Long Paddies Poems

One small little country which houses 
one of the highest paid governments 
in this modern world joke ran upside down

A big part of our life existing reality 
when the backbone is gone snakes appear with...

Read More

“Get your crap together, we’re leaving,” were the words but the
Cobwebs in my brain block out who said them. We started throwing things,
clearing out as dumpsters arrived with the Vietnamese. We throw in  ...

Read More

I saw one flag raised and another fall
I saw the great lie of justice and equity for all

I saw a crisis that stopped the world
I saw a wall to keep out the cold

I saw a...

Read More

A listing of the fires 
and all the survivors 
will be provided

Names of the dead 
are written on broken cobblestones 
at the bottom of the river

The sheet music 
is in the morgue - reconstruction 
of...

Read More

ANTICHRISTIC BOUND:

So many questions spilled, 
Because of how this place feels.
Seemly blame who for such beal,
And what's the rationale for thus built?
It's spiritually a proposed deal,
So not assumed to cause strong thrills.
But is it right,...

Read More

Matsuo Basho: English translations of Haiku about autumn, fall, falling, trees, leaves, leaving, goodbye, rice, moon, moonlight, words.

Reverential tears:
the falling leaves
bid their trees goodbye.
—Matsuo Basho, translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Plates and bowls
gleaming dimly in the...

Read More

This world?
Moonlit dew
flicked from a crane’s bill.
—Eihei Dogen Kigen translation by Michael R. Burch

Seventy-one?
How long
can a dewdrop last?
—Eihei Dogen Kigen translation of his jisei (death poem) by Michael R. Burch

Dewdrops beading grass-blades
die before dawn;
may an...

Read More

The release of the naked sword of marine oil spills 
From the window and door of offshore platforms drilling rigs,
From the arena of natural oil sips to execute our living meals.

Petroleum hydrocarbon spreading its tentacle...

Read More

Haiku Translations II

Illuminated by the harvest moon
smoke is caught creeping
across the water...
Hattori Ransetsu, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Fanning its tail flamboyantly
with every excuse of a breeze,
the peacock!
Masaoki Shiki, loose translation by Michael R. Burch

Waves...

Read More

Stilled again across the canals broadening 
Girth;
Mesh cages of rock-filled Gabions 
Reinforcing patches of exposed and arid earth,
Reflecting the glints that gleefully
Twist and dance in the hot glare of the sun...
Provoking images and stirring indefinable...

Read More

It’s Faint Paddies Day
everyday,
from my oxy scarce commuter view

At this Rocky Mountain skin altitude,
death is always on the dispatch menu

Faint Paddies 
be sweating onion fear on a ghetto roll
Cry babies
be diaper blues potty wailing —...

Read More

Matsuo Basho: English translations of haiku about summer, trees, firefly, fireflies, cuckoos, rice fields, rice paddies, bush-clover, Iris, Irises, temple, temples, Japanese culture, light, daylight, lit, boat, boats.

Fireflies
turn our trees
into well-lit lodges.
—Matsuo Basho, translation/interpretation by...

Read More

Gawd!  I awoke this morning wondering what I'm doing in this miserable place!
I thought the oath I took was to defend America's shores, not a foreign race!
The French made a mess and ran, now,...

Read More

COPYRIGHT-Poetess, MRS.ANJALI DENANDI ,MOM
        
      OPEN  WINDOW

My window is open;
I open my pen.
Infront of me ,-
near  the window,
Here is a bee;
Also...

Read More

Come along with me as I journey East
where fragile cherry blossoms flutter
before raining down from cloudless skies.
Let's climb majestic mountains whose crests 
are always laced with crowns of snow.

Here, the scent of jasmine is caught...

Read More

Fifty years ago it began.
War in a distant, foreign land.
For a decade or more men gallantly served.
From devotion to duty they never swerved.

From every walk of life they came,
Trying a ruthless enemy to tame.
Leaving home,...

Read More

An ancient story 
from the emerald isle 
the jewel of every 
Irish heart treasured 
unwrapping it's beauty 
waves of green 
descent a 
world over 
spilling onto 
the streets 
like a tidal wave 

Core of our...

Read More

The Sounds of Korea


I hear the familiar sounds of Korea,
Of the crowing of roosters in the morning,
Of the fields, streams and marketplaces.
The tunes of shamanistic music band
The swirling of fire-lit cans of Jwibul nori,
The soup...

Read More

Uncooked grains of rice caked our apartment.
Dug themselves into my pliable plantar aspect
I welcomed you from the bottom of my being,
Into my soul,
A friend that made me feel whole.
You dreamt of delicious dishes dancing
In the...

Read More

WAVE  


LETS ALL GO A DANCING,
TO NIGHT, IT MUST IRISH BE.
 SO OFF TO CRICKLE WOOD                  ...

Read More

I hear the familiar sounds of Korea,
Of the crowing of roosters in the morning,
Of the fields, streams and marketplaces.
The tunes of shamanistic music band
The swirling of fire-lit cans of Jwibul nori,
The soup boiling sounds in...

Read More

You rock ‘n roll heads, country bumpkins and sillies
Trying to intimidate us into living your life path
It is hilarious to us, so we laugh open mouthed
Using shame we cannot feel, for we do not feel...

Read More

The winning touchdown scored that fall – lingered,
As fresh a memory of that night,
As when the sound of the crowd filled his ears, 
And her kisses were warm and deep.

Only to have all that was...

Read More

An amulet of peace hung ‘round my neck,
An AR16 rifle in my hands….
Seemed like such a paradox,
In the paddies and jungles of Vietnam.

An amulet of peace hung ‘round my neck,
A man’s life was in my...

Read More

Smitty isn't Schulte.
He doesn't drive a Cadillac 
and doesn't hit his wife 
often any more.
Schulte, on the other hand,
drives a Cadillac
and hits his wife 
usually on weekends
for no good reason.
He's been doing that for 
more...

Read More