Epigrams IX
These are epigrams by Michael R. Burch, both original epigrams and translations of epigrams.
Multiplication, Tabled
by Michael R. Burch
for the Religious Right
“Be fruitful and multiply”—
great advice, for a fruitfly!
But for women and men,
simple Simons, say, “WHEN!”
Originally published by Poem Today
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Not Elves, Exactly
by Michael R. Burch
Ono no Komachi translations
These are my modern English translations of ancient Japanese poems by Ono no Komachi.
Watching wan moonlight flooding tree limbs,
my heart also brims,
overflowing with autumn.
—Ono no Komachi (circa 825-900), loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
Epigrams VIII
These are epigrams by Michael R. Burch and his translations of epigrams by other poets ...
Love is either wholly folly,
or fully holy.
—Michael R. Burch
Love has the value
of gold, if it’s true;
if not, of rue.
—Michael R. Burch
Hafez Translations
These are my modern English translations of poems by Hafez aka Hafiz.
The heart is the thousand-stringed lyre
Tuned to the chords of Love.
—Hafez, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
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Dispensing Keys
by Hafez
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
Blood Roses
These are poems about blood roses. The rose is a symbol of love and tendernesss, but it is also the color of blood …
Frantisek “Franta” Bass was a Jewish boy born in Brno, Czechoslovakia in 1930. When he was 11, his family was deported by the Nazis to Terezin, where the SS had created a hybrid Ghetto/Concentration Camp just north of Prague (it was also known as Theresienstadt). Franta lived there under terrible conditions for three years. He was then sent to Auschwitz, where on October 28th, 1944, he was murdered at age 14.
Intimations
These are poems about intimations, intuitions and things that aren't always obvious. The poems include villanelles, sonnets and free verse.
Intimations
by Michael R. Burch
Let mercy surround us
with a sweet persistence.
Let love propound to us
that life is infinitely more than existence.
Published by Katrina Anthology
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Precipice
Michael R. Burch
for Jeremy
They will teach you to scoff at love
from the highest, windiest precipice of reason.
Do not believe them.
Early Poems VII
These are early poems of mine, written beginning around age eleven as a boy, then through my high school and college years ...
The Leveler
by Michael R. Burch
The nature of Nature
is bitter survival
from Winter’s bleak fury
till Spring’s brief revival.
The weak implore Fate;
bold men ravish, dishevel her ...
till both are cut down
by mere ticks of the Leveler.
Romantic Poems
These are Romantic poems (with a capital R) that I have written under the influence of feminine beauty and poets like Sappho, e. e. cummings, Emily Dickinson, John Keats, Kevin N. Roberts, Percy Bysshe Shelley and Dylan Thomas.
She Gathered Lilacs
by Michael R. Burch
for Beth
She gathered lilacs
and arrayed them in her hair;
tonight, she taught the wind to be free.
EPIGRAMS V
These are humorous epigrams about love, sex, procreation, politics, God, the Bible, religion, life and death.
Less Heroic Couplets: Midnight Stairclimber
by Michael R. Burch
Procreation
is at first great sweaty recreation,
then—long, long after the sex dies—
the source of endless exercise.
Published by: The HyperTexts
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Less Heroic Couplets: Liquidity Crisis
by Michael R. Burch
EPIGRAMS IV
These are epigrams about life, death, love, society, politics, the coronavirus pandemic and religion.
Less Heroic Couplets: Fine Feathered Fiends I
by Michael R. Burch
Conformists of a feather
flock together.
Winner of the National Poetry Month Couplet Competition
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Less Heroic Couplets: Fine Feathered Fiends II
by Michael R. Burch
Fascists of a feather
flock together.