These are original epigrams and translations of epigrams that I have produced over the years ...
Autumn Conundrum
by Michael R. Burch
It’s not that every leaf must finally fall,
it’s just that we can never catch them all.
Published by Verse Weekly, Brief Poems, Setu and Borderless Journal and translated into Russian, Macedonian, Turkish, Arabic and Romanian
Piercing the Shell
by Michael R. Burch
If we strip away all the accouterments of war,
perhaps we’ll discover what the heart is for.
Published by Brief Poems, Poem Today, Complete Classics, Setu, Borderless Journal; translated into Russian, Macedonian, Turkish, Arabic and Romanian; set to art by Jordi Fornies and combined with photography by Eny Abdullah
A question that sometimes drives me hazy:
am I or are the others crazy?
—Albert Einstein, poetic interpretation by Michael R. Burch
God's ultimate masterpiece is a mother's heart.
—St. Therese of Lisieux, loose translation/interpretation/paraphrase by Michael R. Burch
Mother: the tenderest word on the world's lips.
—Khalil Gibran, loose translation/interpretation/paraphrase by Michael R. Burch
Brief Fling
by Michael R. Burch
“Epigram”
means cram,
then scram!
Published by Brief Poems and The HyperTexts
Brief Fling II
by Michael R. Burch
To write an epigram, cram.
If you lack wit, scram!
Published by Brief Poems and The HyperTexts
Brief Fling III
by Michael R. Burch
No one gives a damn about my epigram?
And yet they’ll spend billions on Boy George and Wham!
Do they have any idea just how hard I cram?
Published by The HyperTexts
Nod to the Master
by Michael R. Burch
for the Divine Oscar Wilde
If every witty thing that’s said were true,
Oscar Wilde, the world would worship You!
The Whole of Wit
by Michael R. Burch
for and after Richard Moore
If brevity is the soul of wit
then brevity and levity
are the whole of it.
Published by Shot Glass Journal, Brief Poems, AZquotes, IdleHearts, JarOfQuotes, QuoteFancy, QuoteMaster
Fleet Tweet: Apologies to Shakespeare
@mikerburch (Michael R. Burch)
A tweet
by any other name
would be as fleet.
Fleet Tweet II: Further Apologies to Shakespeare
@mikerburch (Michael R. Burch)
Remember, doggonit,
heroic verse crowns the Shakespearean sonnet!
So if you intend to write a couplet,
please do it on the doublet!
Ars Brevis, Proofreading Longa
by Michael R. Burch
for Brooke Clark
Poets may labor from sun to sun,
but their editor's work is never done.
A Possible Argument for Mercy
by Michael R. Burch
Did heaven ever seem so far?
Remember—we are as You were,
but all our lives, from birth to death—
Gethsemane in every breath.
Published by First Things, The Journals and Muckrack
Dry Hump
by Michael R. Burch
You came to me as rain breaks on the desert
when every flower springs to life at once,
but joy’s a wan illusion to the expert:
the Bedouin has learned how not to want.
Published by Shot Glass Journal
Kin
by Michael R. Burch
O pale, austere moon,
haughty beauty ...
what do we know of love,
or duty?
Published by Swathe of Light and The HyperTexts
The Shrinking Season
by Michael R. Burch
With every wearying year
the weight of the winter grows
and while the schoolgirl outgrows
her clothes,
the widow disappears
in hers.
Published by Angle, Poem Today (featured poem), Heartfelt Death Poems, Girls and Goblins and Madly Jane
Brief autumn breeze ...
she always wanted to pluck
the reddest roses
—Issa, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
This is a haiku Issa wrote after the death of his daughter Sato with the note: “Sato, girl, 35th day, at the grave.”
Wayne Gretzky was pure skill poured into skates.—Michael R. Burch
Keywords/Tags: epigram, epigrams, tweet, tweets, brief, short, fleet, fleeting, couplet
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