Long Wavers Poems

Medieval Poems



Deor's Lament (Anglo Saxon poem, circa 10th century AD)
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Weland knew the agony of exile.
That indomitable smith was wracked by grief.
He endured countless troubles:
sorrows were his only companions
in his frozen...

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Sweet Rose of Virtue
by William Dunbar (c. 1460-1530)
loose translation/modernization/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

after William Dunbar

Sweet rose of virtue and of gentleness,
delightful lily of youthful wantonness,
richest in bounty and in beauty clear
and in every virtue that...

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Poems about Children III

Miracle
by Michael R. Burch

for Jeremy

The contrails of galaxies mingle, and the dust of that first day still shines.
Before I conceived you, before your heart beat, you were mine,

and I see

infinity leap in...

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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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~ You’re  My  Rock  ~
( Whitney )



~O~



 Oh, my  God!
 You're my Rock in
 All. Help me,
 Do what's right. You’re
 My Lighthouse, 
 Through storms of life.
 You've transformed all...

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                                  ...

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Sinai Campaign, 1967

“Operation Focus” sees Israeli jets streaking, 1
Attacking Arab fighter jets and air force bases, 2
Thus attaining dominance over Middle Eastern skies,
While IDF ground divisions launch into action. 3

Israeli tanks (Pattons, Shermans, and Centurions)
Blitzkrieg...

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Lament for the Makaris ("Lament for the Makers/Poets")
by William Dunbar [c. 1460-1530]
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
 
i who enjoyed good health and gladness
am overwhelmed now by life’s terrible sickness
and enfeebled with infirmity ...
how the...

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A fleeting moment I possess
I tend to obsess
condense my sight to the obvious sightings
I'm beyond inferior to proposals and promise of wedding bells
unable to compete with the reigning smiles
and the incoming wave of tiny giants
opening...

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The Tapestry of Leaves
Michael R. Burch

Leaves unfold
as life is sold
or bartered, for a moment in the sun.

The interchange
of lives is strange:
what reason—life—when death leaves all undone?

O, earthly son
when rest is won
and wrested from this ground,...

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You said to me
"I want to be buried here
Under that little citrus tree..."
You smiled, decidedly
I looked at you perplexed
This was after your disdainful speech to me

I imagine queuing in the quiet, mournful strings
As a dim...

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Spiritual beings blessed by a grace from on high, angelical creatures
Soaring between sunlight and twilight’s over cast of shadows, 
Hush now be still, listen children of humanity for the swooshing
Of their ivory wings ever lightly...

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Lorca Translations III

Federico Garcia Lorca (1898-1936) was a Spanish poet, playwright and theater director. He was assassinated by Nationalist forces at the beginning of the Spanish Civil War and his body was never found.

Paisaje (“Landscape”)
by...

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A single branch, clawed and pecked, fickle and straining,
Lonely Nestling and father, paw and peck at their home
Lonely branch, spasms in the wind
Nestling and father paw and peck, yearn and whimper
These Flightless Birds, on a...

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my mind is screaming
merely mimicking my lost design 
my heart is bleeding 
memories of a dissolved time 
With the scorned child, I thought gone
the next stage of life has now begun

Feeling lost within my own...

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It's quiet here - quiet in a way that catches me off guard. The tranquility is almost tangible, something I can touch and hold and wrap around myself. I can hear the pulse of faraway...

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Another presence roams inside me, its thoughts presses into my mind and its desires rot into 
the core of my soul.  Its desires and wishes are only pleasures filled with pain; I repel its...

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This is what I could not utter—
A rush of light, a whirlwind of strange emotion
A toss, a glimmer, a melodious peak Into the bindings of your soul
I breathed in your pain
And exhaled your smile

You said,...

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A bird that dips and wavers
Over lone waters round,
Then with a cry that quavers
Is gone—a spectral sound.
— Cale Young Rice

Sopping wet, the organ floats,
flounders in one of several boats,

severed from the blue-green sea,
nevermore to scurry...

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We are witnesses to the final act of a mad and incendiary project,
an experiment of a world bound by invisible and shining wires,
the reckless belief that we can always be connected, always alight,
that electric power,...

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throws down his coat in the 
puddle, always wraps his arm 
around, 
squeezes her in public, goes to
church on sunday, shows her off to
his mom, takes her to his favorite bar,
lets her wear his sports...

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My confidence in you wavers, 
the sweetness of your words wither,
they curdle forming blatant remarks, 
and broken promises.  

These words hurt me, 
building a storm of anger, 
and you know this,
yet day after day...

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The day was wearing on when the old man gingerly stepped outside;
Thanks to an earlier breeze and short rainfall, cool air greeted, arms wide.
“The air is clearer too!” he cheered… though only in his head,...

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Warrior, Cast Down To Earth, To Dark Beast Smite

" From what magical realm do you now flee,
With silver belted sword and bright armor,
And awesome power of a Hercules,
Gifted with the face of a true charmer?"

"From...

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My God, make me the vessel* You want me to be
marked by divine craftsmanship… not
bearing grandeur of self-exalting potter the
aim is to become finest, full-fledged first…

Help me, Lord, to settle for Your favour toward sweet...

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