Long Oriental 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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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...

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Grasses wilt:
the braking locomotive
grinds to a halt
—Yamaguchi Seishi, translation by Michael R. Burch

Oh, fallen camellias,
if I were you,
I'd leap into the torrent!
—Takaha Shugyo, translation by Michael R. Burch

The first soft snow:
leaves of the awed jonquil
bow...

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As I slept in isolation
my desired beloved appeared to me; 
therefore, dreams have become my reality
and consolation. 
—Ono no Komachi, translation by Michael R. Burch

Submit to you—is that what you advise? 
The way the ripples...

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Back Door Side Door Front Door : Which door might a Confucian take
 
..................for René ETIEMBLE (Jan. 26, 1909 – Jan. 7, 2002)*

In homage - dedicated to the Chair Professor of Comparative Literature
.................at the prestigious...

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“He fought often and once bled in the cause of freedom, but his habits of War did not lessen in him the peaceful virtues which adorn his private life.”  Doctor Benjamin Rush, signer of...

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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...

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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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Bateson: 
Pathology is a relatively easy thing to discuss,
health is very difficult.

Laotse:
Pathology is a functional issue for discernment,
organic health is difficult to miss
unless you have switched our cooperative evolution
for your personal competitive revolution.

Bateson:
...the sacred is...

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If memory serves me right it was one year before he died .Before he was killed that I last saw him with my eye.
From kindergarten
 (he was in first grade,  nine months older than...

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THE FACE OF DEATH

   On Monday March 14th 2011, at 1:05 PM, I believe I was looking into the face and eyes of Death, as we drove to Her, school .

  ...

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On the spur of the moment forecast by eternal script in the stars

The Bard strummed his guitar and sung a ballade from heart’s lute 

Wild horses would not keep him away from her as he...

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Romance Day And Night

How the Romans played their moonlit dreams
splashing out near viaducts of love I can only
wonder same as with knights in shining armour
or rather without when the Ages seemed dark
and oriental spices called...

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For Years !!!

Four years have been on the run, on the wane
and yet, I still feel your beauty, still feel the pain
that came with – an end – the end you made me aware,
of, we,...

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The Bad, Bad Boy 

My Dear, sweet China Flower :

   The Oriental fragrance of you lingers on, it has permeated the very fibers of my mind and my home.
   I am,...

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THIRUKKURAL: Translation of Canto XXXVIII with notes and commentary

Canto XXXVIII of the Thirukkural on the topic of FATE which I give here in translation (by stages) forms, in itself, a separate "book" in its own...

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The sand is stained red
with our bygone blood,
the blood that brought us from Ararat to the Alti,
a tribe trekking intrepidly through the Eurasian terrain,
caravans of Caucasians clad with Celtic tartan twills
plaids upon the pale horse...

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O' poets switch off all senses but one
as you enter this arena of aroma
as I nose out the world's perfumes
to boost thy nasal stamina.

A dainty phial of perfume is indeed
a perfect and preferred present
It's the...

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Le Balcon (The Balcony)
Charles Baudelaire
trans. Michael R. Burch

Paramour of memory, ultimate mistress,
source of all pleasure, my only desire;
how can I forget your ecstatic caresses,
the warmth of your breasts by the roaring fire,
paramour of memory, ultimate...

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These are my modern English translations of haiku about plum blossoms, plums and plum trees. 

Picking autumn plums
my wrinkled hands
once again grow fragrant
—Yosa Buson, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Clinging
to the plum tree:
one blossom's worth...

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Oh, the wonders of China
   Far different than those of Carolina.
   "Me Wan See", I say to you
   Land of the Orient, so vast and true.
   Wonders...

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Haunted...
glowing foot falls on the dusted wooden planks cross the bridge
following them 
I swing around enormous trees 
skirt quickly...trying to catch up

were we holding hands as we walked
...did we hold hands?
I can't recall
but the muster...

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There is a picture of you on my bedroom wall
Drawn by my own simpering hand
Of your divine features and veiled Oriental eyes
Scratched out by the crude tool of a 2B pencil
Alas I had no mosaic...

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MY DREAMER ,HE WEAVES THE WESTERN TUNE, WHILE MY HEART SINGS IN ORIENTAL MONSOON.
so far away, she eagerly awaits me, from such a distance, easily captivates me.
HE IS A BIRD FOR EVERY SEASON, I HAVE...

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MY DREAMER HE WEAVES THE WESTERN TUNE, WHILE MY HEART SINGS IN ORIENTAL MONSOON.
 so far away, she eagerly awaits me, from such a distance, easily captivates me.
 HE IS A BIRD FOR EVERY SEASON,...

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