Long Hollyhock Poems

With my Uyghur poetry translations I am trying to build awareness of the plight of Uyghur poets who are being sent to Chinese "reeducation" concentration camps.

Elegy
by Perhat Tursun
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Asylum seekers, will...

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My (bleeding) heart is filled to overflowing, 
To see any growing glad(iolus), garden glowing;
Each sun peached, (petunia) petaled delight,
Is frozen in precious moments of pure delight,
From bursting buds, to the spicy boom of blooms,
Nature is...

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The travel agent said adventure was calling,
In a lush paradise of beauties enthralling!

No harm would befall us, with a capable guide;
This Amazon tour would be a scenic, easy ride.

We weren't outdoors types, my companion and...

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CHILDREN OF THE SUMMER GARDEN

In the lazy days of summer
 When heat streams up in afternoons
Come into the season’s garden –
 Nature’s outdoor living room.

Early riser, blue Morning Glory vine
 Opens at dawn and sometimes...

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I was a stylish, assertive travel agent, arranging getaways for busy people;
Like sudden getaways of jewel, shooting stars, on ebony nights of upheaval.

I planned calm, exotic, trip itineraries, for all tired of city hustle and...

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"Intermission: Ad Infinitum Lux Vitae"




Intermission
I wait
You call
I have loved


I wait 
Lux Vitae
I have loved
Through the Storm


Lux Vitae
I have loved, to love You more
Through the Storm
You call, Open Door


I have loved, to love You more
Ad Infinitum
You...

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Life was hard in the money department
My parents had what was called a paid job
Just over basics it was evident
Someone else ate the corn, they got the cob

Life was grand, week to week we ate...

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Zinnia Grandiflora a golden beauty 
Yellow Prairie Coneflower conical cutie

Xerophilous plants designed to survive
Waterlily attached to bottom soil to stay alive

Venus Fly Trap grows wild in marshes
Ulmus grows wild along with birches

Texas Bluebonnet cover fields...

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“This is how it has to be to suit the Spring Faerie queen,” Reginald, the Elf, told the garden.
“The daffodils are the majorettes.  The lilacs must follow in eight days, and sixteen hours.”
“Sixteen hours...

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A is for Aster dancing in the wind
B is for Begonia as many as you can find

C is for Cornflower adorning a maiden’s hair
D is for Dandelion waving in the air

E is for English Daisy...

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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~>
My childhood memories of spring's return
are filled with butterflies, florets, and ferns,
of saving baby birds who fell from nests
and Maypole dancing, colored ribbon fests.

Those daisy wings above Lantana bush
were cause to thrill me, make my...

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On some back road in Texas 
Where time had flown away
Sat a dreamlike Kinkade home
Of warmth and heart, not paint,
With shaded walkway arbor 
Crowned with leaves and flowers.
       ...

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It was May Day and Beltane was the time
Druid Arwn with flowing mane his Grove did call
With upraised arms he did chant in ancient rime
The Sun God ascendeth, but the Solstice marketh his fall!

The 21...

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To God Sat Hi

Not really trying to make poem my way
But for me more meaning to display
As all of my spirits start to climb,
Making things more nice and sublime.

Isn't this way things are supposed to...

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My neighbor, right next door, is an odd lady,
     she is very old, sweet but seems quite lonely.

         I am often invited for...

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it was a chorus line of hollyhocks against a crumbling red brick building
that devastated my poem,
they laid waste to the words you asked me to write,
you said I would try to hurt you with my...

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Sweet pea, Apple blossom, Anemone, Brodea,
Peach blossom, Amaryllis, Delwood, Freesia,
Ranunculus, Calla lily, Bird of Paradise.
I think each of these smell very nice.
Needing more, these are a must.
Gardenia, Hollyhock, Narcissus,
Tulip, Wax flower, Seeded Eucalyptus.
I’m neither gardener...

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I make this detection
upon introspection
of the woodblock inside me named soul
I'm sightless to beauty
on par with a cootie
or, moreover, an underground mole

I distinguish not burdock
from daisy nor hollyhock
a flower is a flower; just that
in all...

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Sunflower Strove with Hollyhock
    (After Donald Justice "First Death")

Sunflower maize and pink-on-stalk
two plants rising toward the sun--
a sunflower strives with hollyhock.

Past noonday hour at one o'clock,
no birds sing--no, not one.
Sunflower maize and...

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Morning glory, climbing post, daffodils, bright color
	boast,
Lady slippers dance about, lilies of the valley shout
Voices heavy with the scent, honeysuckle branches 
	bent,
Greeting all the lilacs sweet, bluebells laughing in
 retreat,
Spied behind the daisy’s face, elegance...

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A Singular Presence


A singular presence among a throng of grass blade,
Green as worm blood, her marked grave devours dead air,
Like a convulsing snake slurping a rat’s tail for dessert,
The breaths of ghost winds embrace a...

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Springtime dawns


Springtime dawns
just beyond
the screen door,
across the porch
Dew swept lawn,
emerald weave
shimmering moisture
collecting foot prints
strolling towards

an arched entryway
gingerbread trimmed,
covered in jasmine
alive with rainbow
flutters, prismatic
butterfly wings
partaking of
nature’s pure nectar

Beneath it a
flagstone walkway
abstract stones
assorted shapes
and patterns
meandering through
lavender and...

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aster, astilbe, daisy, daylily
bellflowers bejeweled and foxglove forever
roses robust and hued poppies posh
sunflowers sublime, candytuft, cardinals
hollyhock, hosta, snaps snazzy
primrose precious and sunflowers sublime
I found down the path of a wild garden
_______________________
December 5, 2021


Poetry/Verse/Alliterisen/down the...

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COWBOY WINDS

Stinging pink cheeks neath winter wool,
The cowboy winds begin to blow,
Dusters rolling tumble weeds,
Scattering about the hollyhock seeds.

Whistling, the leader puff drags his crew,
Of dust devils, sands from last year’s blew,
Children’s legs chaff amid...

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We ventured on a secret walk 
down pebbled paths of leafy palms,
and at the end a lonely dock   
called to us, creaking through the calm.

A warm spring day seduced us, so 
we ventured...

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