Long Soundlessly 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...

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Come post presidential election 2024... 

heil to the Wharton chief firebrand -
more worrisome than an ovarian cyst
every race, religion, nationality, 
gender, creed, et cetera with impunity dissed
brigand able, eager, ready and willing
to punch contenders throwing...

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"The Emasculation of Man"
 


The world goes by loudly
emasculated man 
sees nothing 
for what it’s worth
ignorant and 
pumelling chests
gorilla armies 
neanderthals
small brained 
with closed fists 
power hungry 
greed-fuelled 
knowing all 
blind to the 
supernatural
natural course...

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“The History of a Wasted Mind”

 

What goes through the mind of a recidivist
Fist full of hate and hurt marking time
Fist full of history, got down with the dirt
The History of a Wasted Child
The History...

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The knight of knights, Sir Lancelot,
From far away in Camelot,
Went by a way that he knew not
And thus, by chance, spied Astolat
With sunset's gleam upon her tow'rs:
T'was there he met the maid Elaine,
With hair as...

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The inky black water sucks her in further
As she descends into the black depths of the abyss
Cloying dark swirls cover her head as soundlessly it reaches
Possessing her every inhalation – exhalation - it envelopes her...

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Spring (also known as vernal) equinox arrives March 20th, 2025

at 5:01?AM in Northern Hemisphere
out of hibernation,
sans mancave, I will climb
eastern standard time,
when calendrical, celestial,
and chronological prime
airy factors mark
onset of temperate clime
mitt, also coincides with
'super worm...

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Spring equinox arrives March 20th, 2023 at 5:24 PM

Despite what outside temperature registers
(even absolute zero), the official arrival
of spring occurs, when thee eel hip tic
of coe phish hunt holy Mackerel
becomes tangential to barenaked ladies 
barren...

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November 13th, 2021 - Happy eighty sixth birthday
to my long deceased mom...
Harriet Harris née Kuritsky

My mother succumbed to a terminal illness
two score minus three orbitz passed away
no matter she fought tooth and nail
to keep ovarian/uterine...

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Along a quiet river to nowhere were styx lean like broken crosses. The wind is gentle with a sent of quite decay or is that brimstone in these sinister currents, that spin! A black river...

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My given name is Hortense, and I am an English Professor,
I love my job and my life, and to do my best I endeavor.

I am popular with my students, as I also am with friends;
And...

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There are many "cures" for depression, some of them are drugs from a pharmacist, and others are creations by a loving God.

Quietness seeps in through the walls,
Reflective and nurturing, sure that her promises will glisten…
Loudly...

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When the soul stirs from the silence,
	Like tears, trembling with yearnings,
		So deep, so powerful, flowing soundlessly,
			On rivers of muted reflections, intimate…

on hearts, resting, remembering, resulting
	in melodies, tunes – songs of healing and hope,
		destinies rising from...

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I watch the sun fall from the sky
tumbling soundlessly, the horrid quiet deafening.
As I see it touch the horizon, the world burns
and clouds, like kindling, burst into flames
set afire, until their brilliant hues burn to...

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Anger flies with swift wings
As tedious pleas for more time reverberate through his mind
He is the servant of Time- yet takes the blame
When her clawed hand unwinds the clock
He, the sovereign of the dark, the...

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Mine gerund farming, tilling, and harvesting illogical weltanschauung

Twas accursed destiny
since birth (maybe coded in
deoxyribonucleic acid  
since time immemorial) alas and alack
nascent emasculation abominable barrack
emergent deus ex machina,
one common Joe biden his time
for no particular
rhyme...

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Shattered dreams of New Canaan

no longer land of the free home of the brave,
original rightful occupants hoodwinked, petrified,
where diseases xeroxed
ambushed, crushed, extinguished,
squashed, trashed, wampashed,
the entire kit and kaboodle zapped
violent unwelcome intruders
celebrated acquisition or outright
annexation of...

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Shadows of clouds fall across the sunlit moment, breaking through dawn like a peace filled thought whispers music into a heart  - quote by poet

Lovely shadows
Dark and wise
Drift across skies
Lit up in morning glow
Intense...

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Arthur Rimbaud Translations of Antico (“Ancient” or “Antique”), Rêvé Pour l'hiver (“Winter Dream”), and Dawn



Antico (“Ancient” or “Antique”)
by Arthur Rimbaud
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Graceful son of Pan! Around your brow, crowned with flowers and...

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And the cemetery was so quiet
It had me wanting to make less noise
It had me wanting to breathe soundlessly
For those who did rest there deserved their sleep

But then, I chose to sit on a bench,
To...

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I worked today and I didn’t think about you at all
I was happy when I came home
Ha! Home that’s a joke isn’t it, yeah . . . 
I’ve never been home, never been, for never...

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Idyllic reverie during break of day

May today bring unbridled bliss 
delivered courtesy sunshine kissed
giving Midas a run for his money.

When the last trace of night 
evaporates analogous to milky hue,
whereat a dreamy state 
pervades thy...

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Spring (vernal) equinox arrives March 20th, 2022 

at 11:33 AM in Northern Hemisphere
though meteorological conditions, I swear
in summer re: temperatures already mild
enough to go outside in your underwear
unless an ordinance would find you
slammed in the...

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Nine lives removed from royal dignity

Five days after 
getting acquainted with darling cats
pampered like queens courtesy 
thee eldest daughter 
and her partner acquired as kittens
reminiscence occurred regarding
one particular four footed feline
my late mother doted over.

Lion...

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Fallen through the twisted tangled web of lies, we hope to emerge and breath,

though our breath flees us quickly and we suffocate soundlessly in the dark,

and our lives are forever tossed through the green unpredictable...

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