Long Hyacinth Poems

HEROES

Near somber guards, units of children heap 
dead leaves, naive to any else fallen.
Friend, you chuckle, but your posture speaks
of duty on this day of contradictions.

Firefighters bow heads in silent paean, 
while polished trucks stand...

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"What a fine day for a picnic," my friends all said,
In the dog days of summer, with the hot sun overhead.

We would all go for a swim, and then have a fine lunch,
And would return...

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POTW 28 January 2018

Prologue:
A beautiful extra-terrestrial female researcher is sent down to a remote island to observe earth and beam her findings back to her planet. She’s strictly forbidden to make any human contact. She...

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O beloved chevalier, 
cloaked in shimmering champagne armor,
tonight I long to feel your sultry skin,
embroidered with emerald embellishments 
and twinkling teal topaz, 
tailored to tempt,
veiling these tanned desires.

My soul sways to a chained string 
of...

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M o o n is a rose quartz pearl,
     unraveling midnight musings,
                  glazed in...

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I am an unvoiced breeze~
a sea warrior 
    kite-surfing through 
    heinous waves, 
knitting cobalt chronicles 
    from smooth syllables~ 
tackling chaotic currents 
with chamomile magic...

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Sometimes, when 
your sparkling spirit 
waltzes with me 
to the perfumed 
periwinkle grooves 
of saffron breezes, 
I'm lost in a forever gaze, 
within those 
flickering ferns
of a nascent nightmare, 
where I ain't any 
velvet-purple orchid,...

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Le Balcon (The Balcony)
Charles Baudelaire
trans. Michael R. Burch

Paramour of memory, ultimate mistress,
source of all pleasure, my only desire;
how can I forget your ecstatic caresses,
the warmth of your breasts by the roaring fire,
paramour of memory, ultimate...

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When tangerine tinted tunes 
within 
  sunset serenades~
 unravel saffron symphonies,
  engrossed in 
  hibiscus hymns of hallelujah~
I swirl to radiant rays of 
  sakura stardust,
where mystical monologues 
of silent angels~
caress...

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Sappho Translations XIII by Michael R. Burch

In these translations the fragment numbers are mostly Lobel-Page. All translations are by Michael R. Burch and should be so credited if they are used in any way, shape...

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 “on an as is where is basis we choose
descent of consciousness into the gross
then we rise again following heart’s muse
higher than where stood, bearing love’s cross” Unseeking Seeker  

I am a silent cypress,
facing...

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When the saint sun
is reborn from
the womb of wisteria,
rising above symphonies ~
scripting a saga,
of enlightenment
and coral coloured karma,
I ripple in rosettes,
as an avatar
of himalayan heartbeats ~
gently gushing
in lavender lullabies
of golden Gaia ~
her earth-glinted garlands
cradling me
in...

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Renee Vivien English Translation

Words to My Love
by Renée Vivien
translation by Michael R. Burch

This is Vivien’s “coming out” poem, although the term wasn’t coined until many years after Vivien’s death. The poem was written about forbidden...

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I once was a
sea lavender star, 
soaked in sunsets, 
draping evenings
with soft yarns of
hydrangea haze ~
before you stole
me from those
sangria skylines like
a windswept wave,
and placed my
hyacinth heart upon
the tan throne of 
your verbena soul. 
Never...

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Sappho Translations V by Michael R. Burch


Sappho, fragment 23
translation by Michael R. Burch

I long helplessly for love.
Gazing into your eyes not even Hermione compares.
Who is your equal?
I compare you only to goldenhaired Helen among mortal...

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My brother, John, was older than me; and I had ever looked up to him,
As a golden sun seems always with you, but comes and goes at whim.

My brother, John, taught me to roller skate,...

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When the moon unwraps electric rays,
reflecting honey-gold roses
from Freyja’s chariot,
emanating spellbinding jewels
merging with magical dreamcatchers,
I see the scatterings of fairy forests~
veiled with archaic, rusted runes,
lost in the tunes of forgotten time,
while this heart hears the
kaleidoscopic...

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As the apologetic sun
melts in hibiscus vase
of pastel-peach 
horizons and peels off
those pristine pigments 
of egoistic elegance, 
sailing upon 
aquamarine foam
of vanilla waves ~
where dignity
unveils a clemency
within catharsis, 
I dare to surrender
towards the 
pink-teal blends...

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S t r e n g t h ~
a somersaulting sigil
you wear in stillness,
when the gold of ascending dawn
kisses the skin of sleeping sand,
when the skylark softly
serenades serenity for the unseen,
while I trace the running...

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“since thoughts speak in past tenses,
drop mind, rely on senses,
embracing and releasing,
pain pangs and pleasure pleasing” ~ Unseeking Seeker 

The sun
w a n e s into the saline swell,
and the ether
undresses corseted ruminations,
while heart follows...

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How can we not have this conversation
where footprints of the poor vanish
beneath the boots of investors, 
and the river sings only
to those who can afford its luxury? 

In Chobe, the elephants roam free, 
but people...

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I gaze beyond 
the silver winged 
     heart of 
twinkling twilight,
lost within metaphors 
    in warm cashmere
    bows of midnight. 
Whilst lava lamps
  ...

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In a world bejeweled 
with tainted trinkets,
and feigned flowers,
we follow the 
wailing waves below 
whirling wind,
like secluded silhouettes,
stranded on the
cusp of chaos,
unable to find the sparkling
streak of hyacinth hope-
between dusk and dawn. 

Perhaps there is...

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I have gazed upon her eyes to wonder why? For they have brought me a memories of another for I could not have. Yes, this is what I saw? Her skin black like the night...

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She That Rivaled The Glowing Moon

Thy *hyacinth* hair upon white shoulders laid bare
thy face, mirror of love in heavenly skies.
The miracle of thy body, so sweet and fair
its soft innocence, destroyer of worldly lies.

Walking behind...

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