Long Windless Poems

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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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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We are the days that we’ve become. 
moments dripping gifted from
the lounging clocks in rolling melted sightings, 
given by the gifted madness of a soulmate’s fightings. 

Our lives wrapped up in phrases coined
in books like,...

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Love has a Southern flavor: honeydew,
ripe cantaloupe, the honeysuckle’s spout
we tilt to basking faces to breathe out
the ordinary, and inhale perfume ...

Love’s Dixieland-rambunctious: tangled vines,
wild clematis, the gold-brocaded leaves
that will not keep their order in...

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Pondering the reflections on this windless day                            ...

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Remember watching the clouds breathe,
In endless sees of make-believe,
Erasing the summer blue, azure in fleeting
Moments, silencing the music of birdsong,
Softly chortling in rhythms, 
Hearts warmed by the presence of miracles,
Promising the wind will blow away,
Every...

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Copyright 2014 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
POETIC LYRICS BY THOMAS L. H. ANDRESS
Dedicated to 'Toby' Jobs..."A creative genius of his own clothe,
BUT, a Chip-off-the-old-Block!"



ROADS...and Forks...the Journey's Deep and Lonely...the Stains
Are Bloody!
AND SHE CRIES...alone and lonely...my heart cries...the...

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He Lived: Excerpts from “Gilgamesh”
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

I.
He who visited hell, his country’s foundation,
Was well-versed in mysteries’ unseemly dark places.
He deeply explored many underworld realms
Where he learned of the Deluge and why Death...

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I wanted to make something drawn from bosom
      You & I gemini'd, 
From the wells extract'd virginity untouch'd 
     by compounds—
Forgot to send it out, forgot...

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"you are more than I deserve. It's a love I never dreamed I'd find. Happinesd like this is worth dying for..."
- Yasunari Kawabata-

Looking down, while flying midway between sky and earth,
I saw a dog on...

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Psalms 113:3 (KJV) “From the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same the LORD'S name is to be praised.”

In his quiet way, touching,
A kiss, a nudge, a whisper,
Softly spoken moments, in...

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The Clanking Chain of Wild Geese


I was watching the September sky every day,
With a hope to once again get a glance,
Of the clanking chains of those lovely wild geese,
That suddenly appears with their music melodies,
But...

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Approaching winter...

OK, maybe encroaching mid-winter
of life's seasonal span
with resonantly compelling grace,
perhaps even transparent vulnerability,
feels controversial, 
too laissez-faire

Too much courage
in declaring preliminary success
with too little curiosity
about what happens next
on planet Earth

Continuing to revolve all four seasons
dynamics
holistic...

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" Return "

One calm and windless night far far off at sea~
With nothing but stars far above and a deep sea below~
No living soul at my side or for company~
The great winds of the North...

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Carefree in leisure time, one blasé tourist, 
almost happy, I once had collected a complicated stone;
after the sunny hours had ended and last opportunity
for keepsakes began.

In my hand the stone had kept all of its...

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Copyright 2014 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
POETIC LYRICS BY THOMAS L.H. ANDRESS
Dedicated to EVERY AND ALL MELISSAS, ELIAS' & MATILDA'S!
(BANGING IT TO THE MAX!)
(HILLARY AND BARRY...2016...PEANUTS & BRITTLE!)



NIGHTS...OUT...My-Time-is-OUT!
My-Light...is-OUT...He-was-a-lousy-LOUT!
In-my-lousy-NIGHT-OUT...My-Poster's-STROBING!
LIGHTS-OUT...AND-STROBING!
FLASHING-AND-DASHING...He-was-a-lousy-LOUT!

If-crystal-smiles...CRACK...He-was-a-lousy-LOUT!
If-teeth-don't-SQUEEZE-RIGHT...HE-WAS-A-CROOK
AND-CROOKED!
If-crystal-smiles...CRACK...He-was-a-lousy-LOUT!

You-wonder-AND-DOUBT...Are-you-SMART-or-DUMB
AND-A-LOUT?
I'M-SMART...AND-YET-YOU-DOUBT!
He-said-WONG-ing-And-WRONGING-BRING-DOUBT
SO-PEN-RIGHT...AND-DON'T-DOUBT!

He-was-a-lousy-LOUT!
A-CROOK-TO-THE-MAX...AND-A-LOUT!
CONNING...to-the-MAX!
LIKE...A-MAD-MAX...SO-DON'T-DOUBT!

