Thereupon a banquet spread
delectable dishes arrayed—
greens, meats, fruit, and wine:
marine, fowl, farm, and vine.
Alongside me your visage bright,
imbibing, ingesting, we sup;
from selfsame platter dine—
my heart yours, and yours mine.
The goblet glints in candle gleam,
its rim still kissed with berry red;
we toast not to the fleeting dream,
but to the life we feast and wed.
These are my English translations of poems and epigrams by the ancient Greek poet Callimachus aka Kallimachos. His surviving poems come from various sources including the Greek Anthology and the Garland of Meleager. The epigrams of Callimachus were so admired in antiquity that they became part of the school curriculum.
For Gail White, who put me up to these translations.
Here I lie, Timon, hateful as ever;
curse me as you go, but please go, wherever.
—Callimachus, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
‘Tis the day to care for each other and to join hands
Friendship matters, love matters
Flowers matter too, brothers and sisters
Please do not be too mad
Because the sky is not blue
Let’s enjoy the morning dew
Please do not be too sad
Let’s enjoy the cold sunny weather
There’s snow here and there, but at the corner
Is spring with fresh air and a bundle of flowers
These are poems about dogs and doggerel about dogs...
Dog Daze
by Michael R. Burch
Sweet Oz is a soulful snuggler;
he really is one of the best.
Sometimes in bed
he snuggles my head,
though mostly he plops on my chest.
I think Oz was made to love
from the first ray of light to the dark,
but his great love for me
is exceeded (oh gee!)
by his Truly Great Passion: to Bark.
Epitaph for a Lambkin
by Michael R. Burch
for Melody, the prettiest, sweetest and fluffiest dog ever
Nothing can surpass
The tight hug of a close friend
On a particularly hard day
Though is so fullest of pride so finest in mind
Rough to see thee, for a relief to be in need
Thee's soul shall be free and strong over all
Had thee asked the reason of a such they sell
Yet they of smoking of drinking thee convince
Since customer a companion in thee they see
The body for seconds enjoy as smoke runs
That joy of now through deficiency of lungs
In nature for thee's soul to freshness refined
Dilemmas are made for tobacco to be sold
Thus in the mother shelter we ourselves find
In this modern world
Where everything seems fake
There are few genuine relationships left
Most relationships are market driven
How can this person help me
In my career or in life
What can I get from them
How can I use them for my advantage
And what do they want in return
And we are all nothing but personal brands
Competing all the time for the next gig job
And romance
Has been reduced to sexual lust
And nothing more
Things
Our clothes tatter, our shoes smell,
our wood decays, our paper brittles,
our marble chips, our silver tarnishes,
our drives corrupt, our food rots,
our steel rusts, our wine sours.
Faded and faltering
Some things are nice, some necessary
Some liked, some lusted after
Some longer lived, some longer liked.
Some adored, some abused,
Some displayed, some defaced,
Donated and discarded
fair-weather friends—
Can we go back to when
we drank wine cured in a cat's eyes
Kayla read us Ethiopian poems
while she scratched back my hair
Dani and I curled beneath the heater
they waited for the thrashing of the train
and then I was alone
originally published on cowbird.com
