Long Bedchamber Poems

You Never Listened
by Michael R. Burch
 
You never listened,
though each night the rain
wove its patterns again
and trembled and glistened...
 
You were not watching,
though each night the stars
shone, brightening the tears
in her eyes palely fetching...
 
You...

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The Moon as a Metaphor for Your Mouth
by Michael R. Burch

When I was closest to love, it did not seem
real at all, but a thing of such tenuous sweetness
it might dissolve in my mouth
like a...

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Chinese Poets: English Translations

These are modern English translations of poems by some of the greatest Chinese poets of all time, including Du Fu, Huang O, Li Bai, Li Ching-jau, Li Qingzhao, Po Chu-I, Tzu Yeh,...

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The Love Song Of Shu-Sin
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Darling of my heart, my belovéd, 
your enticements are sweet, sweeter than honey. 
Darling of my heart, my belovéd, 
your enticements are sweet, sweeter than honey....

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I am walking in your footprints again. My bare feet are so small when contained within the imprint of your own We have walked this soft grassy road, side by side. Now I walk only...

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Enough Angelina, drop the bouquet of harebells.  
The flowers wilt as your graying hands stiffen. See, how grave
is our newborn son. We gift him a black crêpe layette.
Say Darling Edward, say, Golubushka, make me...

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Sappho Translations VI by Michael R. Burch


Sappho, fragment 52
translation by Michael R. Burch

Yesterday,
you came to my house
to sing for me.

Today,
I come to you
to return the favor.

Talk to me. Do.
Sweet talk,
I love the flavor!

Please send away...

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ANYTE OF TEGEA

Stranger, rest your weary legs beneath the elms;
hear how coolly the breeze murmurs through their branches;
then take a bracing draught from the mountain-fed fountain;
for this is welcome shade from the burning sun.
—Anyte translation...

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...Then one looked at her sand said, “Let’s have us another ’bout.”
But the man on her horse said, “No, I’m claiming that one now.
In lieu of my share of the gold when all of them...

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Our long time catered chef...
prepared a meal fit for (psst... me) a king

Actually professional cook
(trained since infancy)
long a staple of our family
since... oh way before
my bubba's zayda's time
naturally became (according
to rules of primogeniture)

the feudal rule...

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She reunited with her lover
He has been away from home
For millennia

She waited alone
In the isolated cold and space
But she did not want the children
To think about their father

She as both mother and father
The duties and...

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This is my English translation of "L'Invitation au voyage" ("Invitation to the Voyage") by the French poet Charles Baudelaire. It's a poem he wrote for his soulmate...

Invitation to the Voyage
by Charles Baudelaire
loose translation/interpretation by Michael...

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Through shadowy veils of my mournful mind is
the vastness of iridescent stars,
their hopeful light does not comfort me.
The very thought of not being in the treasure
of your presence awakens the dulling grief of
my heart's loneliness.
The...

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Nightshade seduction
arouse androidal desires
to taste the dangerous pleasure pill
that only humans are allowed to feel
Love poisons the non-emotional circuitry;
flip the kill switch ... flood the doppelganger dead wife body 
with corrupting, electrical ecstasy
Suicidal sirens are...

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Mother's love grew into a sour myth.
I spewed out her milk
into the stygian sea
that brought the merchants
whose merchandise were deep, immortal musings
on a new-found love.

Solitude was there
filled with eros that left
every monk defiled.
Unclad she was...

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She was a pallor woman, says the mirror on the 
Wall above her bureau:  A tranquil woman too, 
Says her diary which lay near her bed on the
Floor; and a deathless woman, says the...

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It will rain today and NEPA will seize the light
The firmament is dark, the cloud is enormous
The singing birds have fled
Everyone to its home

It will rain today, I’m worried
I have neither roof enough for storage
Nor...

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Lady fair...my fairmaiden
I picture you in your bedchamber
facing your vanity contemplating
the sad beauty,of raven locks
glinting emerald eyes,which cry
only within',as no tears are
to be seen on your self reflection

The knowing of your one true love
....uncertainty is...

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She sits alone within the hall
Close to the fire keeping her warm
Silken dress worn threadbare
Watching fire sprites dance and flare.

Dreaming of someone in her heart
Lonlieness pierces like a dart
Within  candle light glow
Her tears not...

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Signature in Blue
offended by midnight hue
Come calling calling swiftly near
only a true love left alone to hear

A fainter smell left hanging on
Chartruce vermillion clinging 'til dawn
A bedchamber slightly abused
denotes a love that went out refused

Twilight...

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Dragon slain, all set aright
Maiden held in arms so tight  
His blue eyes saw future bright
They reached the castle by night

Bathed and dressed in virgin white
To bedchamber she did alight
He was moved and moaned...

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Sisters (Cassandra and Jane)

Cassandra and her Jenny
could not dwell long apart,
they shared the same bedchamber
and beating of one heart.

When parted they wrote letters
where sibling love would shine.
In every sentence written,
sweet laughter flowed like wine.

Cassandra's love...

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Designing a building a home
Is the art of making love
Construct the kitchen first
Quenching hunger and thirst
For better listening and speaking
More intimately of the day
Giving undivided attention
Create your place a cozy den
The room to lounge and...

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