If-TOOTHY-GRINS...SPIN-YOU-RIGHT-TO-WRONG!
DON'T-DOUBT...He-was-only-a-lousy-LOUT!
In-the-howling-BLUE-STARLIT-CRACK-OF-LIGHT!
BURSTING-and-SPINNING-TO-THE-RIGHT-TO-LEFT!
BLUE-LIGHT!

And-when-I-awoke...toothy-grins...and-smily-faces
MY-SISTERS...TOOTHY-GRINS!
MY-SISTERS...IN-TOOTHY-GRINS...AND-PINKY-TOES!
Dancing-in-the-BLUE-LIGHT!
POSTERS-BLAZING...AND-DAZING!
SMILING-FACES...AND-TOOTHY-GRINS...ALL!
OUR-WALLS!
AND-BLUE-LIGHTS...AND-STROBES!
ORBS-OF-OUR-HOPES-AND-DREAMS!

If-you-wonder-and-DOUBT...Our-Boxes...OF-TOYS-BRING...GRINS!
TOOTHY-and-TOOTHLESS!
THE-BEASTS-IN-THE-HOWLING-AND-WINDLESS...SWIRLING
'NADOES...IN-THE-PUREST...HOPES-AND-DREAMS!
OUR-BOXES...OF-OUR-HEARTS...DREAMING-AND-SCHEMING!
HOPES-AND-DREAMS...STORED-RIGHT!
RIGHT-TO-LEFT...AND...LEFT-TO-RIGHT...SPUN-RIGHT!
SWIRLING-AND-TWIRLING...BURSTING-AND-BIRTHING!

When...MOM-AND-DAD...POPS!
It-was...CRYSTAL...and-POP!
'NANAS...AND-CRUMBLY...CAKE...AGAIN?!?!
SCHOOL'S...OUT!
LIGHTS-OUT!
YAY!
YAY!
NO-WAY! NO-WAY!
AND-WITH-OUT-PINKY-TOES-AND-PINKY...JUMPS-TA-START!
CRYSTAL-BLUE...STARLIGHT!
CRYSTAL-BLUE...STARLIGHT!
LIGHTS-ARE-OUT!
LIGHTS-ARE-OUT!
STROBING...AND-STROBING! CRYSTAL-BLUE-STARNIGHTS!
STROBING...AND-STROBING! CRYSTAL-BLUE-STARNIGHTS!


FINI--------------------------------------------------------FINI!!!...

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I'm ready if you are.
Steadily walking past wekas, canoes, sailboats, motorboats, along concrete paths, down ash-felt slopes
Across intersecting car trails
Drawn only by the beckoning beach.

Feet slipping over Northland's rough green grass
Damp, spongy, smooth grit of...

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Is there a memo motionless meaning that co considers
the let me know not the in between time of soul space that swells
spit in time and all things youless and common/uncommon in a new raw
omniplural potpourri...

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Peace invites the music of the heart,
Poured out, flowing,
Gentle as the stars who’re strewn,
Across the windless night, soft and hesitant,
Dancing delights, playing in shadows,
Curled beneath the moon’s light…

Peace surrounds the soul in grief,
Whispering kisses, 
Erasing...

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Line of inquiry:

“on an as is where is basis we choose
descent of consciousness into the gross
then we rise again following heart’s muse
higher than where stood, bearing love’s cross”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In the everlasting, where silence stands still,
Bleeding its...

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Bond of love

 --S.I.Khan


Green coloured haze, a planet called earth,
Full of good and bad people, into core a burning hearth..

Join up, dive in, sync down the charity within,
Have fun, have a place for admirers crawling...

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* For Mary Kathleen Lessard Caithness *

                            ...

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Perche' di notte non riesco a dormire;
ah, potro' mai sognare un mare scintillante
e stringerti in queste braccia cosi' calde
e non cercare piu' quella luna di neve?

Why at night am I unable to sleep;
ah, could I...

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a song for lady sovereignty
this is the first thing i remember
 
i was a husky, curled, and waking moon
when i first dreamed this dream
when my blue and yellow inside sea
first saw lady sovereignty
she was a...

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There on the shore, before the ocean,
I talked with God- devoid of motion
Like windless, cloudy night I stood
Becoming One with ease and solitude.
In lack of anger and of morbid noise-
Possessed by calm and even voice-
I...

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