Long Stepping stone Poems

Come, You
by Rainer Maria Rilke
loose translation by Michael R. Burch

This was Rilke’s last poem, written ten days before his death. He died open-eyed in the arms of his doctor on December 29, 1926, in the...

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Archaic Torso of Apollo
by Rainer Maria Rilke
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

We cannot know the beheaded god
nor his eyes' forfeited visions. But still
the figure's trunk glows with the strange vitality
of a lamp lit from within,...

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The Panther
by Rainer Maria Rilke
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

His weary vision's so overwhelmed by iron bars,
his exhausted eyes see only blank Oblivion.
His world is not our world. It has no stars.
No light. Ten thousand...

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This is my translation of the first of Rilke’s Duino Elegies. Rilke began the first Duino Elegy in 1912, as a guest of Princess Marie von Thurn und Taxis, at Duino Castle, near Trieste on...

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Good new,good news He said to me
'I have the power to set you free'
'Come ,along this path we'll walk',
I listened closely as He talked;
Eternal life and 'new life' within
upon Him I place my sin,
peace,wholeness and...

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                Interview with an Angel

After a long surgery brewed in urgency,
I lie supine with the body pining with fury
With eyelids...

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Vanished

the wild magic of this place;

this wilderness I now roam alone
as its lifeblood seeps 
into 
Afterlife

..my mournful howls
across time and distance
go unanswered -
Oh, how I long to join again
in my brethren’s song..

fading sunlight falls in...

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Raison d'etre,
RightBrain's voiceless shadowed FutureSearch
begets healthy past nutrition research,
both secular-natural Left centered
and sacred-spiritual Right symmetric,
cooperating Earth Patriarch/Matriarch Balance.

Restoring Food Justice,
reborn of Green polycultural ecosystemic fuel balance,
discovers appositions,
although not necessarily recovering oppositions,
uncovers mistrust without total LoseNature/LoseSpirit...

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Growth should be the ultimate criterion,
nucleus and kernel of every annual pledge,
for myself and other people who might gain,
from a heartfelt commitment such as mine,
that monumental new year down the clock aptly named,
global village stepping...

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Digging my own grave synonymous with a sense of accomplishment

Quite an undertaking
to break ground
figuratively, and symbolically linkedin
while able bodied and mindedness
readies cemetery plot within Elysian Fields
although honestly, and truthfully
as an organ donor,
yours truly opts for...

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Do not let your hearts be troubled
Our God is An Amazing and powerful God 
He can turn your Disappointment into Gods Appointment.
He can turn your past misery into your present ministry.
He can turn a curse...

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                                  ...

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I can see the light beyond the clouds
I can see rain beyond these drought
I can see blessings of all sorts
Still i want to cling to the pain beneath them
I want to overlook all your deeds...

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We are the children of the Sun
We are the children of the light
We are a shadow yond the Sun
We are a shadow yond the light
The Sun sees us in the shadow
The light sees us in...

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Sometimes I sit here all alone and wonder what to do.
I should be out somewhere instead of thinking about you.
The choices that I make in life, I'll never understand;.
It seems to me, my hopes and...

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Footprints in the sand.


It’s quiet now; it’s not like it was last night.
All the hangovers are asleep, they have never seen the morning light.
They are dreaming of last night’s fires 
And drinking away the days...

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Nile stretches like serpent from abyss
Because it nourishes the desert it reflects universal bliss
On its shores Cleopatra gave Mark Anthony a kiss
Where she turned a ruler from a princess

That is where the ancient Sphinx whispers...

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It was like reading a movie script, a familiar one though
I was playing the hero, with my alter ego playing the villain
They were up against each other, always in a conflict

While the hero was always...

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“A teacher, taught our ignorance the path to civilization,
respect all.”

                         ...

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Segun my child! My son!
Soon, the cock will crow at dawn
And the east will showcase the sun
Soon, you will leave my home, 
To found your own
With words of wisdom, you won’t be alone.
Like a mini-skirt,...

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I am one breathtaking moment
I am one who is lost or alone
I am one raindrop, or one flowering rose
I am a distant star or a meadow lark
Or one dark cloud that hovers on the horizon
I...

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They wage war on the poor
Selling their souls what for
But for gluttony and greed
Dissension is what they breed
Harmony and discord
A duality we can't afford
People die on the street
Chilled to the bone, no heat
No bread, no...

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The heavens brush by her fingertips
as she reaches for the sky
but her feet stay nailed to the ground
when she stretches past those pearly gates
catching a shooting star in one hand
while grabbing Orion’s belt with her...

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It’s been a very reasonable day. Just a light shower or two
walking along these country lanes, round each corner, a different view.
But it’s getting late now and darkness will soon be here
there’s a haunting sound...

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Quietly I lay, fighting the urge to snatch the life right out of your blackened heart.
I try to resist the wanting desire to end your disgusting, parasitical excuse of a soul,
But I need to make...

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