Beyond the boundaries of life and death,
My friend forever, you have positioned yourself
In the sublime horizon of my heart.
Your majestic shrine glows with a light,
With what a profound hope and immense delight,
I extend my arms to the powerful expanse.
The quiet night has embraced and draped
Your feet with her sprawling dark hair,
How enchanting is the song the universe is immersed in!
Emanating from the strings of your veena,
The world becomes one with the tune of your music,
I feel a tinge of melancholy emitted by the sadness of the melody.
The more you say, the less I hear,
The path ahead remains unclear.
The same old cycle, round and round,
I watch your lips move, without sound —
Lips that only speak in comparison,
Counting stars instead of choosing one.
The moon is whole in every shape it wears,
No one measures it, no one compares —
But I was counted, weighed, and set aside,
A star among stars, never the moon in your eyes.
You saw me at my best, my worst,
Couldn't tell the difference, either way —
'Cause you never took a glance,
And for that, I never stood a chance.
LITERAL TRANSLATION
existential
either-or
strategems
expressing
fundamental
reckoning
insisting
theoretical
individuality
to
ensure
survival
conserved
the
widespread
evidence
of
contradictions
so
precisely
occasioned
Afrikaaps
Die oggend is nat
hul lop op hul gat skool toe
die klokkie het kla gelui
is omdat hulle nie
tuissie gedoen nie
lag hulle uit
Afrikaans Translation
Dit het gereen
die kinders loop stadig skool toe
alhoewel die skool klok gelui het.
Hulle het nie hul huiswerk gedoen nie.
Ons lag vir hulle.
English Translation
It has rained
the morning is wet
school kids are slowly
trampling to school
though the school bell
has rung.
They have not completed
their homework.
We are laughing at them.
[Poet’s Note : The direct translation of the second line in the Afrikaaps version would be : “They are walking on their buttocks to skool.”
The direct translation of the last line in the Afrikaaps version would be :
“Laugh at them” or “make fun of them” or
“laugh until they leave.”
Notice how more colourful, jiving and idiomatic the Afrikaaps version is. Because of its origin in Cape Slavery lingo, Afrikaaps attempts to make light of daily life.This was a slave coping mechanism. ]
_______________
Lat ons nou gou speel
die dondewee gan kom
en wragtig lek die dak
hemel is baie kwaad
ons hettie die mielies geplant nie
rondloopers loop rond sonne werk
hulle krap nou in da blikke
hulle se Tromp gan mal
wiet daai mense nie alles
is so uitgesit
ag nee, ja ! ons moet nou pwasa
_________________________
[English Translation]
Let us do our work quickly
thunder is on its way
and the roof leaks
heaven is quite angry
we did not plant the corn
the homeless are walking
around without work
they are bin scratching
saying Trump is going mad
don’t those people know
everything is so defined ?
aah no, yes ! we need to fast now
Evocative translation
screams for interpretation
Let it not a prideful hermit be
the original recreate exuberantly
I hate political poems. Not for me,
the human wad that clogs the great high way.
A love that’s everyone’s business? Forget it. A drink
from the common trough? No, thanks. The public: yuck.
— from the Greek
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Space is the place,
Patterns retrace memories,
Creating what you see,
You're already in eternity.
The entity just energy in formation,
Information translating a story you wrote.
Your throat the portal of your creation,
Throwing vibrations into the space you play in,
So you can feel sensations,
In many different dimensions.
An interaction of energy,
Eternally intertwined,
Internally designed to thrive,
I've been taught to survive,
Because I was always alive.
Driving through the multiverse,
Traversing each verse,
The universe is a playground to rehearse.
You can reverse the roles,
Flip the poles,
And the waves keep rolling,
Space keeps growing.
Knowing all is now,
Somehow I got lost in the cost,
And getting bossed around.
I found a better way,
Living in trust each day,
Staying calm letting it play out.
I have no doubt,
There's more about life to learn,
Burning through incarnations,
Turning the tides of creation,
Now rising in its vibration.
