Long Night watchman Poems

Gefunden (“Found”)
by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Into the woodlands,
alone, I went.
Seeking nothing,
my sole intent.

But I saw a flower
deep in the shade
gleaming like starlight
in a still glade.

I reached down to pluck it
when...

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Prometheus
by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

obscure Your heavens, Zeus, with a nebulous haze!
and, like boys beheading thistles, decapitate oaks and alps.

yet leave me the earth with its rude dwellings
and my hut...

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When sleep deserted me
I crawled out of my bed unseen
To delve into the crevices of the dark
With the curiosity of an explorer
And the near comatose of a somnambulist
I walked up and down the steep slopes...

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On some English grass
On a piece of land forever England
Warriors of the realm
Take holy orders, on their Fathers grave
To defend the honour of their local pub
For this is the noble art of Sunday league Football

The...

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Dreamscape

Fright night echoes sounds clink tapped chalices,
Amidst caused bruised concoctions aplenty,
Dons alehouse barmaids geniality,
Fair distance yonder gates of said palaces.

Camaraderie placates fools, nightfalls,
Host chambered snores all else unpleasantries,
Wenches clear tables its swill and varies,
Whilst yon...

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I walked amongst the shadows
through a solitary door
into the night.

Where there is nothing,
not even a bare glimmer of light.
Clouds gather up high
like my memories floating on by.

With not a twinkling star in sight
nor a full...

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I walked amongst shadows
Through a solitary door into the night
Where there is nothing
Not even a bare glimmer of light
Clouds gather up high
Like my memories floating on by
With not a twinkling star in sight
Nor the full...

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When the night falls
And the moon is up high,
You can be rest assured the
Night watchman will be stopping by.

As he does each and every night
When we all go to bed
This is at a time when...

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Thin and lean he came to glean
His sickle shining with the summer sheen

My branches to trim and make me slim
My roots to prod and soil to skim

He tended to me as a mother would a...

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The night watchman and darkness make their calls
As we sleep inside those four walls
Creatures of the night unfold
Trolling nightmares creep and crawl 
Into those forbidden thoughts inside our mind
Installing fears in an inward bind
Dread is...

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Foggy mists slither through the highlands
As downdrafts force them to the riverbanks
To the naked eye ethereal warm icicles
Among tow’ring long-needle pines piercing sky
From the other side near the rustic cabin
The yawning night watchman waits the...

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