Long Studied Poems

"Go on forth young graduates,

And show us who you are

You're now our future leaders

We know you will go far"

And so commencement ended

Pictures done and people changed

Now, off to private parties

All orderly pre-arranged

But four young girls...

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I used to dream of a dark hall. Dim. Empty with thick cheap navy curtains. 
The breeze. It felt hot and old. It shivered in the curtains that lined the walls on both sides.
The breeze....

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I used to dream of a dark hall. Dim. Empty with thick cheap navy curtains. 
The breeze. It felt hot and old. It shivered in the curtains that lined the walls on both sides.
The breeze....

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Fadwa Tuqan has been called the Grand Dame of Palestinian letters and The Poet of Palestine. These are my translations of Fadwa Tuqan poems originally written in Arabic.



Enough for Me
by Fadwa Tuqan 
loose translation/interpretation by...

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Disability, Illness and Fundamentalism

My brother died of Cystic Fibrosis, 
When I was twelve and he fourteen, 
It took away his ambitions, 
To study at Oxford - the pipe organ’s steam. 

I understand being born with...

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English translations of Arabic poems by Fadwa Tuqan aka "The Poet of Palestine"

Enough for Me
by Fadwa Tuqan 
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Enough for me to lie in the earth,
to be buried in her,
to sink...

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[First posted in 3 parts. Intended novel: time never allowed]

Prologue
This,  Sir, is the prologue from before our tale begins
About the day our father did succumb to mortal sins
And left behind a man who would...

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How was school today?

Fine.

Did you learn anything important?

Maybe. I'm not sure yet.

Really? What are you considering?

We talked about Howard Odum's natural trinity
of altruism.

Maybe I skipped that day
way back in premillennial times
before Permaculture Design had taken...

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One day not so long ago 
I walked
Never alone
For the world 
Is always my home

It was a late
Spring snow
Yet I felt
Invisible red roses
Offering sweetest perfume
To my nose and soul

There’s such warmth 
In snow-filled winter
No bitterness
No...

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Yvonne was very, very, very happy.
She loved her mother.
She loved her brother Phillip.
And she loved swans.
Oh, did she ever love swans!

She loved the way they looked
With their smooth, fluffy feathers,
And colorful beaks of orange, yellow...

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Back Door Side Door Front Door : Which door might a Confucian take
 
..................for René ETIEMBLE (Jan. 26, 1909 – Jan. 7, 2002)*

In homage - dedicated to the Chair Professor of Comparative Literature
.................at the prestigious...

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Imitation! Creative Compliment, Lacking in Originality, or Plagiarism? 

This week takes me back to college days. I was taking a graduate course (as a Physics major)   in 'Modern Poets' at the University of...

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Date:  August   2051

"Holannya's  new born baby girls!"
Dolly exclaimed 7  Friday morning.
Molly watched Holly sleep saying,
"Yeah finally and everybody's joyful right?"
Dolly replied, "Yesss so we'll continue 
With party preparations properly after
We...

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[If you’re a glutton for punishment, you
Can find ‘Mad Molly Shaw’ using the poems
Tag at top of screen]
              ****

Mad Molly Shaw wasn’t...

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Quelle vicende vissi fino in fondo.
Quando mi riappropriai della mia vita
Se questo è un uomo chiesi a tutto il mondo.”
Those events I lived through and through.
When I again impropriated of my life
If this is a...

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The fifth floor was decorated 
With fancy art work. Molly 
Rang the bell. After a few
Minutes an attractive older
Woman answered the door.
She threw the door wide Open 
After she saw them 
with Damian. "Hello Hello...

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It was a late Saturday morning, and I was getting my 12-year-old self ready for our weekly summer sand-lot baseball game. I had my ball glove hanging on my bicycle handlebars, two baseballs, and my...

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My teacher died.
   
   His lungs failed him.

He taught me that the lungs
harbor grief.

   His lungs are gone.
My grief has only just arrived.


   He used his lungs...

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Soliloquio del Individuo by Nicanor Parra, Translated by T. Wignesan


(Homage to Nicanor PARRA, 1914-2018, the Chilean ANTI-POET, winner of the "Cervantes Prize" (the highest literary honour for writers in Spanish), four times nominated for the...

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White old men are kind
White old men are divine
White old men are my brothers
White old men are inviting me to supper
White old men are my dream
White old men are very clean
White old men want to...

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Despite the day-to-day signs of man’s bitter degradation, there were many in the South who somehow still failed to see the endless pain of segregation. From the viewpoint of those who never lived there as...

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Let me tell 
You some 
More stories

Since so many
Of you are into
Stories

This one’s about writers
And a bit about
Social media

I’m no encyclopedia
But I’m a wannabe writer

And I studied 
Neuropsychology 
And by the way 

I can show...

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Newfoundlanders can row, you should see some of'em go,
when they puts a punt on a pond. 
But I don't like this mess, all this Race foolishness,
I'd never seen so much goings on.

If you wants to...

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I have been praying to God ever since I first understood the concept of a deity.  Although I have struggled through life with my acceptance of and belief in the religion I was force...

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The white race has a point
But that doesn't mean
They should treat us improper
The white race has a point
Nature is repeating it over and over
White snow, white moon
white Jesus, white angels
white robes, white clouds
White pedestrian crossing
White...

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