Long Bough Poems

These are translations of some of the oldest Japanese waka, which evolved into tanka, renga and haiku. 

While you decline to cry,
high on the mountainside
a single stalk of plumegrass wilts.
—O no Yasumaro (circa 711), translation...

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“Through me you enter the city of woe
Trough me you enter the eternal pain
Through me you go to people lost below.

Justice inspired my highest factor reign;
I was created by act of divine,
Supreme wisdom and the...

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The Raven and the Bard
-Daniel Henry Rodgers

The Raven's quill drips shades of blackest night,
Its haunting words, a melody of fright.
The Bard's natural lines, like "Evangeline's" fair hair,
Shed history's warm light to chase away all care...

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Dream state yields deep sleep personifications

Upon lying supine - eye shutter lids
into the land of Wynken, Blynken, and Nod,
where the sandman beckons and bids
dead to the webbed wide world,
yours truly immune to wakefulness 
despite being...

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In Marshside Lea, there stood a tree, old in trunk and bough
'Twas long ago, this tale, although, it may still stand there now
And in its shade, the young sheep played as often did young lambs
Whilst...

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The victim list keeps growing

But no one really cares

The gristmill claims another one

Keep your hands in and don't stare

Hollywood is the golden land

The eternal silver screen

But many souls are lost here

A lot of greats or...

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Into the woods we ventured, where darkness began to encircle us,
Their ancient murmurs mingling with the forest’s ominous chorus.
A chilling breeze, as if the very breath of the woods sighed,
Veiled in tempestuous clouds, the stars...

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The shepherd stood on the field, frail,
He knew not what to do when and why,
As the wrathful sun did steep down,
The confused chap followed his humble sheep.
Then one man neared and asked his name,
He gasped...

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Forged in the pit of despair, the Megacity to dwell.
One Place
to rule them all.
Hell.

Let us come soon to surface in false identity,
Saviours, Creators, with no indemnity.
Pen Pal- Secret Admirers, Watchers watching over-- humanity-like Dire Wolves...

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Wouldn't it be wonderful to wake up one morning
To find you were still a child
So much energy jumping up and down upon your bed
So many wonders and thoughts swirling through your bed
No responsibilities
Just fun and...

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These are modern English translations of Chinese poems of The Shijing or Shi Jing ("Book of Songs" or "Book of Odes")

Shijing Ode #4: “JIU MU”
ancient Chinese rhyming poem (c. 1200-600 BC)
loose translation by Michael R....

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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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I knelt amidst the mountain's rise
        beneath the weeping opal skies
            there to measure Io's swoon
 ...

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Haiku Translations I

As the monks sip their morning tea,
chrysanthemums quietly blossom.
—Matsuo Basho, loose translation by Michael R. Burch

The fragrance of plum blossoms
on a foggy path:
the sun rising.
—Matsuo Basho, loose translation by Michael R. Burch

The sea...

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Pandora's Box

Is truly alive and well

Thriving to this very day 

Streaming and beaming away

Into the vast majorities of family homes

Not actually opened 

But rather willingly freely 

Switched on under the misguided illusion

We believe and buy...

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All of the images
Sending mixed messages
Massacring the masses
\while we view hindsight through rose-colored glasses
And all the whispers stop
Silence thick as the sound of a pin drops
Moment of silence for all of the victims
The same silence...

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The Shijing or Shi Jing or Shih-Ching (“Book of Songs” or “Book of Odes”) is the oldest Chinese poetry collection, with the poems included believed to date from around 1200 BC to 600 BC. According...

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I kneel to pray beneath an oak tree’s leaves,
where my journey began.
Broken limbs straggle over a patchy lawn,
a neglected place full of holes, 
shoveled from childhood memories.

I bow at the altar of the tall oak.
Days...

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I knelt amidst the mountain's rise, beneath the weeping opal skies,
      There to measure Io's swoon - the envy of each lesser moon ...
      ...

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~~Dreamer The Wood Nymph~~
Dreamer the wood nymph, with a jealous heart looked on
She wanted to trap Zeus the God and keep him for her own
Immortal life her children would receive if a God she mated
Although...

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After many years I paid a rare visit to the woods from my long ago childhood days,
Things have changed since boyhood, the bees are silent, the landscape has changed,
Gone, honey-laden scented flowers of the old...

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The Gift of Christmas

Some people say Christmas in this present time
Wanders lost
Through flashing ads and tinsel carelessly strung
On an artificial bough.

Some people say the Spirit of Christmas
Lives no more -
The simple Christ Child’s birth
Coldly mocked...

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It is cold and I am here alone, or am I 
I fought for their freedom, I am not a bad guy
Not wanting this life and never thought it would be me
Most are here by...

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I see you’ve larked with fairy friends,
On bough, in fields, near brooks - 
Pebbles skim the water’s edge;
Jump skip, jump skip, hop - over brook…

‘Which side is greener?’ Asked the Dragon mare.
‘The bough of tree...

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The universal worm has got some competition now,
since ‘Sandy’ took me out to Bateson’s dam.
This don’t include the ‘whitchys’ we get in a broken bough,
nor ‘scrubbies’ on the hooks we have to cram
to hide the...

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