Long Dishes Poems

Yours truly would never be confused for a gourmand, nevertheless I could enjoy experiencing taste testing select food samples if offered an opportunity of attending a fancy feast viz smörgåsbord, whereby oral indulgence would arouse,...

Read More

Food glorious food

Asia generic guy gastronomy (and how gourmet foods eat destructively clearly beyond any) excess enthusiasm, the necessity to feed and clothe this lean mean exercising machine gunning corporeal essence christened Matthew Scott Harris...

Read More

Chinese Poets: English Translations II

These are modern English translations of poems by the Chinese poets Tzu Yeh, Lin Huiyin, Xu Zhimo and Huang E. These are poems about love, passion and beauty. 


Tzu Yeh (circa...

Read More

Here We Shall Remain
by Tawfiq Zayyad
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Like twenty impossibilities
in Lydda, Ramla and Galilee ...
here we shall remain.

Like brick walls braced against your chests;
lodged in your throats
like shards of glass
or prickly cactus...

Read More

Early afternoon. The Solomon 
Were in their, (according to Damali)
Club house. But the reality of the
Circumstance is this. The Club 
House was the Damian Domaine.
Damian's Billards. Damian didn't 
Know it was their chosen hangout.
As the...

Read More

No, Freddie can’t say he mourned when his father died and his father’s third wife found Freddie's number and gave him a call to give him the news. His father had been responsible, worked hard,...

Read More

Molly and Dolly were in their 
New getaway room on the top 
Floor listening to music.
While Damian spent time with 
The kids in the backyard. He
Wanted to install a pool for the
Youngest children, then switch...

Read More

Sneaking into the museum to avoid the sudden rain
Raisin said, “I don’t want to get soaked right through again,
It was bad enough when that truck through that puddle dashed
And you and me - but mainly...

Read More

Lumi's hand pressed upon his shoulder in a surprisingly firm grip guiding him into the dining area and to the second of two long slender tables where sat five older elves including DynDoeth.
  ...

Read More

My dog's as smart as a geek.
He can bark in English, Arabic, and Greek.
He’s expert in canine mathematics,
can discuss dog-fight aerodynamics,
and is fluent in bow-wow doublespeak.
And yours?

Would it be okay if later today
I brought Bixby...

Read More

Regret
by Michael R. Burch

Regret,
a bitter
ache to bear . . .

once starlight
languished
in your hair . . .

a shining there
as brief
as rare.

Regret . . .
a pain
I chose to bear . . .

unleash
the torrent
of your hair . ....

Read More

Joulupukki awoke early the next morning and hurriedly dressed.  His intention was to catch DynDoeth before the crowds started gathering in the eating hall.  He had but one question for him that he...

Read More

The Ash Can  ©

I got the call on Sunday night.  I was traveling on business.  When I looked at the caller ID
 I wondered why my husband’s boss would be calling me....

Read More

EarthMama Invites

Without RightDaddy Dominance,
Left EcoMama
and Her still innocent suppressed Children,
share no opposing WinLose
assuming
internalized voices,
just anxious and angry
and fearful feelings
about LoseLose
ZeroZone,
ego and Earth
matriarchal-line 
extinguished.

Because all RightBrain feeling voices
and chemistries
are outside Sacred NatureSpirit
experientially
regeneratively 
cooperative
Patriarchal/Matriarchal Voices
secular and sacred...

Read More

{Poet’s Note : I wrote this poem for the passing of my very dear friend & comrade, Cecyl Esau, Umkhonto we Sizwe Commander in 2021, as a contribution to his memorial service. Cecyl was given...

Read More

Prizes for Ultimate Sacrifices


    prizes for the abstemious  for abstinence  chastity ?
                 the countless...

Read More

New Year Poetry

Auld Lange Syne
by Robert Burns
translation by Michael R. Burch 

Should old acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to mind?
Should old acquaintance be forgot,
And days for which we pine?

For times we shared, my darling,
Days passed,...

Read More

The Pain of Love
by Michael R. Burch 
 
for T. M.
 
The pain of love is this:
the parting after the kiss;
 
the train steaming from the station
whistling abnegation;
 
each interstate’s bleak white bar
that vanishes under...

Read More

I live in America, as in the United States of America, and that used to mean something. At least to me it did. And it’s not so much in how I was raised but in...

Read More

They were joined by Ceridfen, Lumi, Gwaldon and several others a bit later in
the day for a late mid-day meal.  Seileach, the efficient elf that he was, had already forwarded a letter containing specific...

Read More

Sings the story at twilight 
When the moon is just rising, 
Sings a simple troubadour 
The short tale of life. 

How a fine boy, 
Born in a palace, 
A palace like crystal, 
Became a proud...

Read More

(Seems that these days a whole lot of people suffer from anxiety and depression. Now whether that's a reflection on our world and society, whether there's actually greater incidence of it or if we just...

Read More

*** Notice to the residents of Milton Creek ***

Tom serves as mayor. never complaining, so he gets what he requests 
No blood in his steak, apple pie with sweet cream. Aces cooks that meal
to perfection...

Read More

Thirty years ago, long before ISIS started executing Kurds, Muslims and Christians, I hired a Pakistani Muslim as an art director in Chicago. I was an Irish Catholic editor putting out a small national magazine....

Read More

The seven were "all healthy and 
Well cared for" Dr. Maxim 
Stated. She was a little 
Concerned about Adian. He
Only gained one pound since
His birth. Molly said, "I'm 
Worried he's not getting enough 
Milk. I'm...

Read More