
from Capua to the Cisalpine Alps the skyline is smoldering from her savage sins,
monuments of luxury built, furnished,  and...

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The horse is a fascinating creature that serves us so well


Having had a life long relationship with horses
I am full of admiration for their endless toils.
They are fiery yet mainly gentle giants
and give hours of...

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Unto all generations comes a time,
  a time to take and to lose.
A time for peace and a time for war -
  time to heal, time to bruise

Loud is the cry of “stolen...

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Hordes of screams sounded out all around and masses of slashed bloody villagers staggered into our village.  Grownups started running to finding stuff to clean them     They kept saying “Janjaweed,...

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MY LIFE JOURNEY

Let me tell you a story ……

I could have not imagined that my life journey
would take me to see, wander around and
enjoy few of the world’s famous gardens.
Yes, in Europe, Canada and Western...

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"God will bless those who bless Israel. 
And he will curse those who curse Israel."***

The United States of America has been blessed
For two primary reasons.  Our founding fathers
And our founding mothers. Established the newly
Formed...

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OH! Those dangerous days are back again!
When Roman citizens had to choose
Caesar is lord instead of Jesus Christ
As the one true Lord God Almighty!
Even when they knew it was not true!
Some of those believers did...

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