Long Violinist Poems

New Year's Eve 2022

Yours truly riddled with social anxiety,
hence (billy me) he will idle away
December 31st, 2022 
sequestered (with the missus) 
hunkered down in his mancave
while madding crowd  
entertains reckons partition of time 
into...

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She was a grand piano: grand in structure, grand in beauty, grand in quality 
of sound. She had captured the heart of every pianist who had come to play in 
the great hall. Once they...

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She was a grand piano: grand in structure, grand in beauty, grand in quality 
of sound. She had captured the heart of every pianist who had come to play in 
the great hall. Once they...

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New Year's Eve 2021

December thirty first
two thousand twenty one countdown
will transparently and seamlessly stream into
simultaneously linkedin January first
two thousand and twenty two,
whereby the Ball a geodesic sphere,
12 feet in diameter,
and weighing 11,875 pounds.

The aforementioned Ball...

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“Auld Lang Syne” - the most-sung New Year's Eve song

Courtesy Robert Burns
circa  (25 January 1759 – 21 July 1796)
the National Bard,
Bard of Ayrshire
and the Ploughman Poet.

Two hundred sixty one orbitz elapsed
since brief existence of...

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What wonders awaits you out there, the world is bright without fear, the morning and the evening will become one and the heavens will sing a wonderful song.

The birds will play the flute and the...

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I lived on a rolling green farm, and I had a love of astronomy;
And peered at skies of sleepless nighttime, so vast and starry.

It had for long been my hobby, and I had a powerful...

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Am I really this old,
so many ghosts
beckoning?
—Michael R. Burch

Sleepyheads!
I recite my haiku
to the inattentive lilies.
—Michael R. Burch

Stillness:
the sound of petals
drifting down softly together...
—Miura Chora, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

The sky tries to assume
your eyes’...

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In the year of 1880,
in Watertown, northern New York,
a man walked into an almshouse,
looked no different from other poor.

The man’s dress was quite slovenly,
he was clad in rough leather boots,
wore flannel strips around his neck,
and...

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These are original haiku by Michael R. Burch and his translations of haiku by the Japanese masters Matsuo Basho, Yosa Buson, Masaoka Shiki, and others. 

Am I really this old,
so many ghosts
beckoning?
—Michael R. Burch

Sleepyheads!
I recite...

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I always hated water,
being in the middle of nowhere,
but it was the only way to be with you..

Now,
I'm helpless, my fingers trembling,
lips quivering, eyes full of tears,
as this ship sinks, inch by inch. 
I write...

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One flag one country

in the beginning there was hope it was agreed upon
That a turkey was a big chicken and it wouldn’t offend anyone 
as the two fowls had no say and didn’t they had...

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I awake to the beautiful plaintive strains
Of a violin - then realize it’s just in my head
Just a dream - a shame to find
I’m in the hospital - same room - same bed

The monotonous ticking...

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Richard clerihewed me yesterday
Why the nerve, I should have got him first I say
Then I laugh still wondering if clerihewed is a word
Realizing that many conventions in our language are up surd   

The...

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The night was cold and dark , the wind strong and harsh pressing against his back and for a moment he entertained the thought that some divine force was watching and smiling, perhaps even encouraging...

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All the other musicians were so imprudent!
He was much wiser
He was much stronger
He was much more experienced...

They coveted him
Like the demons underground
Praying
Crying
Begging

To be the seraphs above
Living under the wings of God

He held his violin

Better than...

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Julian and Joan were married, just as glitter is joined to crystal sun.
Julian was a famous violinist, like redbirds making music, in season.

Joan had a variety of elegant shoes. Of them, she was rightly proud.
Like...

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Violinist

Of all human evils
That happend in history
Bigger than Holocaust
It was not, and it will not be.

One Violinist was there
His life was violin string
He made the bloody nest there
Im telling you everything.

He had to wear the...

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Russia, my lovely

Why do I remember this now on a Christmas day 
galley boy on a tank ship that was old in 1956
as the youngest of the crew of mostly middle-aged men
it is safe to...

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Embarrassed of her age and getting no praise,
she cut her gray hair with a furious face;
oh, it seemed the color of glittering gold
strewn with silver curls! What made her think
she was unattractive and way too...

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The Concert


In a crowded concert hall musicians stir.
Coming to life, the wind slowly swings a loose screen door.
Half a mile away, the wide open door is but a dot
Diminishing the darkness from the heavens above.
Through,...

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I was never a great athlete, just a sub-par one at best.
I don't sing, play an instrument, nor did I ever learn to dance.
As a young boy, I felt and accepted the call to preach...

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The sun fades away behind the horizon
And all is still, the in-between time.
All is quiet, as though lying in wait….
And then there is a stiff, sudden movement.
Slender, twig like fingers grasp the earth
And strain as...

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Murderous Laughter 
From world famous violinist to a murderer was the headline of our newspaper. 
I knew the man a musical genius but so shy he only made recordings and appeared 
on radio. You never...

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Vivaldi man of “Four Seasons”
Played his violin for a reason
While singing the strings
Excellent music he brings
Great melody it rings

“La Primavera” sole concerto
Uplifting the spirits without alto
Amsterdam, Prague, Venice and Vienna
Spectacular operas making souls remember 
Strings...

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