Long Sandstorms Poems

Here We Shall Remain
by Tawfiq Zayyad
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Like twenty impossibilities
in Lydda, Ramla and Galilee ...
here we shall remain.

Like brick walls braced against your chests;
lodged in your throats
like shards of glass
or prickly cactus...

Read More

“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,...

Read More

A miniscule minotaur is a mini mayhem by the way. In a catacomb place ones feet in a small bowl then look in the mirror and sing to the shaft of light beaming down from...

Read More

I was a busy archaeologist, who enjoyed interesting and fulfilling work,
And I was very intrigued, with the ancient sites where mystery lurked. 

My painstaking work caused me to travel, ofttimes to far distant lands,
As golden...

Read More

Strong, in some ways –
Reflecting the old times, the old days,
Like a moment inspired by light,
Suggesting the beauty of a smile,
Echoing truth in every movement,
Exposing the wonder of a heart…

Who is laughing, dancing like leaves
Of...

Read More

A diverse array of flora and fauna reign majestic 
in vivid tawny imagery of shifting sand dunes 
and barren rocks-- sixteen miles
from the golden rays of western tomorrow.

Time is played out in crucial moments of...

Read More

Cathedrals in tea cups. Jingle jangle playtime then. Golden slippers on a carpet of custard. Slip slide. Drip. No droop. Flavoured water is never fake. Obviously. And count the jellied eels in a bath of...

Read More

Her tattered self in a city long ago
   a little girl lost in oceans of turmoil
 nobody had known her true identity
   the whimsical world looked at her in pity.
 She...

Read More

 
"Surely the day is coming; it will burn like a furnace. All the arrogant
and every evil doer will be stubble, and that day that is coming will set
them on fire,' says the Lord Almighty....

Read More

Mildew mops are prevalent only in oily sandstorms. Ah, said the furry scorpion the witche's brew has collapsed causing wisdom from the inner triangular arc. When racing with ducks pay no heed to flapping as...

Read More

A border is a line drawn in the sand
Constantly shifting if you have time to see
A personality is a borderline ebbing
Time ceaselessly flowing us away 
One side unreachable as the far shore
The other, all that...

Read More

The electrified silence of a seal enchanted but now awakening caused acre of crevasse to jump from the dormant land. It went sploosh and the waves dived over to spring clean and cleanse any poisonous...

Read More

Everyday i walk through the open desert called life,
crawling and stumbling trying to survive this world at night.

Protecting my eyes from the sandstorms may be hard,
but losing my grip on this thing called life is...

Read More

Till my words fade to lilac not
Black or maybe white doves fall 
From the blue and if I had to I
Would lie to the clouds beg them 
For shades of grey so you’d have
To let...

Read More

It was just another story, my grandmother told
I wish I had known, what I've learned since then
How the dust from the hills swept over the plains
and how months without rain, would change everything.

Out of water,...

Read More

A hierarchy of antecedents 
an inverted pyramid or
joy that precedes heart break
and well wishes 
tears that cascade after facts
and unchecked plane tickets 
sentiments divulged, rearranged, displayed 
like an Muslim at inquisition 
Scientist's solution burning 
on a Bunson burn
making sense of what...

Read More

Till the last wave calms in sea
whether or not that you need me
Till the darkness leaves the sky
I'll always be with you nearby

Sister's angel .. hush ..don't cry


Till the sandstorms fade away
whether it's night or...

Read More

O~n occasion, the mind accretes to, "the hurt," when facing
V~icissitudes; blinded by, "the better nature," causing to
E~fface the focus from the Architect while simultaneously
R~aising questions why. Impatience encourages the 
C~ollaboration of misery to consult with...

Read More

In the middle of the universe, I stand
deep in my chamber of death, resurrected
with no recollection of the life before
no memories of past civilizations
          no planets,...

Read More

He pulls 
the eiderdown 
Over his skinny 
little head 
Flashbacks in his mind 
Of a nasty video 

One which scared him 
Almost out 
of his little mind 
If only he could rewind 
Starting back 
at...

Read More

A Cowboy's Last Will


The old cowboy struggled for breath,
Heartbeat faint, his eyes set
He whispered softly before death -
"Wait! I ain't finished yet! "

"Don't lay me where my feet are cold
Or where the lightnin' plays.
Keep me...

Read More

A Search for Love’s Companion        Terza Rhyma

                     ...

Read More

If nature is as inevitable as change defines the weather
By same nature’s-fortune decree, my sins cannot define me
I am my Father’s fine-art, perfectly coated to the brim of His brush
As His life-force flow through me,...

Read More

Everyone called him Great
The Kind soaked with pride
He blew his own trumpet
Was he the God’s own child!
 
 
His subjects lived in misery
He did not bother for their plight
‘Can’t drink water, drink wine’
He shunted misery...

Read More

A weapon based affiliation is neither  a cat cavern or a divided field. Marshals could be described as marshmallows as they are often rounded mush balls. Often a cape is found staring at a...

Read More