Long Bce Poems

The Exaltation of Inanna: Opening Lines and Excerpts 
by Enheduanna, daughter of Sargon I of Akkad and high priestess of Inanna
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Lady of all divine powers!
Lady of the resplendent light!
Righteous Lady...

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Lament to the Spirit of War
by Enheduanna (circa 2285-2250 BCE)
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

You hack down everything you see, War God!

Rising on fearsome wings
you rush to destroy the land:
raging like thunderstorms,
howling like hurricanes,
screaming like...

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"a long walk to reach my destination. 
                           ...

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Achab*, Translation of Pierre Emmanuel’s Achab by T. Wignesan

One man alone stands erect before the king, and speaks
A man
Alone

The king is not accustomed to being confronted face to 
      ...

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"In musical notation, a bar (or measure) is a segment of time corresponding to a specific number of beats in which each beat is represented by a particular note value and the boundaries of the...

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Enheduanna (circa 2285-2250 BCE), the daughter of the famous King Sargon the Great of Akkad, is the first ancient writer whose name remains known today.

Temple Hymn 15
to the Gishbanda Temple of Ningishzida
by Enheduanna 
loose translation/interpretation...

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for King Wen, circa 1151-1143 B.C.E. – with seven mind-bending kowtows

There where you had no occasion for play
There in your confined Ming I space
Where change wrought no change
In your fate
But for those plagued by your...

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Life was not a bed of roses for many women
             who, for time eternal,
             left footprints and paved our path, so we can walk...

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Mayan Poetry Translations

The Receiving of the Flower
excerpt from a Mayan love poem
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Let us sing overflowing with joy
as we observe the Receiving of the Flower.
The lovely maidens beam;
their hearts leap in...

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You have been walking on that ground since you were a child and you still have not examined the broken lines, you have been playing on that field since you start crawling on your knees...

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Today I learned, once more, the lesson of loss.
Today I learned of a brother gone.
Tonight I pay my respects, in what words I can muster;
forever he is one of us.

I didn’t know him for all...

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** Watching Time **



From all analog to any
Digitally shown markings
Of humanity’s invented 
Way to watch over Light
— passing or coming —
Time…

In less than a breath,
So, so many ways our anxious
Noting of hours may be halted:
By...

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IF ever I had a country : XXI - XXII

" I will follow that system of regimen which, according to my ability and judgment, I consider for the benefit of my patients, and abstain from...

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Composed couplets 
Connoted every facets
Words of wisdom they're
World needs them forever
Be it a love or life
or when yours in strife
Just go through these verses
which certainly ruin your curses

To cherish the value of friendship
To maintain dignified...

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Villanelle: The Dilemma of the Non-Violent – 21

Would Hindus see in Paris kill Siva’s* will
Who’s show is this: Puppeteer or puppet’s
Kali-Yuga* dragging hind legs to standstill

Callow kids spray lead to warn not infidel
For what glory...

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The Sacred Band

To those wearied warriors under the white and orange flame
here is a tale that you should listen
of a Sacred Band of men whose ground in blood they did christen—

One hundred and fifty pairs...

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(Greek Boy Sculpture)


Here art relinquishes 
hard stone for supple boy-flesh,
as one might offer himself
to a higher acause or purpose.

The beauty of this Greek boy
caught so casually in his
adolescent pose and smile, 
has about it a...

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Mother Wit

It chooses to whisper
Having endured shouting decades
Feigned listening
Maelstrom's noise

Left behind
Is but a parade
Just married tin cans
Tied to mankind's bumper

How circular the process

Sitting atop time's tree house
This place of early discoveries
Where dos and don'ts became...

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From the bone of your lord you were crafted shod to be one
With your lord and master Brazos: legends are told and done.
Thrown from Eden both farmed toiled bore fine living souls.
Lucy thus formed to...

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The Atlantean’s : Bce
(South coast of Britain)

The old man stood on the shore and felt the morning chill cutting deeply into him , the sky was grey and mirrored the mood of the few survivors...

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Limerick : Once a President of Bolivia

Once a President of Bolivia
Frothed oblanceolate green saliva
Must dream was Ashoka*
On Andes throne Inca
That’s how COCA-cola drug India.

*ASHOKA, b. circa 304 BCE (reigned: 273-232 BCE): King of Magadha,
was the...

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Ibykos Fragment 286, circa 564 BCE
loose translation by Michael R. Burch

Come spring, the grand
apple trees stand
watered by a gushing river
where the maidens’ uncut flowers shiver
and the blossoming grape vine swells
in the gathering shadows.

Unfortunately
for me
Eros never...

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When Attis, in guise of maiden fair, did sing
Unto her comrades, lo, the thiasus stirred!

A cacophony of voices quivering,
The delicate tambourine, it did swell
With resonance, and hollow cymbals rang
With metallic clangor, whilst the nimble choir
Did...

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A poor soul approached who was singing the blues
  He asked, 'What does God no longer want me to do?'

'What is hateful to you, do not do to others
  All the rest is...

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Lately I've seen a poem or two
   claiming that Jesus wasn't born a Jew
but rather a 'Palestinian child'
   a claim inaccurate and really quite wild 

When Jesus was born, there was...

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