Senseless Sensation
Words Got Lost in Translation
Post Pixilation
I prefer the dentists ~ they interpret silence through big open mouths
mimed the ventriloquist during a prostate exam ~ curled up in doubts
imagining his puppets snickering ~ from the gloves inside their snouts
at last the doctor spoke ~ this one feels mostly shaggy or thereabouts
Metaphor and simile have been with the human race for thousands of years. This is my English translation of an excerpt from an ancient Egyptian poem estimated to be around 4,000 years old:
Excerpt from "Dialogue of a Misanthrope with his Soul"
(ancient Egyptian poem circa 2000 BC)
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
Death lies before me:
like a sick man’s recovery,
like entering a garden after an interminable illness.
Death lies before me:
like the fragrance of myrrh,
like sitting beneath a billowing sail with a favorable wind.
Death lies before me:
like swimming in the course of a stream,
like a man’s return from the slave-galley to freedom.
Death lies before me:
like the sky when it clears,
like a man's longing to see his home after countless years of captivity.
Keywords/Tags: Egyptian, translation, dialogue, dialog, misanthrope, soul, death, illness, sick, sickness, recovery from, myrrh, sail, wind, freedom, sky, captivity, slave, slavery, soulmate
in a strange foreign land
lone outsider
waiting on the sidelines
stumbles upon friendship
and finds comfort
soul to soul
securing a safety net
experiences the freedom to let loose
to laugh and share the freedom to be free
within confines set by the heart
indelibly forging a lasting memory
to take home and treasure always
AP: 3rd place 2025
Inspired by the movie 'Lost in Translation'
Raak jy aan my
Die more son is ‘n kus op my wang
So sag soos ‘n veer, raak jy aan my
met die son en maak my verlang,
Die straal in die maan lig, streel my oë
So sag en teer, raak jy aan my
dat ek jou sien met ander oë.
Die wind waai en my omhels
So hou jy my vas, raak jy aan my
Ek voel jou soos ‘n pels,
Die blomme ruik soos jy
Met die reuk van roos, raak jy aan my
Die blomblaare sag, voel soos jy,
Die reën en hael, storm wat woed
Wat oor my spoel, raak jy aan my
Ek voel jou hier binne my bloed.
Touch me
The morning sun is a kiss on my cheek
As soft as a feather, you touch me
with the sun and stir my longing,
The ray in the moonlight strokes my eyes
So gentle and tender, you touch me
so I may see you with different eyes.
The wind blows and embraces me
So you hold me close, you touch me
I feel you like a fur,
The flowers smell like you
With the scent of rose, you touch me
The flower petals soft, feel like you,
The rain and hail, storm that rages
That washes over me, you touch me
I feel you here within my blood.
This poem is an English translation of one of the beautiful Bengali poem of PS poet Malabika Ray.
Midnight chimes unveil in cascade,
glances of your shimmering face
engulfing me in a transient dream...
As if you never went away!
As if I didn't wake up to see you're gone!
As if I no longer felt the shatters of pain
swaying back and forth, in an empty swing.
And nothing meant anything anymore.
Yet I know that I will hold you forever,
caressing you in the cradle of the moon.
Oh Yes! The enigma of your velvet touch
Is forever my own,
In symphony of the floral sea, and
In embrace of the endless sky.
"The Maiden's Song" or "The Bridal Morn" is an ancient Middle English poem about a young girl, a bride, on the morning after her wedding day.
The Maiden’s Song aka The Bridal Morn
anonymous Medieval lyric
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
The maidens came to my mother’s bower.
I had all I would, that hour.
The bailey beareth the bell away;
The lily, the rose, the rose I lay.
Now silver is white, red is the gold;
The robes they lay in fold.
The bailey beareth the bell away;
The lily, the rose, the rose I lay.
Still through the window shines the sun.
How should I love, yet be so young?
The bailey beareth the bell away;
The lily, the rose, the rose I lay.
I take this to be a naughty, suggestive poem, but one that makes us feel sympathy for a young bride, quite possibly a child bride.
Keywords/Tags: maiden, mother, mother and daughter, bailey, beareth, bell, lily, rose, silver, gold, robes, sun, love, young, youth, girl, bower, bridal shower, wedding, woman, women,
Sub Categories
Looking for the formal definition, structure, and history of this poetry form? Visit the Poetry Dictionary entry below. Then return to explore how PoetrySoup members bring the form to life through their own poems.