Long Wafts Poems

Yours truly would never be confused for a gourmand, nevertheless I could enjoy experiencing taste testing select food samples if offered an opportunity of attending a fancy feast viz smörgåsbord, whereby oral indulgence would arouse,...

Read More

Food glorious food

Asia generic guy gastronomy (and how gourmet foods eat destructively clearly beyond any) excess enthusiasm, the necessity to feed and clothe this lean mean exercising machine gunning corporeal essence christened Matthew Scott Harris...

Read More

Poems about Mothers


Mother's Smile
by Michael R. Burch

There never was a fonder smile
than mother's smile, no softer touch
than mother's touch. So sleep awhile
and know she loves you more than "much."

So more than "much, " much more...

Read More

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...

Read More

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...

Read More

Goodness, I nearly lost my balance on the spiral seashells and broken sea stone chipping matrix.
My quaint obsession with marine life and that skyline paradox blossoming so tantalisingly,  might be a source of some...

Read More

Saturday, September 23, 2023  

Coincides with first day of fall
and Autumnal equinox for said year,
where colorful splash kindled like tinder.

After I riff flecked about thee August
Autumn Equinox 2023,
this seasonal polymath teached you 
fall Equinox...

Read More

In my chambers where phantasmagoria undulate
    not as vigilant watchers but as mnemonic parasites
    I ruminate—
        no longer a singular entity but...

Read More

The Sandless Sand Castle

Let me tell you about my eldest brother.

I am: the "Scram!", the "Beat it!", the "What you looking at?!", and the "Turn around and watch the movie!", younger brother. As you can...

Read More

The remnants of August 2024 Hurricane Debbie

Like a humane huntress, she
(the anthropomorphized storm)
brought a spate of cool Autumn like
temperatures and gentle soothing rain
here within my neck of the woods
for the last couple of days.

No matter...

Read More

Sitting atop a large flat stone in an open field
Brushing aside his long silver locks
Bringing to his lips a long clay pipe
Steadying for a light, his gnarled knuckles make this a fight
His sandals dusty, brow...

Read More

major storm on the horizon reported from the "Fo'c'sle"

Though forever being a landlubber
a vision analogous to the nether world
deep within the bowels of the Earth
immensely distant from the sheltering sky
amidst a thick fog enveloped landscape
with...

Read More

needs no introduction
nor permission  
to be anything.  
He does not request  
to spread his arms wide  
and reach the heavens.  
His words are unmoored.  
They flow and change, ...

Read More

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...

Read More

The room is an object in its entirety.
Singular in form and mind,
and multiple in purpose and pleasure.
It is a secret capsule.
Though it was once adorned with bright reds and greens and plated golds
that climbed up...

Read More

I loathe feeling under the weather...,

especially when nasty elephant 
(named Thomas the pachyderm)
stomping to break loose courtesy tether,
where antibodies of mine 
struggle to band together
loosely analogous to voters
standing in a queue
waiting to cast their vote
(while...

Read More

A Night on the Road         

It was a dark and stormy night, as he rode around the mob.
The bridle reins held loosely, the night horse knew his...

Read More

(Inspired by the film: 'The Fall of the Roman Empire')

She was with him

   in the great gore of battle....

Where skulls legion were cracked

   and limbs hewn from sword,

   ax...

Read More

If I had to choose
would I brave that dark sea
waves crashing relentlessly upon me
knocking aside the armor I've spent so long
meticulously piecing together

My heart is a fortress
made from clay
water is its natural enemy
and you on...

Read More

I balance my illicitly obtained bottle of absinthe from a man who knows a man, for an exorbitant amount of Euros, on the worn wooden windowsill of my topmost room at the rundown pension overlooking...

Read More

~~~ 
Hiking through a woodland glen 
as mellow shards 
of sunset bend 
to capture 
bright 
in waters clear 
reflections 
caught 
from mountains shear 

The silhouette sings twilight's best 

Enchanting beauty 
north by west 

'Twas then...

Read More

Oh, let us feast,
not just on food,
but on moments,
on the essence of togetherness,
the essence of now,
the sharing of burdens,
the lightening of hearts.
In every bite, a memory,
in every sip, a promise,
that we will gather again,
as the...

Read More

Autumnal equinox 2022 - 
Thursday, September 22
in Northern Hemisphere 9:03 PM
Eastern Daylight Time

Empyrean découpage citadel
betokens (bespeaks) autumnal arrival
nine oh three post meridian
chariot of fire emblazons telltale signature,
one humble human doth 
bid summer and his squandered...

Read More

Shadows seeming to come alive
Light playing trick’s in minds eye
Sound so soft it is barely heard
And .. Nobody anywhere utters a word ..


Silence reigns with no soul
Pavement sweats and seems as glass
Cloaking mist flows through...

Read More

Autumnal equinox 2020 - Tuesday, September 22
(at 9:31 AM Eastern Daylight Time)

Empyrean découpage citadel
betokens (bespeaks) autumnal arrival
nine thirty one ante meridian
chariot of fire emblazons telltale signature,
one humble human doth 
bid summer and his squandered life...

Read More