Long Lithe 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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Epigrams by Michael R. Burch



Negligibles
by Michael R. Burch
 
Show me your most intimate items of apparel:
begin with the hem of your quicksilver slip ...



Negotiables
by Michael R. Burch

Love should be more than the sum of its...

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Epigrams

Autumn Conundrum
by Michael R. Burch

It’s not that every leaf must finally fall,
it’s just that we can never catch them all.

Piercing the Shell
by Michael R. Burch

If we strip away all the accouterments of war,
perhaps we'll discover...

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Chinese Poets: English Translations II

These are modern English translations of poems by the Chinese poets Tzu Yeh, Lin Huiyin, Xu Zhimo and Huang E. These are poems about love, passion and beauty. 


Tzu Yeh (circa...

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Sonnets XXV-XXXII

Archaischer Torso Apollos (“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...

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Sonnets X-XVI


Archaischer Torso Apollos (“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...

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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 apologize, but if you're viewing this on a phone, it probably wont look right, as the browser page on a phone is not wide enough to indent the right edge properly. It was...

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The Dance of Salome
Herod bellowed out the night's festive orders..
"Bring the torches, bring the tables..
more wine, that we may rejoice,  
for tonight we revel in kindred friendship."
Herod strolled onto the terrace, nearly stumbled in...

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  Another Cruel Link in their Chain 

1.   Beginnings

Her babe was her joy, such a beautiful boy,
	and he suckled her breast till the end.
The slaver sought cash, bestowed mammy a thrash,
	sold her...

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Dad, I remember well the night I grew up. 
I know you remember that night too...
   I know you never forgot this happening:
  
It was 1966, an early Fall night, around 10:30...

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Archaischer Torso Apollos ("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...

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As dawn unfolds today beyond my fractured windowpane,
a breeze beguiles the ashen drapes. Like snakes they slip aside,
revealing wanton worlds that race and run aground, insane,
immersed in scenes obscene that savants strive to mask and...

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If you could look through any window
Of any house on any given street,
You might find yourself quite surprised 
At the variety of people you would meet.

The couple at number twenty-three
Have been married nearly seven years
They...

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(oh, mercy ... )

amazing eye whites,
perfect and pure as glacial ice -
they draw me in,
like diving into a clear Caribbean lagoon,
fluid and cool ...
brown iris so dark in contrast,
that they're lost in the inky black...

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Another shift ends. I'm dead on my feet.
Too shagged to even eat.
The word leads (inevitably) to you...
I slipped the timesheets from work today.
Another incident occurred...
Sweetie, please be there, and say you care.
I loved working alongside...

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"By definition, a ghost is unable to bonk anybody --
save the believer in ghosts."
-- a Rational exorcist of all no things "supernatural" 
  
*   *   *
   
Now, once...

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“Pictures could not be accessories to the story – evidence – they had to contain the story within the frame; the best picture contained a whole war within one frame”. Tatjana Soli, The Lotus Eaters

“There...

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My Goddess of Home Furnishings 

I watched you floating in your usual way, always in song..,
though you could not see me.
From between the racks of Men's clothing..,  
at the department store where we both...

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For years I was a trained gymnast, and I'd competed in the Olympics,
Before my leg was injured in a car accident, among fate's cruel tricks.

I had photographs and memories, of my glory days on the...

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* I always felt like “Nessie” got a bad rap, being called a monster and a beast and all that, so I think this little piece of mythic imagery grew from that. I hope you...

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Who would milk the Tigress
				
                				    wears no armour    gasmask
				pail within squat thighs
					nor bloodless...

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I was a compelling abstract painter, engrossed in the world of vibrant colors,
Like the endless intensities of rainbow hues, that cancel any need for others.

Beauty was was always in my naked eye, in warped images...

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Thy scalp thoroughly massaged during hair washing, 
after showering (frequently tapping the cold water faucet – 
in an effort to ramp up brisk temperature tolerance), 
an immediate process to shake out matted down hairs 
follows...

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"Every day is a page to write a new story". 
And I have rewritten us every day for the last 20 years
We break up…but we were never really together
We make up…how sweet it is ...but...

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