* Author of the Month *
Michael R. Burch |
Palestine
by
Mahmoud Darwish
translation
by Michael R. Burch
This
land gives us
all
that makes life worthwhile:
April's
blushing advances,
the
aroma of bread warming at dawn,
a
woman haranguing men,
the
poetry of Aeschylus,
love's
trembling beginnings,
a
boulder covered with moss,
mothers
who dance to the flute's sighs,
and
the invaders' fear of memories.
This
land gives us
all
that makes life worthwhile:
September's
rustling end,
a
woman leaving forty behind, still full of grace, still blossoming,
an
hour of sunlight in prison,
clouds
taking the shapes of unusual creatures,
the
people's applause for those who smile at their erasure,
and
the tyrant's fear of songs.
This
land gives us
all
that makes life worthwhile:
Lady
Earth, mother of all beginnings and endings!
In
the past she was called Palestine
and
tomorrow she will still be called Palestine.
My
Lady, because you are my Lady, I deserve life!
Advice to Young
Poets
by
Nicanor Parra Sandoval
translation
by Michael R. Burch
Youngsters,
write
however you will
in
your preferred style.
Too
much blood flowed under the bridge
for
me to believe
there’s
just one acceptable path.
In
poetry everything’s permitted.
brrExit
by michael r. burch
by michael r. burch
what
would u give
to
simply not exist—
for
a painless exit?
he
asked himself, uncertain.
then
from behind
the
hospital room curtain
a
patient screamed—
"my
life!"
thanksgiving
prayer of the parasites
by michael r. burch
by michael r. burch
GODD
is great;
GODD
is good;
let
us thank HIM
for
our food.
by
HIS hand
we
all are fed;
give
us now
our
daily dead.
amen
(p.s.,
most
gracious
&
salacious
HEAVENLY
LORD,
we
thank YOU in advance for
meals
galore
of
loverly gore:
of
precious
delicious
sumptuous
scrumptious
human
flesh!)
Unwhole
by
Michael R. Burch
What is it that we strive to remember, to regain,
as
memory deserts us,
leaving
us destitute of even ourselves,
of
all but pain?
How
can something so essential be forgotten,
if
we are more than our bodies?
How
can a soul
become
so unwhole?
It is a true honor to have my poems published by Setu.
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