Long Bas 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...

Read More

Nucleotidings
by Michael R. Burch

“We will walk taller!” said Gupta,
sorta abrupta,
hand-in-hand with his mom,
eyeing the A-bomb.

“Who needs a mahatma
in the aftermath of NAFTA?
Now, that was a disaster,”
cried glib Punjab.

“After Y2k,
time will spin out of control anyway,”
flamed...

Read More

Translation of Eric Mottram’s TIME SIGHT UNSEEN, Part One by T. Wignesan

"Instead of an item in a school of rhetoric, the poem could have variety of articulations, continuity and discontinuity, sentence and parataxis, and an...

Read More

As Joulupukki was talking, Seileach used his own magic to probe the tree,
     “Ah, very interesting,” was his response.  “Yes, by all means lead the way.”
The three of them made...

Read More

Your face was red and blue…hope you feel good again
When I saw you, you obviously, abruptly coughed
I couldn’t help, but remember that…I’m feeling 7 out of 10 
When I saw you smile, I knew you...

Read More

Translation of Eric Mottram’s TIME SIGHT UNSEEN, Part Three by T. Wignesan

"Instead of an item in a school of rhetoric, the poem could have variety of articulations, continuity and discontinuity, sentence and parataxis, and an...

Read More

No one in this morning
The road is deserted,
It's too early under the gray sky,

The veins of my hands,
Salient hands on the wheel
The look Elevated

The white line scrolls,
The colored houses, fled,
Since the curves crossed,

Creeks glimpsed,
The white...

Read More

Privilege
by Michael R. Burch

This poem is dedicated to Harvey Stanbrough, an ex-marine who has written eloquently about the horror and absurdity of war in "Lessons for a Barren Population."

No, I will never know
what you saw...

Read More

These are my modern English translations of sonnets by the French poet Stephane Mallarme.

The Tomb of Edgar Poe
by Stéphane Mallarmé
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Transformed into himself by Death, at last,
the Bard unsheathed his Art’s...

Read More

Sijui ni wangapi wata'define my history,
Wakitumia hii story.
But kitu najua ni ati nkifa,
maybe;
Walevi ndo watachangisha doh kwa matanga,
na maybe;
Wengi watasema Marto alikuwa tanker.
Na ukijaribu ksema marto alikuwa wa youth ya church,
apo ndo MC atalenga iyo...

Read More

Le Rat Noir – Translation of Iris Clayton’s « The Black Rat » by T. Wignesan

(Iris Clayton of the Wiradjuri tribe in New South Wales was born in 1945. One of nine children, six of...

Read More

What Annoys Me.

         The Wedding of Rubbish and Nonsense.

Dearest readers; Please stand, for the big day has arrived
The knot be tied, the vows be said, the promises...

Read More

County seat, of Mason County, Washington, highly rates
United States Westernmost city on Puget Sound e quates 
above ground sans tectonic plates
Population 9,834 per 2010 census 
end result from biological mates
maintains commission form of government 
drafted...

Read More

“True love stories never have endings.” –
True happiness is a feeling. It is an immersive feeling that everything is good inside. It is not just about riches or wealth; it is a state of mind...

Read More

============================

I sat one evening in the park
upon a bench I thought my own
but as the dusk turned into dark,
I realized I was not alone

I hadn't seen from where he'd come
or got a strong look at...

Read More

Ce sont de grosse perles tombées à l'envi du paradis,
Grain à grain, plus luisantes que tout superbe satin.
Leur fraîcheur et délicatesse proviennent du séraphin,
Qui dit: jamais ses qualités ne deviendront ni taries ni décaties.
Tant qu'il...

Read More

Countless generations lapsed since height of Greco-Roman mythology conceived, birthed and populated vast canopy of sky and expanse of terrestrial firmament, whereat obeisant propinquity quintessentially remains stalwart this day and age as guise dolls dote...

Read More

Whenever she kept thinking of him,
She realised that he was becoming her day and night.
Ohoo! Don't call them lovebirds,
They were just the best of friends whose story seems to be incompatible.

Whenever she spoke, he would...

Read More

(La ballade de) La femme Woor – Translation of Oodgeroo Noonuccal’s “The Woor Woman” by T. Wignesan

Le chasseur Bhoori demandit de la colline,
Puisque le ciel à l’ouest était de rouge,
Et le monde entier devenait triste...

Read More

Translation of Eric Mottram’s A Faithful Private 5 Homage to Humphrey Jennings by T. Wignesan

                    ...

Read More

Lying in bed, the light of my computer bright
against the still images slowly changing on the silent TV across the room.
Despoiling the image,
nine seventeen, pm
stands out on the bottom of the screen.
My tired head resting...

Read More

Blasphemy

The caustic tongues of the evangelists,
Across all creeds and faiths,
Seem as brittle as an old bone.

For they promise heaven and they spew forth threats of hell
While neglecting the words of that man who walked in...

Read More

Femme, femme que j’aimais tant
Oh ! Il y a plusieurs printemps
Qu’il faisait beau temps
Et le vent sifflait lestement bas et lent
Oh ! Femme, tu fus jeune, pétillante et forte
Mignonne, maintenant, tu es morte
Tu es couchée...

Read More

In the vast ocean of beings and tempestuous thoughts,
You are the vessel that sails with heart at the prow, brimming with unsaid treasures.
Not all can taste your depths, not all can penetrate the abyss,
You are...

Read More

Under the endless sky, where the wind whispers ancestral secrets,  
Engines spin, iron butterflies in their primal dance,  
The muted thunder of wheels, an echo of the earth's hearts beating in unison, ...

Read More