Long Detain Poems

I love you only because I love you
by Pablo Neruda
loose translation by Michael R. Burch

I love you only because I love you;
I am torn between loving and not loving you,
Between apathy and desire.
My heart vacillates...

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Every Day You Play
by Pablo Neruda
loose translation by Michael R. Burch

Every day you play with Infinity’s rays.
Exquisite visitor, you arrive with the flowers and the water.
You are vastly more than this immaculate head I clasp...

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Contemplating on a previous conversation with Job and his wife,
I drew a breath of relief, remembering my humbling purpose
Sin was imminent on my brow, though I was beyond its impetuosity
Suffering dines with long-lived perspective, sharpening...

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I had gotten to that stage,
Where true love was but a mirage.
When one is hurt too many times
By these daughters of Eve,
The heart must surely cease to give
Until such a time as right
To smile again...

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Then I saw thousand grim faces because
Cold distorted; thus I get much disgust
And always is so, any frost pond does.

And while we went to the middle just
Where any heavy fault and pain is found,
And in...

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Hopeful

Time to go home there’s that cursed bell
Excitement for most - for him an impending hell
A torturous journey - that takes him down life’s dark path
His old friend ‘Panic’ enters causes a disturbing wrath

‘Humming the...

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Increasing my laughter eyes full of tears invisibly 
Heart shouting help 
Limiting at my ears
Can't be spoken out loud

Faded destiny 
My quest fades in the deep of away
Embellishing my pain with smile
Held contempt of my...

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In the Congolese Jungle three men are training for a mission.
They train to detain and disarm poachers.
They hope this will be the conclusion of their efforts.
They also train for a formidable alternative.
Poachers are opportunistic and...

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Time to go home there’s that cursed bell
Excitement for most - for him an impending hell
A torturous journey - that takes him down life’s dark path
His old friend ‘Panic’ enters causes a disturbing wrath

‘Humming the...

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Q:   How many Americans are currently opposed to Biden's open boarder 
       policies?

A:   According to Chuck Holton, "70 % of all Americans are against Biden's
...

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Not now the Egypt of my death for I
Have not seen my Bethel yet, nor have I
The coat of many colors made, let me meet
First the soft Rachel of my enslaved years
My heart for her...

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The Tiger General
Hobbes

The Tiger general strode onto the field of battle,
Tail flowing eloquently as he walked.
And then he turned to his men and began to speak,
They fell instantly silent as he talked.

The general led his...

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For millennia, our race has lived a vast success.
Hatred, envy, spite, and strife are on the rise.
Despair, aggressiveness, self-centeredness.
Depravity, intrigue, lewdness, vanity, despise.

Hubris, a lack of self-awareness, and trickery.
Aristotle's five components have been corrupted.
Air, water,...

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The Mayfly is up on  the  Kennet,
Well it’s Whitsun why wouldn’t it be?
There’s a fine downstream breeze,
And  the  fishing’s with ease,
Do come as you used to for me.

The Mayfly is up...

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Strung out on a rock next to the sea
I thought I felt all there was to be
The moon was there and the stars came out
Was a  clear warm night without a doubt

I tossed in...

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Ama you are a father 
Father my father
Whose basket of fishes
Sweetened my mother’s dishes
Whose naked feet danced
The jungle drum you drummed.

I remember
Father I still remember
Those joyous days
When like brooding hens
You employed your hands
To shield the...

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~ Homage to Walt Sing Matt Tilde ~

The art of the
     "FAKE" deal (according
     to Walt Dizzy Take a Knee Sing
     Matt Tilde)...

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Stifled cries
No concern for the black man until the black man dies
Images of black and blue flash before my eyes
How many times?
Unprotected our men go into the world
Our protectors unafraid to kill even in front...

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My Constitutional Rights as an American Citizen no longer apply to me.
It's as if I were never ever born in America, My Most Beloved Country. 
Thanks to the Bush administration and the administration presently
I have...

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On the woolly folds of sleep, I sailed to a place
Where thoughts and fancy made an alliance
A place that never existed anywhere on the Earth 
And never seen or glimpsed by any human eyes	

Before me,...

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An open mind, a drifting thought 

A place to escape 

A place to hide 

Rage from something of matter 

Words cripple integrity of who said what and why 

An individual's interpretation upsetting another 

Defensive actions...

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A quivering shadow shrouding a clouded pane
Shared pain scribbled in the doleful rain
Hollow words that broker heartache and disdain
A sorrowful whistle emanating from a distant train
Poorly trained recruits struggling above the furor to remain
Stridently striving...

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Yesterday,
Yes. May, 1956,
The liquid black gold formed the beginning of greatness
In Oloibiri and later in the entire Niger Delta communities.
Today, we are drinking from the rivers polluted by oil spillage,
Many of us regret being a...

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Like all things that appear innocent, fire is in the pit of all.
Like a the clear sky before the rain fall, Like a rainbow after the storm
Our love was pure but the fire raged inside....

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I looked at you with resentful eyes
Blinded by the foggy lens that covered my vision
Once a sweet angel, I believed, had now blood studded horns
Whose managing grin and flaming soul corrupted my decision

For years I...

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