World War Ii Poems

What softness in silence amidst the cacophony of a spin cycle world war.
Lying next to your glow in sleep's stillness, careful of your bandaged hand.
Watching your breath enter and leave, the rise and fall of such loveliness.,
reminded of our miracle...Read More

Yamaguchi Seishi haiku modern English translations

Grasses wilt:
the braking locomotive
grinds to a halt.
—Yamaguchi Seishi, loose translation by Michael R. Burch

Ceaseless chaos—
ice floes clash
in the Soya straits.
—Yamaguchi Seishi, loose translation by Michael R. Burch

Having crossed the sea,
winter winds can never return.
—Yamaguchi Seishi,...Read More

No words describe, 
sufferings worse than hell,
Goes beyond pure evil, 
even a story cannot tell,
We’ve all seen pictures, 
making grotesque sense,
But only the stench, 
reflects this actual offense. 

Cruelty surpasses cruelty, 
overtaken by hate,
Unique to humanity, 
not a wild animals...Read More

There are many who Holocaust deny,
those who refuse the mass Nazi killing; 
a hoax,  just lies-   to convince us they try,
historical facts of death camps chilling;
the images- all lies they keep drilling, 
to just see it ....Read More

Defending his home, and country
on the altar of freedom
a sacrifice, his young life

A mother's despair
is born with death
never extinguished by words, they try

Gallantry is recognized
Homage and praises arise
Punched stone, finally bears his name

These words, a mother is left
Words of Honor,...Read More

A prison for stolen souls
Battlefields are

Trapped in the urgency of yesterday
The chosen, unseen and silent

The scarred earth they walk
Past objectives, they search

Grass now, blankets of rolling green
Cover the fallen, not the pain...Read More

Letter to My Wife
by Miklos Radnoti
translated by Michael R. Burch

A poem written during the Holocaust in Lager Heidenau, in the mountains above Zagubica, August-September, 1944

Deep down in the darkness hell awaits?silent, mute.
Silence screams in my ears, so I shout,
but no...Read More

Yamaguchi Seishi haiku translations

Grasses wilt:
the braking locomotive
grinds to a halt.
? Yamaguchi Seishi, loose translation by Michael R. Burch

Ceaseless chaos?
ice floes clash
in the Soya straits.
? Yamaguchi Seishi, loose translation by Michael R. Burch

Once they’ve crossed the sea,
winter winds can never return.
?...Read More

both loved and disliked
General "Old Blood and Guts"—
triumph and ordeal...Read More

Defending his home and country
On the altar of freedom
His young life was sacrificed

A Mother's despair
Is born with death
Never extinguished by words

Gallant service is recognized
Homage and praises arise
A name punched into stone

A mother is left with words,
Words of honor that cushion
The...Read More

Ber Horvitz translations of Holocaust poems

Der Himmel
"The Heavens"
by Ber Horvitz
translation by Michael R. Burch
 
These skies
are leaden, heavy, gray ...
I long for a pair
of deep blue eyes.
 
The birds have fled
far overseas;
tomorrow I’ll migrate too,
I said ...
 
These gloomy autumn...Read More

Speechless
by Ko Un
translation by Michael R. Burch

At Auschwitz
piles of glasses,
mountains of shoes ...
returning, we stared out different windows....Read More

he was sent eastward
the carnage was horrifying
it was unbearable...Read More

Postcard 1
by Miklós Radnóti
written August 30, 1944
translated by Michael R. Burch
 
Out of Bulgaria, the great wild roar of the artillery thunders,
resounds on the mountain ridges, rebounds, then ebbs into silence
while here men, beasts, wagons and imagination all steadily increase;
the...Read More

Starting from Scratch with Ol’ Scratch
by Michael R. Burch

Love, with a small, fatalistic sigh
went to the ovens. Please don’t bother to cry.
You could have saved her, but you were all tied up
complaining about the Jews to Reichmeister Grupp.

Scratch that. You...Read More

Hi, hey, hello
What makes you so special?
Question they ask and the answer you know.

Imminent phase will make you see
That the weirdest thing science ever created was me.
Good becomes great, bad becomes worse
Since inception I know my fate along with its...Read More

Remember Pearl Harbor
Seventy-eight Years Ago
By Franklin Price
12/07/2019

Seventy-eight years ago,
At the rising of the sun
Came the day of infamy; 
Our present times begun

The sleeping giant awakened,
To become the greatest power 
Would take four years and many lives
To have our finest hour

A...Read More

DPAA Hymn for Fallen Soldiers
by Michael R. Burch

Sound the awesome cannons.
Pin medals to each breast.
Attention, honor guard!
Give them a hero’s rest.

Recite their names to the heavens
Till the stars acknowledge their kin.
Then let the land they defended
Gather them in again.

When I...Read More

Birthday
of Rudolf Hoss:
November twenty-fifth.
I baked a big pumpkin-spice cake
to celebrate his final repentance...
"Marian Helpers" newsletter
said he confessed, and wept.
A red-letter
Birthday.



Nov. 25, 2019
A Red-Letter Day Rictameter Poetry Contest
Poetry Contest Deadline: Wednesday, January 1, 2020 
4 poems of the maximum 35 allowed...Read More

                                       ...Read More

Cleansings
by Michael R. Burch

Walk here among the walking specters. Learn
inhuman patience. Flesh can only cleave
to bone this tightly if their hearts believe
that God is good, and never mind the Urn.

A lentil and a bean might plump their skin
with mothers’ bounteous,...Read More

The Men are scared Sir

But a word from you would allay 
there fears  

They wonder if she can make the trip ?

Will she bring us all home safely ?

Can she withstand this perilous 
mission into whence we journey ?

We...Read More

I have several young nephews
who will come over quite a bit,
I take them out on adventures
so they can get something of it.

Some folks would go to Disneyland,
go on rides that make them squeal,
that’s fine enough, but I instead
take those kids...Read More

Christ and the Soldier by Siegfried Sassoon (1916)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7OEnXw7P60


The straggled soldier halted and clumsily went down  "O blessed crucifix, I'm beat !"
Christ still sentried by a seraphim between two splintered trees did speak  
"My son, behold these hands and...Read More

No objection to cold weather, but...
ah jest wanna boomerang back into the womb

No matter birth canal
long since got breached,
countless scores of years
I quickly grew
impossible mission to plunge
(think Nestea commercial)
headfirst back into utero,
haint got any got any
handy dandy blues clue,

nonetheless said...Read More