Long Dewdrop Poems

Today, catching sight of the mallards
crying over Lake Iware:
Must I too vanish into the clouds?
—Prince Otsu translation by Michael R. Burch  

This world—
to what may we compare it?
To autumn fields
lying darkening at dusk
illuminated by...

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THIS WORLD OF DEW

This world? 
Moonlit dew
flicked from a crane's bill.
—Eihei Dogen Kigen, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Seventy-one?
How long
can a dewdrop last? 
—Eihei Dogen Kigen, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Dewdrops beading grass-blades
die before...

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The Song of Amergin: Modern English Translations

The Song of Amergin
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

I am the sea breeze
I am the ocean wave
I am the surf's thunder
I am the stag of the seven tines
I am...

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If I had ears to hear                             ...

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Sometimes – many times
I’m busier than I would like to be,
I find myself hurrying through the days
as they pass by,
laughing at my scurrying
like a squirrel, they say – hustling
but should I hurry this way?

Sometimes, many...

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Candied dreams, burning away the twilight
Sandcastle memories, taken 
By the softest glow of a Southern moon,
Coloring the thoughts in reflections of sincerest
Beauty, rising like the breathless winds
Roaring through the pines, whispering sighs,
Risking moments bought by...

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ALUTA CONTINUA : FORCED REMOVALS 

( Poet’s Note : I’m posting this poem here as a South African history student recently asked to interview poet on Forced Removals. I read this poem which he enjoyed....

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"discarding narrow thought flow crutch
we learn directly by soft touch
and what we garner we relay
to the vast void in childlike play
entwined thus with the universe
we dance without need to rehearse"
~ line of inquiry by Unseeking...

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Misting the mountains, the roses
Softly dripping, sliding down petals
Gentling the feelings with emotive
Drizzling across forever, inviting
Even the light to whisper its caress
Kissing away all the darkness, 
Erasing the melancholy, the doubt
With breathless whispers of dew
Drops...

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Growing up, growing old, growing wise –
Or are we merely shadows,
Falling over the memories, the growing -
Stirring embers of hope and mercy,
Gentling as tears on a letter,
Silent, yet sure to speak more stridently,
louder than anything...

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Time to choose? Time to change?

When I feel Love 
It feels like I am falling into a deep blue lake
Of a baby’s eyes.

When I hate,
Darkness consumes me like smoke,
Smothering light and extinguishing all hope.
Knots in...

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I myself am made entirely of flaws, stitched together with good intentions. ~ Augusten Burroughs




Following my heart…
I’ve found
Sometimes I’m led into pain
Reflecting off of my feelings
Like a dewdrop on a soft petal
Caressing the hope with...

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' The gods' spake to all who had 'wide' ears...
but all they heard was Apollo's muse....'
   

How leavened my soul to search,
   
   wooly and wild to the waxxen...

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"Has solitude ever led your steps down a forest path . . . "

                     ...

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Petals I amass
with such tenderness
prick me to the quick.
—Kobayashi Issa, translation by Michael R. Burch
 
This world of dew
is a dewdrop world;
and yet ...
—Kobayashi Issa, translation by Michael R. Burch
 
Standing beneath cherry blossoms
who can...

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Blanketing the earth in a frosty glistening
Beckoning to the heart – wonders so breathtaking,
Lifting the spirits with flakes like glitter, lustrous
Silence, gentling the thoughts and the scene,
Where feelings flood the night with soft and tender
Lights,...

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"The Tree Hugger and the Lost Paradise"

They called her 
the tree hugger,
her forest was full 
of trees that watched
silently, they had 
no mouth to speak,
rustling their leaves
like fingers writing 
strange stories coded
for decoding a mystery
on...

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This world?
Moonlit dew
flicked from a crane’s bill.
—Eihei Dogen Kigen translation by Michael R. Burch

Seventy-one?
How long
can a dewdrop last?
—Eihei Dogen Kigen translation of his jisei (death poem) by Michael R. Burch

Dewdrops beading grass-blades
die before dawn;
may an...

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ZEN DEATH HAIKU VIII

These are my modern English translations of Japanese Zen Death Haiku. 

Had I not known
I was already dead
I might have mourned
my own passing.
—Ota Dokan, loose translation/interpretation of his jisei (death poem) by...

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In a whisper, love poured out its light, its truth, its purpose… a still, small voice who told me He is worthy of the worship, the truth, the praise that promises to stir my faith...

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(Deu. 32: 4 / Rom. 11: 33 / 1 Cor. 2: 10 / Ps. 104: 24 /1 Kings 8: 27)


Nature  -- Is Just  The Noble Hands of GOD
Setting Our Reality's Ruler & Cosmic...

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I was a world famous fashion designer, and quite enraptured with the new,
Like first caress of pink, peach dawn light, smiling at the full moon's taboo.

I adored laboring with colors I loved, in my fashions,...

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   A celestial dance, infinite grace
in the grandeur of 
ancient yearned place.
A Red Giant lassos 
his pearly bride,
keeps her from roaming the desert face.
A vow is exchanged, a cosmic bond living, 
alive with...

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How leavened my soul to search,
   
   wooly and wild to the waxxen wind,
   
   how swift my wings though my fancy yearns,

   catching sights...

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Sweet as a rose, shyly fading
Beneath the stars, graceful, waiting
For the gentle sun to stir, daybreak
Lifting all the worries from the soul,
Stirring the joy, the love, the hope
Inside the one who knows, with life
Laughter and...

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