Long Jonquil Poems

The first soft snow: 
leaves of the awed jonquil 
bow low
—Matsuo Basho translation by Michael R. Burch

Come, investigate loneliness! 
a solitary leaf
clings to the Kiri tree
—Matsuo Basho translation by Michael R. Burch

The cheerful-chirping cricket
contends gray...

Read More

Dusk-gliding swallow, 
please spare my small friends
flitting among the flowers! 
—Matsuo Basho translation by Michael R. Burch

A bee emerging
from deep within the peony's hairy recesses
flies off, sated
—Matsuo Basho translation by Michael R. Burch

That dying cricket,...

Read More

My most popular poems on the Internet (II)

A number of my poems and translations have gone viral, according to Google, and some have been copied onto hundreds to thousands of web pages. That’s a lot...

Read More

These are translations of some of the oldest Japanese waka, which evolved into tanka, renga and haiku. 

While you decline to cry,
high on the mountainside
a single stalk of plumegrass wilts.
—O no Yasumaro (circa 711), translation...

Read More

Grasses wilt:
the braking locomotive
grinds to a halt
—Yamaguchi Seishi, translation by Michael R. Burch

Oh, fallen camellias,
if I were you,
I'd leap into the torrent!
—Takaha Shugyo, translation by Michael R. Burch

The first soft snow:
leaves of the awed jonquil
bow...

Read More

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...

Read More

I was a happy fruit farmer, growing delicious, healthy fruits for consumption.
Since we'd bought the farm ten years prior, all the family lent to its function.

It was a large, productive farm, and we ran it...

Read More

Dog Star

The clarity with which youthful vision perceives the world
Is increasingly fogged by the successive days of life.
Simple magnanimity is replaced by complex reservation.
Knowledge is replaced by uncertainty.
Hope is replaced by the leaden awareness of...

Read More

CHILDREN OF SPRING

Spring spreads out her parasol
 In April, June – always May;
Invites the children of her garden
Come with her to play today.

Yellow Daffodil stands straight up
 Announcing Spring with his horn;
Spring arriving! See! Spring...

Read More

I wanted to thank you 
But was unable to explain 
What your friendship means to me 
To share wonderful memories with 
It's a blessing to know our friendship 
Is grateful through all these year's 
In...

Read More

WARM AS THE FIRST CARESS OF MOTHER SOFT AS THE FIRST FLOWER IN BLOOM
THIS SUMMER IS BORN FROM DREAMS OF MORNING & WISHES OF AFTERNOON 
BREATHE THE PERFUME OF THE SWEET GARDEN FILL YOUR SENES...

Read More

i’m on Georgia turf, the land
of bless your heart,    pretense
   of the titillation of heat.

scurries the sun;         moon
damp on clothesline.
  ...

Read More

Spring Beauty and the Beast 

Tenderly Spring sends harbingers of beauty,
Knights errant of crocus and snowdrops,
To warm winter’s shopworn heart
And soothe his brittle bones of barren boughs
With balms of long jonquil sunbeams
Melting the grumpy curmudgeon’s...

Read More

Among the flowers lazily lounging high above,
Bees hover and soar like pigeons,
Counting their precious treasures,
Delving in with rapturous delight.
Elongated pebbles are my benches,
Freckling the earth around me as I ponder.
Gigantic zinnias block the sun,
Hiding my...

Read More

He wonders

at the aphrodisiac of her jasmine air
stirring the breeze of his being
heady in the breathy mood of her moon garden
amidst stargazer’s pink whispers

and he wishes

that his jonquil heart
be quenched by her sweet drink -
as...

Read More

SPRING


Testing the water with bare toes
I will recoil
to the misted edge of hoarfrost
softened soil
peek through eyes of Crocus
and Jonquil
at the emptiness my promise
must fullfil.

I’ll whisper to the branches shy
with cold
to remember seasoned stories
they were told
beckon...

Read More

I can only live in a garden
where warped talons
of tiger tulip petals mar
unbroken lines of pastel shimmer,
not where silent cerulean lakes
float as though aloft 
in frames of polished stone 
to tell the cloudless sky,
I'm your...

Read More

One lonely jonquil bows her timid head.
From earth and rain her slender leaves are fed.
Then, sunlight peeks upon the shaded site.
Sun offers warmth from snowy chills of night.

As days grow long and springtime tiptoes near,
The...

Read More

A dandelion crossed the line,
Announcing, "I'm no weed!"
A snooty jonquil tsked, tut-tutting,
And replied, "Indeed!"

The daffodils began to laugh,
The tulips joined their mirth;
For all the flowers knew their place
While rooted in the earth.

The gentle daisy, wild...

Read More

He gave me a red Camelia,
That said I was the flame in his heart
And a dainty, blue Forget-Me-Not
To remember his love, when we were apart

To tell me, I brought him happiness
He sent me Honeysuckle, perfumed...

Read More

When I Faint

Well, thought that you were all I got,
So ain't you or ain't you really not;
For me bartender got another shot
Because he said I sure drink a lot.

First did see you on dance floor;
Next...

Read More

Adieu April


Adios you soggy segue
nature’s mud pie maker
roof top drummer
dog soaker
puddle teaser.

Au Revoir
cool breathed friend
easing the ice from its depths
cajoling the worms
play peek-a-boo
with the Robins.

Bon Voyage old vagabond
titillating transient
instinct whisperer
spring’s pheromonal scent
arousing dormant need.

Farewell
fading water...

Read More

(Swap Sonnet)

Azalea struts her bloom before the rose
in early spring, to follow jonquil pose
and steal respect from phlox' expanding plume.
Before the rose, azalea struts her bloom;

her fervor glows beneath a brilliant sky
and boldly sends a...

Read More

Velvet red roses stand
cheek to cheek
with daisy faces, ringed
in petal fringes,
sweetly scented
by creamy bubbles 
of double jonquil popcorn blooms
beside a starburst
yellow chrysanthemum,
and long leaves 
squeezed between.
Below, their stem-straws blur
in the ribbed glass jar,
looped with a...

Read More

It seems that as the solstice climbs the hill
to goad the slothful sun to do its will
to taunt it with its ever-urgent plea
arise and start your journey sea to sea

and then upon days closing mock...

Read More