Long Marina Poems

I Know The Truth
by Marina Tsvetaeva
loose translation by Michael R. Burch

I know the truth?abandon lesser truths!
There's no need for anyone living to struggle!
See? Evening falls, night quickly descends!
So why the useless disputes?generals, poets, lovers?

The wind...

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On Fam'ly Traditions - 3rd third -


With 2 dinky bedrooms...and only 3 beds...the one time I'd been here I'd slept on a cot!  And tossin' a coin for the one with 2 beds...the-odd-man the...

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On Fam’ly Traditions - 2nd third -
 


“Might as well grab us some food an' some beer...some ice...and some bundles o' wood, an' prob'ly some charcoal....there ain't nothin' better than walleye from right off a...

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The one time before they had brought me along - to this cabin - to fish on this lake...this primitive structure that Leo - Dad's granddad - had constantly threatened to sell...
I was a toddler...Father...

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I write this prose for my dear, fair lady wife
To celebrate her Birthday on November 29th
She’s my partner, my best friend, the love of my life
Without her my life would be as dark as night

From...

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Exiting highway 101 again....
Past Pacific Heights, to the Marina districts boulavard
Circling back towards the Palace of Fine Arts
An escape, after leaving the Tenderloins gentrificational neighborhoods
In the lines of questions; as I now gaze upon the...

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Welcome to our TAMILNADU 
The land of prosperity

Where our mother earth dons,
green dress and blue crown,
All year round

Welcome to our TAMILNADU 
The land of divine dance

Where people here still practice
ancient dances bharatanatiyam, mayilatam, 
oyilatam, thapatam...

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Five miles of neatly spaced suckered palm planted 
Bustling promenade,
Not withstanding a provincial cafe-culture 
Of restaurants and exciting little bars,
Enhance upon regal elegance of the crammed hotels
Regency period style facades;
Their fashionable shadows slowly lifting and...

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Part One

                 Still the din dashes about in his dreams
now louder in the spacedout quiet:
an occasional auto-rickshaw backfiring revving
spluttering...

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I am a foodie, I must confess, I swim a few laps for exercise
Along come the Mollusk, and to my pleasant surprise
I have no restraint and they look so yummy
I just open my jaws wide,...

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Oh wow. Oh great. Look over there. Quickly now. Come on. It is the mitigating migrating mammoth mansions. Brick by brick and bone by bone. In a line. Travelling. Traversing the plains, fields and mountains...

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Herons fragment the mist,
appear and disappear while remaining motionless.
The skiff rocks as a coal barge trundles past.
A dewy sky shivers.

Nowadays he just sits in a boat looking at Ohio.
This morning the sun reached the top...

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The azure ocean, home to the embedded enormous incomprehensible riches of mysteries and riddles,
More than the Mars, lies unfathomed, underneath the conundrum of oceanic colossal rhythms. 

From the The Milky Sea Phenomenon, a sight captured...

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Lonely nights and days
	Dreaming of a woman that did not exist
Moments of memories without substance
	waiting for my soul-mate to stumble into my life
That's when I found her between my consuming thoughts
	Ariabelle: A piece of my...

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We had just finished reading Twas the Night Before Christmas
“Good Night children.” Their mom and I said.
“Wait a minute Dad…something’s not right. We live in Florida.” Our eldest son said.

“It’s too warm down here for...

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A
                                  ...

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"ode to Marina"

as its been awhile I thought of saying hello and reminisce of how it all began
years ago filling in for a coworker who would later fill in for me you placed a call
such...

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Azteca

As a young girl growing up in Los Angeles City
My mother took me everywhere with her
Our favorite Mexican restaurant had great hospitality
Casa De Nina, I enjoyed the music and she, their famous platter;
Guajolotas o tortas...

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It’s great to be a member of the global elite,
   The bean poles in my garden are standing proud and neat.
Organic veg is thriving thanks to ample bags of peat.
   I...

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She’s rolled up with patience
dedication and faith in the Lord;
her strictness punctuated a shared vision
that focused on learning acquisition.

  Her punctuality, precision, and determination
  to teach her pupils with discipline and right focusing;
...

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THE MUSE by Anna Akhmatova

This is my English translation of a Russian poem by Anna Akhmatova…

The MUSE
by Anna Akhmatova
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

My being hangs by a thread tonight
as I await a Muse no...

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I Walked An Hundred, Hundred-Thousand Steps,
To give you the good-bye I could not speak.
Atop the Great Wall, you and I, Opposites,
Ascending and Descending,
For six-thousand-five-hundred-and-eighty-five miles
 (and a half)…
Have met
To say
Good-Bye,

But I could not speak it,
And...

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MARINA BAY WALKABOUT


Saturday night tour walkabout:
You and I stroll briskly along
To check the lights with the big crowd
With carefree souls pushing sing-song!

By transit train, we found our way
To breeze on-site to see the lights;
But Earth...

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I love a good game of peek-a-boo…it’s quite simple but it’s excitement is immense…all you need are your two hands, your face…and a baby’s innocence.

You hide your face behind your hands…you’re gone…the baby doesn’t know...

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How dare goddamn Laura divorce him
     After thirty years arduous pre dawn sacrifice
     Menopause made her dismiss marriage on a whim
     Told Rod...

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