Long Heavenward Poems

Various Heresies 3

Breakings
by Michael R. Burch

I did it out of pity.
I did it out of love.
I did it not to break the heart of a tender, wounded dove.

But gods without compassion
ordained: Frail things must break!
Now...

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Come, You
by Rainer Maria Rilke
loose translation by Michael R. Burch

This was Rilke’s last poem, written ten days before his death. He died open-eyed in the arms of his doctor on December 29, 1926, in the...

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Archaic Torso of Apollo
by Rainer Maria Rilke
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

We cannot know the beheaded god
nor his eyes' forfeited visions. But still
the figure's trunk glows with the strange vitality
of a lamp lit from within,...

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The Panther
by Rainer Maria Rilke
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

His weary vision's so overwhelmed by iron bars,
his exhausted eyes see only blank Oblivion.
His world is not our world. It has no stars.
No light. Ten thousand...

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~ I Just  Thank  You    ~
( Cinquain )



~O~


By  You 
All things are made 
Brand-new my sweet Father 
In Heaven. You bring each day, Love 
Light, Hope. 


As  I...

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“The Juniper Prize: Between the Known and the Unknown”

That man built a house 
of straw and sticks
and the stories that burned within -

all consuming the titled prize;

like a bird 
sings a song
the metre repeats and...

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This is my translation of the first of Rilke’s Duino Elegies. Rilke began the first Duino Elegy in 1912, as a guest of Princess Marie von Thurn und Taxis, at Duino Castle, near Trieste on...

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LEONARDO DA VINCI POEMS, EPIGRAMS AND QUOTES

These are my modern English translations of the poems, epigrams and quotes of Leonardo da Vinci. I believe the first six epigrams pertain to the current American election crisis...

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This is my translation of Rainer Maria Rilke's second elegy from his Duino Elegies, which he began composing at Duino Castle in 1912. 

Second Elegy
by Rainer Maria Rilke
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch 

Every angel...

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I had for long been an arborist, enthusiastically caring for the trees,
Like a grasshopper immersed in a green world, is glad for all he sees.

I had always loved nature, having begun gardening when I was...

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I am not a sanctuary
do not come to me for sanctuary, 
I am a supernova,  the Saturn V rocket
prepared to penetrate the highest blue sky
with a 6.5 million pound payload ride,
my rocket shell steams...

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The Poet
by Hermann Hesse
translation by Michael R. Burch

Only upon me, the lonely one,
Do this endless night’s stars shine
As the fountain gurgles its faery song.

For me alone, the lonely one,
The shadows of vagabond clouds
Float like dreams...

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THE RUIN 
an Old English poem about fate & destiny
modern English translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

well-hewn was this wall-stone, till Wyrdes wrecked it
and the Colossus sagged inward...

broad battlements broken;
the Builders' work battered;

the high ramparts toppled;
tall...

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Two Poems on Musical Themes


Salieri Speaks

His genius brought me to the brink of a fearful inadequacy.
What does one do when you reach a mountain top
only to find yourself on a foothill?
I thought posterity would acknowledge
the...

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A song can be heard tonight
Swirling about me beating down my strength
Enfolding the whole of me with thick, terrifying captivation
That chokes a city with the roaring thunder of despair
Of the innocent obliterated in the unforgettable...

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O beloved Christian Pilgrim, as you are busily traveling heavenward,
on your's life's journey's.  Please tell your beloved Lord and Savior
very clearly as it can possibly be.  When your journey ends and you
enter into...

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DANTE TRANSLATIONS

Little sparks may ignite great Infernos.—Dante, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

In Beatrice I beheld the outer boundaries of blessedness.—Dante, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

She made my veins and even the pulses within...

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In his family being last 
A teenager was considered outcast
But he spent time in fields so vast
Thoughts of his Creator left him aghast

All his siblings were employed 
While he to shepherding was deployed
He yearned to...

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Of first embrace and broken glass
I cherish that first spark
New light upon our forest' dark.

Do you recall that northern wind? 
It came at first so swift
Perhaps our growing light enraged
Poor Hopelessness', her whims denied
Inspired shadows...

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Inspired by the song, The Book of Souls
by Iron Maiden

Below is my version.

__________________ 

Instrumental Intro

On a journey to find the book of souls
the way is very long and quite dangerous
in a meditation ... I...

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When I recall eating those old and stale cookies she gave me
and the way she used to feed them to me.
She didn’t care that I might get sick or throw up
She just said, “Eat, they’re...

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You'll find it in the crimson eyes
of a throwaway photo somehow frozen in time.
When the past painted us like demons
with secret fury.
And you'll find it in the smell of a burning memory
like melting microfilm becoming...

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Against light source well crafted 
tubular structure appended with eyepiece gazing
offers viewer eye-opening, mind boggling 
instantaneously birthing then vanishing
resplendent myriad colorful 
geometric awesome shifting shapes 
hypnotizing sight seer into a whirling gigolo 
where multifaceted fractals...

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Line of inquiry:
“Yes, I affirm, I have seen God
But He appeared and then disappeared
This knowing that transcends mind, left me awed
But until what’s imbibed is assimilated, by fears I’m seared” 


Once I felt the power...

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Born from this ancient dust of creation's seed sown now so true,
Whilst sparkling inside a mystical divine light on this dark night,
I’m nourished from the living waters—the oceans deep and blue. 

Majestic wings rise high...

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