Long Cedars Poems

GILGAMESH . . .  

Story has it you used your power to run amuck
Putting fear into the people, and brides in Unuk

So the people of Unuk pray to the sky God Anu
To sort out...

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With my Uyghur poetry translations I am trying to build awareness of the plight of Uyghur poets who are being sent to Chinese "reeducation" concentration camps.

Elegy
by Perhat Tursun
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Asylum seekers, will...

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Venite
Come let us sing to the Lord;*
let us shout for joy to the Rock of our salvation.
Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving*
and raise a loud shout to him with psalms.
For the Lord is...

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Sam woke up all excited, his first circle would take place tonight,
He saw Crimson Fire sat deep into mediation, still as a rock
and noticed the white robes, belts and staffs laid out ready.
He knew from...

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"I Would Be....WOOD"


   "Knock On Me!" or more correct "Knock On WOOD!" You've probably said that and rapped your knuckles against me while saying it! I know you've knocked on me many times...

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I.

Espy, distinguish divinely made lively, lovely Trees
He or she, inhales carbon dioxide, then breathes
out for us humans, life given clean oxygen
Stout roots run deep, holding God's earth
Also, with you we were taught our first lesson

II.

Animals...

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“You play on my every weakness from my past, 
As a heart-wrenched spirit of truth caresses your comrades
They are perturbed as you are by the magnificent light,
To challenge your heart, is to render the fight…”

A...

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Now hear this an almighty, all powerful, all knowing God is sitting in heaven waiting to hear from you. David says he has his hand cupped behind his ear waiting for his children to cry...

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You probably don't think much of me
save for the season of spring
when your lawn litters itself
with giant over-buttered popcorn

(birds that think they can sing,
supersonic sneezes?
those kinds of things)

And yet here I am,
standing out like a...

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Good evening Lord.  My present desire is to                          ...

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* This has become a fave genre for me, as I’ve always been fascinated by metamorphosis and introspection of a shadowy nature … I hope you enjoy it. *

      ...

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If you are the vast, ever-changing ocean,
I will be the sturdy mountain, holding you close, 
Embracing your gentle morning waves with care,
And welcome your crashing tidal surges in the evening without fear.

If you are the...

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                      Wood Nymph, wraps white 
gossamer legs in hello, as branch shakes 
in obvious...

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                   O, I see you're coming back to Ella 
of the Cedar's Tale, more and amore, 
as...

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" Imagine a place where there is beauty, bliss and plentifulness for all. It is nothing short of utopia. Though we are far from realizing it, isn't it thrilling to imagine a version of the...

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June 11, 2016

I sit on the balcony of a research station in Georgian Bay, disconnected from the world.
The vast waters open up before me, with the rocky beach expanding off to each side,
A blue sky...

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Let every thing that hath breathe Praise the Lord
Praise the Lord from the heavens from his heights
Praise you him, all his angels all his host !You 
Praise him you sun and moon
Praise him all stars...

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GentleMan
I remain blind to the world but you.
The Lily among Thorns
and the perfect work of a craftsman's hand.
Giving usefulness to my Banquet Hall
and injecting Life into my green Vineyard.

Lady
Oh dear! My darling Gentle Lion.
Radiant and...

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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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The land of white
Home of Ahiram your ancient king
You, who grows cedars in her back yard
You, who raised millions of children
Whether they did you harm
Or left you blind
Your door was always open, and your yard...

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Through midnight of thoughts, where silences dance,
Confessing love is like the whisper of a lost comet,
In the web of my fate, only a stray star could rise,
You are that star which turns every moment in...

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I.

Come my son, sit
Join this party in a remembrance feast
Take part in our holy communion
Come, take part in our joyful tears of merry union
Sit with us and speak as one mouthpiece of the spirit
And pray...

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Hear ye wisdom’s excellence
thankful to God for our existence
testifying about grand natural essence
as trees* of noteworthy functional prevalence 
oozing with aesthetic environmental iridescence.

Weathering all seasons, varied roles we fulfill
being perennial or "long lived plants" steadfastly...

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Six feet below
 That is where I go
 To spend forever,
 Some souls come and some souls go
 But I will rather home it here,
 Far away from humans inhumanity
 Far from chicanery
 Of a...

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One day, the trees sought a king,
A ruler their hopes would bring,
In the land where trees stood tall,
But in their quest, a cautionary call.

To the olive tree, they first appealed,
"Be our king," they fervently revealed,
But...

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