Long Beirut Poems

World War II Poems and Holocaust Poems - VI - Chaim Nachman Bialik, Erich Fried

After My Death
by Chaim Nachman Bialik
translation by Michael R. Burch

Say this when you eulogize me: 
Here was a man—now, poof, he's...

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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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The Square Root of Beiruit 
 
Ten men bending while theyre pretending to be near the ending
A capitalist nightmare glares like rotten fruit
The squate root of Beiruit
No it isn’t fair, so they’ll start to loot
 
The soldiers are...

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War leaves scars. They are emotional. They are physical. They are spiritual.

My brother had proposed to my sister-in-law on Valentine's Day, and so it was on that fateful day, 12 years later that his and...

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I saw one journey end and another begin
I saw my world changed and in a spin 

I saw another end - the end of the band
I saw John and Yoko hand in hand

I saw commandos...

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Deep in the lands where friend fought foe,
and spoilt queens reached all new low.
Who'd take the bounty of a heart,
or curse a kingdom for a start.

Their was one sly, little devil,
corrupt beyond all young girl's...

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Although President Joe Biden, the members of the EU and the United Nations
do not want the current Hamas Israel War to expand--it already has in both
Lebanon and Syria.  Not because of the nation of...

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Q:  Who are the modern day  people of Philistia mentioned in Psalm 83:7.

A:  They are located in the region currently mentioned as Gaza, the western
      bank. ...

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As the moon smiles down on the sparkling Mediterranean
The gentle rolling hills
Reach bejeweled fingers into the sea
Spilling the overflow of sparkling lights
Onto fishing boats that dot the horizon
The irregular coastline, encrusted with diamonds, rubies, and...

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I push my head out the car window
As far as I can reach
I’m on a ride
Through Beirut
Energized
Galvanized
Oblivious to the walls
Of restriction
On my soul
I lean out futhur
My hair wild and free
The wind making love to me
Caressing...

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She holds me back~~~
my little girl
21
not so little 
but to me
she'll always be
my little girl
thoughts of her
hold me back
when I just want to sleep

Sometimes
I just want to sleep
to go to that place
where there is no...

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I didn’t want to let her down. She was a fellow teacher in the language institute and a very dear friend. When my husband went on trips, which was often, she’d look out for me,...

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(Taking headlines from October 1964,
the poem revisits our shared experience ...)

Monday 5: Fifty-Four East Germans Tunnel to Freedom

Back then, it was not in doubt,
(Richard Burton Tony Quinn):
the Wall was there to keep us out?
No –...

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I just got back from my morning walk
I had forgotten how exhilarating it is
To watch the sun rise
Up over the hills of Beirut.

The campus where I teach is simply breathtaking
Nestled cozily in the pine tree...

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Beirut.
You’ve always been the life of the party.

I’ve seen the sun smile at you,
on Saturday mornings.
As your women
hung over and wrecked
with Jesus crosses on their necks
waltz through streets
trying to find a ride back home.

Your green...

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A rare Arab and Asian identity which is distinct in topography;
blessed with an excellent human resource in health services;
its heart, destroyed and rebuilt seven different times;
having a name unchanged and sustained to reach historic zeniths;
surviving...

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Now doors were all closed, without single crack,
The father exposed, with son was to black,
Inside of a lorry.

Surrounded with fruit, they trembled from cold,
For clothes from Beirut, which little warm hold,
Too thin were and hoary.

»Where...

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I am a child
Like the one you tuck in bed
The one you kiss on the head
The one who gets loved instead
The one who is so well fed
I am a child

I am a child
Like the one...

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My current avatar has a story:

I once posted this avatar and someone sweet (Craig Cornish) on the SOUP 
blogged about it and named me Betty Boop. Since then...the name has stuck. 
I don't know if...

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When bombs rained down a neighborhood
In Shiah, south Beirut one night
A brown haired boy tight clutched his toy,
A cuddly brown-furred bear, in fright.

And sobbing through the roaring din,
He whispered to his cuddly friend:
"Oh, Teddy, Teddy,...

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The Twelve Angels of Beirut

They huddle together in the heavens
Muttering amongst themselves
Confused as any human down below

We bestow upon them the ancient teachings
Not once, not twice, variations to please all walks of life
Yes thrice

They may...

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I chanced to look upon the world, through current
Channels..And much unfurled; I noted the various
Decades passed, wars on terror legalising grass..'
Wars on waste, the slogans did run, my mind reeled
Them off one by one.' I...

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He dresses as the fool
But does he fool you?
In clothes of rent
Torn twisted and bent

He drinks to excess
His voice is loud
He spouts obscenities
But he runs like the wind

Catch, me if you can, he shouts
The maze...

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From one film to the other, your creative styles,
Rebels joined, save a world, then you, sacrificed a girl,
Online programmers that you had caused their riles,
Mr. Santino wanted New York as part of his world,

New bodies...

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On December 7, 2013 a bomb blast killed former Lebanese Minister, Mohammad Chatah and several others. Less than an hour ago, another bomb blast took place in the Dahieh area in Beirut. My husband is...

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