Once
These are love poems I wrote for my wife, Elizabeth Harris Burch.
Once
by Michael R. Burch
for Beth
Once when her kisses were fire incarnate
and left in their imprint bright lipstick, and flame,
when her breath rose and fell over smoldering dunes,
leaving me listlessly sighing her name ...
We Almost Loved, That's Always How Love Goes
Almost
by Michael R. Burch
We had—almost—an affair.
You almost ran your fingers through my hair.
I almost kissed the almonds of your toes.
We almost loved,
that’s always how love goes.
You almost contemplated using Nair
and adding henna highlights to your hair,
while I considered plucking you a Rose.
We almost loved,
that’s always how love goes.
Mirza Ghalib translations
These are modern English translations of Urdu poems by Mirza Ghalib.
Near Sainthood
by Mirza Ghalib
translation by Kanu V. Prajapati and Michael R. Burch
On the subject of mystic philosophy, Ghalib,
your words might have struck us as deeply profound ...
Hell, we might have pronounced you a saint,
if only we hadn't found
you drunk
as a skunk!
***
Ghazal
by Mirza Ghalib
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
