Long Obscured Poems

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

A dream of a Rainbow coloured family

In the ocean there is a raging storm 
And a lot of boats 
With rudders that are shattered,
Compasses lost, sails that are torn.
And dreams that are faded or tattered
With...

Read More

Lumi smiled and reached out to grab his shoulder.  They passed over the ridge where, as Joulupukki had said, a small hamlet clung to the side of the mountain about equal distance to the...

Read More

He just appeared to me, like wispily curling 
Chimney smoke, 
One grim and early morning in the very midst of 
Decembers briefest days, on the highest slope,
Toiling through my daily round; where, slowly 
Driving up...

Read More

God Bless Each Day's Magnetic Field On Earth!

God Bless Each Day's Magnetic Field On Earth!

God bless each day's magnetic field on Earth (1) that shields the human race
from cosmic rays bombarding Earth and us (from...

Read More

Film Noir

By the lampost at night
with the pale moon shining bright
but obscured by the fog
I saw her in the harbor
standing where my boat lay moored
but she knew that
her azure eyes beckoned me to come
smoke from...

Read More

Our lusty voice was in the tramp of narrow, winding,
     Scree-littered, deep-rutted roads;     
 Ravens, uttering guttural croaks, slow-wheeling above      
 ...

Read More

Film Noir

By the lamppost at night
with the pale moon shining bright
but obscured by the fog
I saw her in the harbor
standing where my boat lay moored
but she knew that
her azure eyes beckoned me to come
smoke from...

Read More

Love has a Southern flavor: honeydew,
ripe cantaloupe, the honeysuckle’s spout
we tilt to basking faces to breathe out
the ordinary, and inhale perfume ...

Love’s Dixieland-rambunctious: tangled vines,
wild clematis, the gold-brocaded leaves
that will not keep their order in...

Read More

This was last Saturday night. We were at a rooftop party in downtown New Haven thrown by ‘DocHouse.’ Doc-House is kind of a frat-house, owned by Dr. Melon, where he and seven doctoral students live....

Read More

Invisibly tortured courtesy existential nihilism

Psyche wracked with agony
impossible mission to extricate lovely bones
they wanna remain permanently abed.

I chiefly function to amass knowledge
courtesy assiduously, habitually,
and judiciously reading
an eclectic assortment of written material.

Yours truly woke
with ambition, disposition,
inclination,...

Read More

The scenery was magnificent, and the morning was slightly hot,
Our land cruiser was windowless, and sitting in a lovely spot.

The giraffes were splendid, and much bigger than I'd expected,
One could hardly gaze at the vast...

Read More

Matsuo Basho New Haiku Translations

Air ballet:
twin butterflies, twice white,
meet, match & mate
—Matsuo Basho, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch 

Denied transformation
into a butterfly,
autumn worsens for the worm
—Matsuo Basho, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch 

Dusk-gliding...

Read More

It was an early fall day, some decades ago, 
When three of my boys were still young.
Looking forward that year to the Rochester Fair,
An event that was always good fun.

A promise from me I would...

Read More

Strategically placed when raised 
Upwards
By your masterful and well 
Practiced hand.
To mingle with ever changing 
Skylines 
That frown down with arrogant 
Scowls
Upon the indigenous populous of 
This just and tolerant island.
To study and pontificate upon...

Read More

THE HURDLES: 

Explain this won't be a devour,
As all this while you considered a diva.
He'd set hurdles, Eva...
Which's breeding woes and fever.
I know you understand that's not trivial,
From the university of life, I have become...

Read More

After hiking on the trail one day, I was making my way back,
Immersed in balmy thrills of summer, and the sunshine attack!

Birdsong was in my ears, and fragrance of beauty all around;
And greenness like a...

Read More

-Forget naught-

So soon after supper, you’ve forgotten
Those ones you called your alter egos.
Said adieu and you did not stay o!
So soon you forgot those ones?						

The one you met and greeted in clan,
During moon, storm, wind,...

Read More

Upon the doorstep of my paradise,
     You’ll find h e l l i s h pansies and t a i n t e d tulips,
     obscured within...

Read More

Where can I trace this finite feeling,
So that you may see it in its true form?
Upon your heart I would wish it would land,
Yet could my silly hands possibly reach there?
Such an affecting grasp it...

Read More

Me: "Bing, the intended rhyme scheme for the poem below is ABABAB; and I made additional changes in line 9 of the poem in order to improve its meter and make more vivid and clarify...

Read More

I have seen many writers of late, (who struggle
To be taken seriously), interject "big" or unusual
Or fancy words into their prose in an effort to be
"Profound", or seem like they have a grand knowledge

Of just...

Read More

Smoke rising from the ground
Obscures the pools of blood
Where soldiers uttering sounds
Lie dying in the mud.
Horses neighing, running scared
In horror find no end
Of battleground that's shared
The crimson life of men.
A bugle lies still tightly clenched
In...

Read More

Sensing the death of something
That once brought more life than 
The heartbeat or breath, faith
In the beautiful and intimate places
Where light kisses away the darkness
And music replaces the most horrible
Dread with a feeling so blessed,
So...

Read More

Then again, was a realm in tandem with another realm. There's no way to judge the distance as each one has a value of its own. Surrendering to the infinite vortex 'cause there's no captain...

Read More