Infinity

Infinity
 
Have you tasted the bitterness of tears of despair?
Have you watched the sun sink through such pale, balmless air
that your soul sought its shell like a crab on a beach,
then scuttled inside to be safe, out of reach?
 
Might I lift you tonight from earth’s wreckage and damage
on these waves gently rising to pay the moon homage?
Or better, perhaps, let me say that I, too,
have dreamed of infinity . . . windswept and blue.
 
Published by TC Broadsheet Verses, Piedmont Literary Review, Penny Dreadful, the Net Poetry and Art Competition, Songs of Innocence, Poetry Life & Times, Better Than Starbucks and The Chained Muse

Piercing the Shell

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.
 
Originally published by The Neovictorian/Cochlea, this poem has been translated into Russian, Turkish, Macedonian and Arabic
 

Autumn Conundrum

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 The Neovictorian/Cochlea, Deronda Review, Jewish Letter (Russia), Verse Weekly, Brief Poems, Deviant Art, Setu (India), Stremez (Macedonia) and translated into Russian, Macedonian, Turkish, Arabic and Romanian
 

Something

Something
by Michael R. Burch
 
for the children of the Holocaust and the Nakba
 
Something inescapable is lost—
lost like a pale vapor curling up into shafts of moonlight,
vanishing in a gust of wind toward an expanse of stars
immeasurable and void.
 
Something uncapturable is gone—
gone with the spent leaves and illuminations of autumn,
scattered into a haze with the faint rustle of parched grass
and remembrance.
 
Something unforgettable is past—
blown from a glimmer into nothingness, or less,
which finality swept into a corner ... where it lies
in dust and cobwebs and silence.
 
Published by There is Something in the Autumn (anthology), The Eclectic Muse (Canada), Setu (India), FreeXpression (Australia), Life and Legends, Poetry Super Highway, Poet’s Corner, Promosaik (Germany...

Native American Prayers and Proverbs

Native American Prayer
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Help us learn the lessons you have left us here
in every leaf and rock.

Published by A Hundred Voices
 
 
Cherokee Prayer
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

As I walk life's trails
imperiled by the raging wind and rain,
grant, O Great Spirit,
that yet I may always 
walk like a man.

This prayer makes me think of Native Americans walking the Trail of Tears with far more courage and dignity than their “civilized” abusers. 

Published by A Hundred Voices
 
 

Cherokee Proverb
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Before you judge
a man for his sins
be sure to trudge
many moons in his moccasins.

Pub...

Native American Travelers' Blessing

Native American Travelers' Blessing
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
 
Let us walk respectfully here
among earth's creatures, great and small,
remembering, our footsteps light,
that one wise God created all.
 
Published by A Hundred Voices

Sioux Vision Quest

Sioux Vision Quest
by Crazy Horse, Oglala Lakota Sioux (circa 1840-1877)
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
 
A man must pursue his Vision 
as the eagle explores
the sky's deepest blues.
 
Published by Better Than Starbucks and A Hundred Voices

Cherokee Travelers' Blessing III

Cherokee Travelers' Blessing III
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
 
May Heaven’s warming winds blow gently there,
where you reside, 
and may the Great Spirit bless all those you love,
this side of the farthest tide.
And wherever you go,
whether the journey is fast or slow,
may your moccasins leave many cunning footprints in the snow.
And when you look over your shoulder, may you always find the Rainbow.
 
Published by Better Than Starbucks and A Hundred Voices 

Cherokee Travelers' Blessing II

Cherokee Travelers' Blessing II
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
 
Happily may you walk
in the paths of the Rainbow.
                  Oh,
and may it always be beautiful before you,
beautiful behind you,
beautiful below you,
beautiful above you,
and beautiful all around you
where in Perfection beauty is finished.
 
Published by Better Than Starbucks and A Hundred Voices

Cherokee Travelers' Blessing I

Cherokee Travelers' Blessing I
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
 
I will extract the thorns from your feet.
For yet a little while, we will walk life's sunlit paths together.
I will love you like my own brother, my own blood.
When you are disconsolate, I will wipe the tears from your eyes.
And when you are too sad to live, I will put your aching heart to rest.
 
Published by Better Than Starbucks, Setu (India), A Hundred Voices and The Cherokee Native Americans and Their Descendants 
 

Epitaph for a Palestinian Child

Epitaph for a Palestinian Child
by Michael R. Burch
        
I lived as best I could, and then I died.
Be careful where you step: the grave is wide.
 

Published by Romantics Quarterly, Poetry Super Highway, Mindful of Poetry, Poets for Humanity, The New Formalist, Angle (Australia), Daily Kos, Katutura English (Namibia), Genocide Awareness, The Hip Forms, Darfur Awareness Shabbat, Viewing Genocide in Sudan, Trudantalion Blog, FreeXpression (Australia), Setu (India), Brief Poems, Better Than Starbucks and Art Villa; also translated into Romanian by Petru Dimofte, into Turkish by Nurgül Yayman, into Czech by Z J Pinkava, and into Indonesian by A. J. Anwar; also set to music by Sloane Simon after the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting