Long Suckled Poems

World War II Poems and Holocaust Poems - VI - Chaim Nachman Bialik, Erich Fried

After My Death
by Chaim Nachman Bialik
translation by Michael R. Burch

Say this when you eulogize me: 
Here was a man—now, poof, he's...

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Athenian Epitaphs

Mariner, do not ask whose tomb this may be,
but go with good fortune: I wish you a kinder sea.
—Michael R. Burch, after Plato

Does my soul abide in heaven, or hell?
Only the sea gulls
in their...

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She stood with her back turned to me
Leaning slightly towards where the light tapered off into darkness
Her faced buried deep inside her cupped hands 
Her own shadow towered over her seemingly at odds with her...

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  Another Cruel Link in their Chain 

1.   Beginnings

Her babe was her joy, such a beautiful boy,
	and he suckled her breast till the end.
The slaver sought cash, bestowed mammy a thrash,
	sold her...

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Inferiority complex as a kid, adolescent and emerging adult

Yours truly (an amazingly,
gracefully, and markedly modest
passively aging baby boomer -
formerly introverted long haired
pencil necked geek),
prattling wordsmith doth behold
nostalgic memories regarding father
(Boyce Brandon Harris)
long ago lapsed decades

during...

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Take me to the tombstone 
let me touch the gray stone that stands
where life could not
I will put my face to that touchstone of deaf thunder,
What happened  to your breath baby brother,
what happened in...

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See, I've been wallowing in it for far too long
knee deep sunk in it even at times 
eyes too marred by melancholy to see the way out 
even as I gave in to the allure...

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I crossed my legs but there was a flood
Blushing red I hope folks understood
But my waters had burst
And the baby's my first
Guess I'm ready to start motherhood!

NOT FOR CONTEST

WRITTEN on 27TH August 2016 BY JAN...

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Unquotable quotes: The How of Democratic Kill – XXXIX, Part One

Born in 1868, Alexei Maximovich PESHKOV, better known as MAXIM GORKY and hailed as the chief proponent of Soviet literature, the veritable champion of the...

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Thru a paroxysm of tears...

I inconsolably wept a river of sorrow
starkly aware alienated daughter(s)
implacable woe sundered fatherhood
yesterday, today and tomorrow.

A series of unfortunate events
(move over Lemony Snicket)
set in motion since my birth
unleashed impotent scrawny infant
registering...

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From ‘The Woe of Roanoke ‘
It wasn’t just the gale that chilled his skin
As he mulled on the cannibal captured within.
In trembling state he clenched close his cane
To rap tap the gate of the jail...

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Callimachus English translations

For Gail White

To the Cup-Bearer
by Callimachus
translation by Michael R. Burch

Decant the wine then toast "To Diokles!" Nor does the beautiful boy Achelous touch his hallowed ladlefuls. So beautiful the boy, Achelous, passing beautiful,...

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Yours truly (an amazingly,
gracefully, and markedly modest
passively aging baby boomer -
formerly introverted long haired
pencil necked geek),
prattling wordsmith doth behold
nostalgic memories regarding father
(Boyce Brandon Harris)
long ago lapsed decades

during papa's prime time
many years past when complacence
existed about...

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Holocaust Poem: "On The Slaughter of the Jews"
by Chaim Nachman Bialik
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Merciful heavens, have pity on me!
If there is a God approachable by men
as yet I have not found him—
Pray for...

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Stuff your rock stars, your heros, your christs,
your anti-christs and anarchiests.
Stuff your false idols up your arse.
Stuff your regenerative ramblings;
the spiel of a million others
spilt in diluted misunderstanding.
The generic rhetoric of another blank generation.
Born under...

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Author's note: This is an epic length poem that will have to be split into parts and will be serialized in successive posts.

Part 2

act three

in the third act delirious 
the laws of physics etc.
he coughs...

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I belong to the local community
The loving home where local hearts belongs
I belong to the rich soil of the planet earth
The soil that accommodates the less privileged
It is the soil that proudly conquers every land
Soil...

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--------------------------------------------------------
The Cinematic Film Treatment as poetic element 
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Snickering Bastards     

Two chattering ravens narrate a tale of blind revolution and seedy redemption, as we follow a Raisinseed V9.003, the latest hermaphrodite...

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I stand naked wrapped only in the truth
you vile, loathsome reptile.
My contempt of you is limitless
as I have been force-fed your hypocrisy.
Your postulations are lost on me
as my insight into your repulsive nature
is exceeded only...

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with noticeable burgeoning bosom in the offing, ahoy
this baby faced blubbery bosom beastie boy
fast becoming a bra man,
and might hire himself out
as a male wet nurse for employ

ment, cuz when stark naked on shark tank,
I...

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Honeysuckle is blooming does catch my eye                            ...

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My eyes are not what they once were, but
I can see you clearly whooshing from
your mother's womb, sluiced between thighs
the grunts, shouts and cries reverberating

eyes closed, arms slightly waving hello 
or gesticulating indignation awakened
as life...

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Who will cry for the little boy,

Whose wails are heard resounding inside the man.

The man whose ever unhealing wounds are clothed in pride,

These mortal scars he wears beneath his flesh

To him are medals of honour

testimonies...

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Her face was the oasis i needed to see
the sands of time draining
when i went to drink
She was gone
mirages of love filled me till i came upon the final dune
on the horizon i found abundant...

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What I love about her 

What I love about her
I told her twice before
I don’t believe she heard me
Tell her tales of my amor

‘I think a lot about you’
I slowly brushed her hair
I guess she...

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