Long Graying Poems

Zen Death Haiku

Brittle cicada shell,
little did I know
you were my life!
—Shuho, translation by Michael R. Burch

Returning
as it came,
this naked worm.
—Shidoken, translation by Michael R. Burch

As dew glistens
on a lotus leaf,
so too I soon must vanish.
—Shinsui,...

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Fahr an' Ice
by Michael R. Burch

From what I know of death, I'll side with those
who'd like to have a say in how it goes:
just make mine cool, cool rocks (twice drowned in likker),
and real fahr...

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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Nick Tipton lived a quiet life,
west Kentucky, in rolling hills;
been farming there for ten years,
all according to his own will.

This simple life would’ve have kept on,
‘til one night, age thirty-three,
a nightmare burst into his mind,
so...

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Kerris  spoke to Damian the junior 
Bartender on the phone.  "Yeah, it's 
8 o'clock now.  I'll be there  at 9 to
Open.  Meet me there at that time."
He smiled happily thinking...

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Chinese Poets: English Translations

These are modern English translations of poems by some of the greatest Chinese poets of all time, including Du Fu, Huang O, Li Bai, Li Ching-jau, Li Qingzhao, Po Chu-I, Tzu Yeh,...

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,It's like some long lost fairy tale 
That's handed down through time
But couldn't be, as you will see
For this strange tale is mine.

I chose to take a country road 
I do from time to time
To...

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It is a fever.

  
The poet

They found the poet outside the park

His steps spoke many words of wine

His upper half seemed half asleep

And his feet walked a crooked line

His arms were spread as if...

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those early attempts at a Mexican food
no store bought cardboard taco shells
she had to prepare her own
the appearance of the tortilla press
the arrival of the tortilla holder
became a beginning to a menagerie of new tools...

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I am home ...

oh, my heart
      pray, hush its cadence
         for the sacred sake of unsated thirst
   beg its thrums...

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I bought an older dresser at an auction late last month, and also snagged what I believe’s a super ancient chair.
Both, I think, are solid oak, and luckily the dresser is nicely trimmed with fancy...

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Christmas Past and Present Bring Me Tears 

My legs of yesterday's 
walked into a Christmas storybook,
a glorious past,
pages filled with good tidings.
And as young kid, once with open eyes,
with clinging beliefs
in good shepherds,
it was
my parents,...

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Enough Angelina, drop the bouquet of harebells.  
The flowers wilt as your graying hands stiffen. See, how grave
is our newborn son. We gift him a black crêpe layette.
Say Darling Edward, say, Golubushka, make me...

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A phantom beauty sheathed within a gown of utter darkness,
Stalks the lonely avenues of Los Angeles, seeking in vengeances
Revenge for her murder to bring him unto justice’s final damnation!
On the corner of thirty-Ninth Street she...

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When did it happen? I’m thinking
It must have been when I was sleeping
I changed from young and restless
To the elderly, wrinkled, graying - old-fashioned

When did I first notice the way it hurt
To jump and play,...

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IV.
An awkward silence fell on them,
Reg felt bad, and looked at his feet,
“I didn’t mean to pry,”he said.
she laughed and said, “Don’t look so meek.

“There’s not much work for women here,
and I had no family...

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The poor boy heard Christmas beckoning at the door
He saw every house bright with many a lamp
And streets illumined with colorful lights and stars
But his tiny hut looked dismal n’ dark like a prison camp

With...

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the groveler 

I.  finding out that the other party has in fact stopped the affection
finding out that the other party has found interest in another one of the over 7 billion humans living, breathing,...

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Jack Ripton lived a quiet life,
west Kentucky, in rolling hills,
he’d been farming there for ten years,
all according to his own will.

He’d never been much for cities,
they did bad thing’s to a man’s mind,
some might love...

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I looked into the mirror today and was surprised to see an old man looking back at me.

It seems like it was only yesterday that the man in the mirror was searching through his full...

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Your wise eyes glistened with cataracts, showing me the hazy Indian sky
The wrinkles on your face, the lines by your eyes, showed me the joys of the hills and caverns of the lands
The raised veins...

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“It was a race
going to my place,
our emotions out of control,
went for the bed
and my lust-filled head
focused only on it’s one goal.

“Our clothes were tossed,
they were soon half-off
when she froze and gave me a stare,
In...

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I was on vacation in Cancun - a favorite place - the morning sun was sizzling in a blue and cloudless sky.
I stood along the shoreline in my Gucci swimming trunks, when this old guy...

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A plate smashes against the kitchen wall
In the middle of another Sunday lunch war
For a moment I feel as if I'm not really there
As I stop and stare at this world I live in
But do...

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Once again the annual holidays came, a time of great cheer
We, the batch mates of 1976 planned a mega get together
We wanted to make it an occasion to be memorized for ever
Tracking old friends was...

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He searches her face, scarcely remembering a time
He did not know her; seeing now her dark eyes
Surrounded by age and closed against the pain.

He searches her face, remembering the first time he saw her
Stepping lightly...

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