Long Chars Poems

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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These are my modern English translations of the ancient Japanese poems (waka/tanka) of Ono no Komachi…

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

The...

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This fool doth not consider himself wise,
writing paltry poetry difficult
to read and/or actualize
methinks perusers of great literature
snub nose how I miserably advertise,

laughable attempt to aerobicise
fifty plus shades of gray matter
lobbying showy words agonize
zing effort perhaps...

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Front door brings in nippy chill, 
You step onto the frosty path, 
No pleasant air for you to initial, 
Only a gut fight with the waft.

But friends are warm and bright, 
Neighbours smile by their...

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Her tears fall like rain on a borrowed shore,
A quiet deluge, seeping through seams,
Staining the fabric of a life not hers—
His shirt, his collar, his cuffs worn thin,
Drenched in the salt of a love forbidden.
She...

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Maggie Skosana
cut down in your youth
for the simplest reason
telling the truth
'twas the hand of your brethren
that cast the first stone
your supporters have fled
leaving you on your own
No one came to shield you
No Police siren rang
No...

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I wander down a cobbled street, 
sodden from rain, heckled by whispers
revealing secrets on this blustery night.
They bewilder me in a surge of confusion
far beyond the juncture of cursory fright.

If this is collusion to drive...

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O tender soul, o innocence defiled,
What cruelties did your youth upend?
Tormented by she who should cherish her child,
Instead her addictions made her your fiend.

Those eyes that should have beamed with a mother's love,
Grew cold and...

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My fingers are vibrant flames
that shoot sincerity one second, hate the next
and ignite with every caress.
You are warm until the heat begins
to eat at the skin and devour your spirit,
while you try to find a...

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I know this happens every year,
but I dislike it all the same,
cloying, oppressive August heat
puts such a great stress on the brain.
Add the humidity to it
and slight movement soaks you through,
I’ve grown tired of the...

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This is not a place
Not a place
where trees grow
where water runs
freely
This is a place
of the quiet
solitude
A place of
fullness
emptiness

Yet to the people of old
The forest dwellers
The water dwellers
The nomadics
This is there home
Its your home too

In the...

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The world is a storm, like a hurricane. 
It tears down our hope
And showers down pain 
There’s floods filled with fear
And cyclones of shame
The fire it burns 
And it chars our name

So I fantasize through...

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You lay there a broken hearted soul
Torn asunder by those most hurtful wounds
Harsh and painful they lay within you

As your heart flutters and your mind spins
They claw their way at you
No longer do you feel...

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A castle stands like a dark spear against the sky.
A ragged scream breaks the glass of silence rising very high.
A bright silhouette against the silken moon casts the countryside in fear.
A mighty golden dragon swoops...

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At some point you are going to need to impress more than a few friends with some burnt toast. I used to have an old, heavy-gauge chrome-plated toaster with a dial to adjust doneness from...

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Change your name…

Change it for one that with its scorching stigmatic fervor will evoke blood from 
those who hear it. That the word detonates at the level of voices and that the 
ferocity of its...

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Blue velvet caged
Behind rusty bars.
Soul within chars.
Fervent flames raged.

Mighty door creaked
Black-veiled phantoms
Chanting the anthems
Thus the dusts freaked.

All the phantoms read
The holy pages.
The pious sages
For repentance plead.

Life’s last drops
Time’s burning tears.
Soaked deep in fears,
Crushed by crops,

The...

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Moonlight flows down from the sky like milk,

The stars burn holes into the darkness,

Their patterns take shape and I collect them,

I trace them with my fingers,

Their unnatural names dance on my lips,

Shadows skitter across the...

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manifest pentru pace
(antipoezie)
  
 traim sub tunuri ?i avioane 
 cu armele încarcate cu propriile noastre pacate traim
 pe timp de pace sau razboi 
  
 (who cares?... nobody gives a shit!) 
...

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Into the eve, leads demonstration
an angry mob seeking salvation
all the lost, surrender hate in
while the young still hope to make it

There you go, one so unnoticed
another voice that portrays its hopeless
as Wallstreet now, goes occupied
the...

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The River

The river sings its sweet lament
in ancient voice softly lowing,
vibrant melodies subtly meant
to plumb the depths of our knowing.

Around each bend it curves, flowing
onward toward its fated reunion
with unkempt sea, wild and blowing;
embracing briney...

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I'd give anything today, 
Anything to feel that burning fiery love 
The kind that'll make any woman swoon, 
The kind that portals her straight to the moon 

I'd give anything today, 
Anything to feel that...

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The eruption of blazing emotion uncontrolled
from the simmering volcano of anger,
chars the green minds of innocence,
you are burnt by the lava of remorse.

The spoken word of wrath,
the sharpest double-edged sword ever made.
One side may decimate...

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I used to say I love you, many years ago –
My passion-cries were wings of flight!
Like burning arrows pierced upon a snowy night,
I loosed my songs to let you know.

So long ago! So many years...

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