Long Persian Poems

The Field
by Rumi 
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Far beyond sermons of right and wrong there's a sunlit field. 
I'll meet you there. 
When the soul lazes in such lush grass 
the world is too...

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Birdsong
by Rumi
loose translation by Michael R. Burch

Birdsong relieves
my deepest griefs:
now I'm just as ecstatic as they,
but with nothing to say!
Please universe,
rehearse
your poetry
through me!



I choose to love you in silence
by Rumi
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

I...

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Alexander The Great was born in Macedonia in 356 BC, led to believe
From a boy by Olympias his mother, and to conceive
He was born of the gods, legend inferred he was the son of Zeus,
Ruler...

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Phobias
	A Bluto is not that Disney dog
	It was when a mewling 
	that I would scream 
	Should they wet my body
	And then apply cream
	
	Ablutophobia – fear of bathing, washing, or cleaning
	
	Achluo the demon that lurks
	In darkened...

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			I

The Holy Bible said seven kingdoms would arise,
then like windblown grains of sand, fall to the dust
Six kingdoms have come and gone, blinked their eyes
and we’re now, in these last days, living on the cusp

But...

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Centuries ago

In ancient Hermopolis

A debate roared loud

Between a proud Christian priest

And a strange shepherd

Who was a Manichaean

Wearing ragged clothes

And who was looking for sheep

“Flames will consume you”

The priest roared at the shepherd

Because their debate

Was going...

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The Bedouins, bequeathed with the sacred beauty of paradise harsh,
trusted guardians of jealous gorges and gifted groves
lead me from the Wadi Musa to the humble ingress of Petra,
saying with thrill, the Jin of your Jihad...

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PART 1:          THE MEETING

Alone one night neath lantern light, I trudged a weary mile.
Forlorn, I went with shoulders bent (the storms around me howled)
until I met...

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Like the twelfth
juror in the play
I must say I am not
convinced
For I know a recipe
for trouble 
I have seen the
double standards
And I do not approve
this for Kenya
I will never approve
it, and neither
Would you, dear
friend of...

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The three enigmas of Turandot

The well of souls run deep in fabled lands of old.
Of China's ancient dynasty and the lost Great Tartary, 
a ballad of love and loss that must be told.

The Emperor's daughter,...

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In school it was all about Greek and Latin at a stretch it proposed
                     ...

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For old Star-Gazer Master Khayyam – a name like Shakespeare’s for « some » other giants - Part One

                ...

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“Beloved Femme Fatale”


Musk and Neroli satin skin spoons
Naked feet ‘neath The Pillars of Petra
She towers majestic above you, colours your grey skies
You are worshipping her on your knees
What does it matter, anymore? Before your eyes,...

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Sometimes faith lives on the edge of a knife
as Sviastoslav the Rus sacker came to know 
the Khazar Khanate knew how to cut a slight
his gilded skull stole the show,
the Vatican went from a marsh...

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Darius was the Medo-Persian king,
Which means he was in charge of everything.
One hundred twenty satraps gave account,
So he would have an up-to-date amount;
All this so that he might not suffer loss.

‘Since that’s a lot of...

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Zero.
By which nothing is divided.
No zero
no negative
no opposite
no hope
no Adam, no apple, no marriage, no morning.
No mirror
no knowledge
no God, no soul, no ear lobe, no Iliad, no Odyssey.
No universe
no black hole
no zodiac
no hero
no mission, no...

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Dreams of The Battle of Thymbra, Lydian-Persian War

In the midst of a battle I awoke thrown
walking over the crimson red dead.
Found and drew the shaft from solid stone
standing on soil blood soaked in red!

My heart...

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The Uyghur Empire’s ruler where the sun rarely blessed

Travelled to the Northern bank of the Luo in contemplation

And stayed in a tomb for three days after battling Yan

Thus, four angels of the Faith of Mani...

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M o o n is a rose quartz pearl,
     unraveling midnight musings,
                  glazed in...

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A MESSAGE TO EINSTEIN
Originally Composed in Persian Language by:
M. H. Shahryar (1904- 1988)
Translated into English by:
 Abdullah Bageri Hamidi

Einstein! An unspecified greeting! Well, pardon;
Running in the twilight of moonlight, fair;
With the curl of the wavering...

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THE TRUMPIST VOTE: A satirical Persian poem and its English translation, by the poet himself.

POST / SHARE / FORWARD / PUBLISH (with attribution--please)

NOTE: In addition to this translated poem, to see some of Moji Agha's...

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I leave buying food at the market to the spouse...

one helluva comparative
humdinger savvy shopper,
who can rattle off the best buy
for most any given item,
at the drop of a hat
analogous to baseball fanatic
(unlike myself who knows...

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Continued from Part 1

Hungary hounds harangue the highlands,
howl at skies and desert islands…
Below, unfettered carbon crows conceal the parting path she chose

Lighthouse lamps and lanterns lolling…
Mute abandoned fleets are calling…
The shallow shadowed portholes vaunt dim...

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The Eager Traveler
by Ahmad Faraz
translation by Michael R. Burch

Even in the torture chamber, I was the lucky one;
When each lottery was over, unaccountably I had won.

And even the mightiest rivers found accessible refuge in me;
Though...

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My Sweet Gypsy Lover [ edit ]
Im feeling all these emotions
It's hard to hold back 
When the mood is right, we have a little wine 
romantic music and candle light
I kissed your lips so softly...

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