Long Millet Poems

Rum got to his feet and said, “Let’s go play in the street.”
Raisin said, “I’m up for that; some fresh air would be neat.”
They were soon outside and heard a sound… FLAP FLAP… THUD… TWEET
What...

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Reeds and dry mud walls,
Into whose crevices, weaving needles and knives are fixed.
Iron sheets of rust on top,
(The only modern feature!)
With leakages through which we can even visualize the sun,
Through which rain water and even...

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Cont'd from Cupid and Psyche: Part 1

And so, the tricky goddess 
got sacks of different seed.
She mixed them up completely 
and said: "Here's what I need.

You have to sort the millet, 
the barley and the...

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Habitants of the wilderness;
Identify their beauty and acknowledge it-
They wear neither clothes nor makeup.
Yet,they still appreciate their differences;
Each of them in their innocent making.

I am a resident of the human kingdom,
I am a descendant of...

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CHINESE TRANSLATIONS IV

These are English translations of Chinese poems about nature, the seasons, autumn, winter, spring, night, time, tears, flowers and love. 

Seeking a Mooring
by Wang Wei
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

A leaf drifts through...

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Heaven’s Servant

The grass of the earth The King of Heaven generously gave
People to enjoy Kentucky Bluegrass nice lawn, nutritious hay,
Timothy grass highly cultivated and seed easily harvested
Stock cattle, sheep, and horses healthily eat by day...

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The night air with owls cry invitation of canopies of writers to write the 
Days using the night pen jolting candle to the candidates aspiring to arson 
night. The pans and pots exchanging strong actions...

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This is a story of an old couple who had no children of their own.
One day while the old woman was washing clothes at a nearby river, she saw a large rosy peach floating downstream.
She...

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Tooth Brush

Tender bristles plenty in number
Against the shiny enamel
Like ears of millet plantation
Tossing heads
Against perfumed brush of swooning breeze
Allure tongues not lesser
Than vehement kisses
O! Tooth Brush!

Charmed equally 
Miners and milliners
You are simply a principle
A scientific...

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I oft shooed thee as bird of barest brain, 
No, ye do hide behind some talent rare, 
Should a rare hand nurture ye to train, 
Thine sense of shades I doubt any may share. 

It...

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for Eric Mottram: 1924-1995 (not because of any debt, felt or incurred)*

one stroke a point
leftstroke bent
hooked
two a cover man

man enter eight borders to cover ice

table receptacle
knife strength
wrap spoon basket
box ten to divine
seal cliff private
also mouth...

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Conceived and born in the rainforest 
I have traversed the Savanna and the Mangrove
I have trudged through its Swamp 
And dwelt I have in its Woodland	
But I only bear tales of 
The Montane and the...

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•I am a pen, not an artist nor a Poet,
•We're all slaves like Israelites from Egypt,
•They try to be red like a matured Scarlet,
•Let's all join together like foods on a Plate,
•Why should we Differ...

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— — — — — — — — — —
Children’s hands stained with fruit color in spring water,
right next to the old mill
where the yellow sand is sprinkled into rocks.
Moss and blueberries
on lumps of discarded...

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i saw the footprints on the sands of the oasis, 
and the loamy soils around the rose garden, 
i also saw prints on the mountains: 
the strings that aid the climber, i also saw 
them...

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^b^
Gleaned in the Smokey Mountains

A splash of white paint, just where you sleep
that's what the Wise-blood Naomi advised.
I remember her hair so thin it looked
	like ham gravy running down her forehead.
"No need for Passover blood....

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Sounds of music
are here, there, everywhere!
in this, in that, in that!
They give rhythm to everything around us;
be it the crack of dawn,
fiery sunny days, 
or mellow  twilights.

I hear the sounds of music
when the cock...

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Pumping through the boundaries
like water out of a burst pipe
they go beyond
in search of that golden fleece.
Leaving the yam and millet
In hands of ''intellectual weaklings".
Deserting their muddy palaces
Resorting to restrooms yonder
Good hands seasoned for hoes
now...

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With a vision one should be silly trying to match,
Eyes able to three hundred and sixty degrees search;
Scarcely neared and their wings would flutter,
Airborne as you try to a syllable utter;
To at large remain until...

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.
How about a One Pot Kitchen
Minimalist to the Max
First sort out Food
Millet - 5 grains
And a Clay pot
Rotate millets
Every 2 days
Soak and boil
Soak for 8 hrs.
In 5 times water
Leave it overnight 
Thereafter COOK it !
first...

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A little flight takes off nearby
Oops! It does not drift into the sky;
A tailor bird delves into the nest,
feeds the chicks, the food best
So whenever I step into my garden
I ask them "May I come...

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Just like blood oozing from a wound
Like water springing out of Chimanimani springs 
My heart is bleeding
I got scared after seeing what they did
My heart is still beating faster
Like the traditional drums 
Pum pum pum...

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Did the maid ever tell you 
To wipe off your younger sibling's poop from the tiled floor? 
Did she- that worthless human- ever tell you
To wash the giant saucepan 
in which last night's millet was...

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It's blisteringly dry.
Martian, winedark, overweight -
No lawns on this mesa of millet-baked pie,
To make this crater straight.

No spades here, no scraping rake.
Just sharp sticks, blood-bricked mortar.
Berbers camp here for old time's sake,
But can't stay; as...

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I heard a rich whistling sing-song echoing from the trees
rising and falling and flashes of bright orange color
the bird was sturdy with a thick neck and long legs
he had a very sharp pointed bill...

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