Long Brims 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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Watching wan moonlight
illuminate tree limbs,
my heart also brims,
overflowing with autumn.
—Ono no Komachi, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

As I slept in isolation
my desired beloved appeared to me; 
therefore, dreams have become my reality
and consolation. 
—Ono...

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As I slept in isolation
my desired beloved appeared to me; 
therefore, dreams have become my reality
and consolation. 
—Ono no Komachi, translation by Michael R. Burch

Submit to you—is that what you advise? 
The way the ripples...

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This pledge that l,Ntando, make today serves
as my guideline that I shall follow
happily, ungrudgingly and tirelessly
for the sake of our love life.
Indeed l am well aware of the fact that
the beauty of this pledge does...

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In Ouachita's murmurs, where pine needles sigh,
I trace the mountains' ancient, weathered crown.
Silvered river forgotten secrets float by,
And fills my heart, a sonorous chamber now.

A flame ignites, dispelling shadows deep,
A beacon for lost souls on...

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Ono no Komachi Translations

These are my modern English translations of the ancient Japanese poems of Ono no Komachi…

"It's over!"
Your words drizzle like dismal rains,
bringing tears,
as I wilt with my years.
—Ono no Komachi, loose translation/interpretation by...

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My flower grows on a lucid hilltop pride,on land that never erodes and thrives 
through death's caressing touch.Capsulized in crystalline, her petals fall like 
dewdrops painting the winds cries. Tears kiss the pain; my hurt...

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There is a picture of you on my bedroom wall
Drawn by my own simpering hand
Of your divine features and veiled Oriental eyes
Scratched out by the crude tool of a 2B pencil
Alas I had no mosaic...

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As restoring love is our EcoMentoring Shepherd,
we shall not pathologically want
or fear any shortage of timelessness,
we are HereNow,
lacking nothing and no past or future time,
in organic multiculturing meadows
of deep green nutritionally healthy grass.

Earth Hosts our...

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There's a jolly little cafe where a chestnut tree once grew, 
They serve hot bubbling tea and buttered toast,   
Where the waiter wears a waistcoat which is buttoned up askew  
And the...

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My dearest love oft' pledged her soul,
          For life, though life then took its toll,
           ...

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I Walked An Hundred, Hundred-Thousand Steps,
To give you the good-bye I could not speak.
Atop the Great Wall, you and I, Opposites,
Ascending and Descending,
For six-thousand-five-hundred-and-eighty-five miles
 (and a half)…
Have met
To say
Good-Bye,

But I could not speak it,
And...

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Missing: Pieces of Me

SPLINTERED HEART 

like a leg severed, ripped loose:
the phantom limb throbs and aches
knowing yet unwilling, unable to accept
that it's only a ghost playing evil pranks

sitting frozen and paralytic
from the weight, the frightful...

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Death dies herself and does not damage 
Those who advance ahead underailed, 
Following the prints of the wise pioneers 
Whom He imparts the secrets of wisdom. 

At downward dive heart beats thumpingly, 
And aches as...

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When you are 
an agonizing 
echo from a
benevolent voice,
life exhales in
mahogany haze, 
spreading across the
lachrymose meadows as 
scarred rivulets of
sandalwood scents, 
where ceramic 
rhymes slumber in
watercolor coffins 
with opaque metaphors,
weaving hoaxed 
hymns of the nascent...

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Lagniappe 
 
Wide plantation shutters open 
  With the laziness of 
 	Summered streams 
To blink against the shimmering reflections 
 Of brilliant midday 
   Dancing on the cobblestones, 
  	Mingling...

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Cowboys in the Badlands


The horses need be reined tightly
lest they show better judgment
and head back to the barn.  The
cowboys, driven by the dust cloud
of following hoof beats, were less smart.
A Gila monster smirks as...

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Written: September 24, 2023
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In a world so frigid, where trust is truant
A tale of verity and tea is confluent
As the winds of autumn dance unaware,
A poet's pen weaves words with care.

Sipping the brew in the...

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Catching Pisces

He peddles alchemized wood 
Along the outdoor corridor,
Milk-crate mounting as students skim by, 
Heeding not his lifelong stock.

Sweat leaks from his palette.
He searches their fingers for the shavings 
That lie flat like loose beard...

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A tapestry of yearning etched in starlight,
where whispers of kindred spirits entwine and soar.
No echo lost, no teardrop falls unheeded,
for solace blooms in echoes from every shore.

The moon, a silver chalice, brims with understanding,
its luminescence...

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At the cusp of a wrist is a grip invisible yet lasting,
Pulling toward a void quieter than thought,
A world of recluse and all visionary,
Can I really be the last one to come here?
Or will I...

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My fashionista muse has many styles from which to choose,
and how she feels determines the colors she will use.

If she brims with silliness, it’s orange she could wear,
for couplets can be quirky heels, and heels...

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Angels Wings

Upon Angel's wings the view was simply stunning, like that of a newborn infant, seeing the bright lights of heaven and all it's possibilities. 

Over the cloud covered mountains we soared, effortlessly. Time it...

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Steer here to peer at these compounded years
fierce uncried fears strangled my tears

So strong, so stoic, brave in my silence, too
no one to empower or donate my views to

Learned that I’m supposed, to trust no...

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Rhythm and Rhyme

My heart begins to melt.
I remember what I feel and how I've felt.

Being brave is something everyone knows they crave.
Holding their own starts in a realm, foreign and unknown.
Steps.
Breaths.
What you do is what...

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