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michael-r-burchPoems
Stormfront by Michael R. Burch Our distance is frightening: a distance like the abyss between heaven and earth interrupted by bizarre and terrible lightning. ### Childless by Michael R. Burch How can she bear her grief? Mightier than Atlas, she shoulders the weight of one fallen star. ### Laughter’s Cry by Michael R. Burch Because life is a mystery, we laugh and do not know the half. Because death is a mystery, we cry when one is gone, our numbering thrown awry. ### Long Division by Michael R. Burch All things become one Through death’s long division And perfect precision. ### 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. ### 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. ### Here and Hereafter by Michael R. Burch Life’s saving graces are love, pleasure, laughter ... wisdom, it seems, is for the Hereafter. ### 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. ### Styx by Michael R. Burch Black waters, deep and dark and still . . . all men have passed this way, or will. ### honeybee by Michael R. Burch love is a little treble thing— prone to sing and (sometimes) to sting ### 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. ### brrExit 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!" ### briefling by Michael R. Burch manishatched,hopsintotheMix, cavorts,hassex(quick!,spawnanewBrood!); then,likeamayfly,he’ssuddenlygone: plantfood ### Stage Fright by Michael R. Burch To be or not to be? In the end Hamlet opted for naught. ### Housman was right ... by Michael R. Burch It's true that life’s not much to lose, so why not hang out on a cloud? It’s just the "bon voyage" is hard and the objections loud. ### Athenian Epitaphs by Michael R. Burch Here he lies in state tonight: great is his Monument! Yet Ares cares not, neither does War relent. —Michael R. Burch, after Anacreon Blame not the gale, or the inhospitable sea-gulf, or friends’ tardiness, mariner! Just man’s foolhardiness. —Michael R. Burch, after Leonidas of Tarentum Mariner, do not ask whose tomb this may be, but go with good fortune: I wish you a kinder sea. —Michael R. Burch, after Plato Does my soul abide in heaven, or hell? Only the sea gulls in their high, lonely circuits may tell. —Michael R. Burch, after Glaucus Passerby, tell the Spartans we lie here, dead at their word, obedient to their command. Have they heard? Do they understand? —Michael R. Burch, after Simonides Now that I am dead sea-enclosed Cyzicus shrouds my bones. Faretheewell, O my adoptive land that nurtured me, that held me; I take rest at your breast. —Michael R. Burch, after Erycius Keywords/Tags: epigram, epigrams, epitaph, epitaphs, Greek, translation, Greece, life, life and death, grief, mother, mother and child, eulogy, dirge
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May 11, 2020
May 11, 2020 at 12:15 AM UTC
Stormfront
Stormfront by Michael R. Burch Our distance is frightening: a distance like the abyss between heaven and earth interrupted by bizarre and terrible lightning. ### Childless by Michael R. Burch How can she bear her grief? Mightier than Atlas, she shoulders the weight of one fallen star. ### Laughter’s Cry by Michael R. Burch Because life is a mystery, we laugh and do not know the half. Because death is a mystery, we cry when one is gone, our numbering thrown awry. ### Long Division by Michael R. Burch All things become one Through death’s long division And perfect precision. ### 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. ### 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. ### Here and Hereafter by Michael R. Burch Life’s saving graces are love, pleasure, laughter ... wisdom, it seems, is for the Hereafter. ### 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. ### Styx by Michael R. Burch Black waters, deep and dark and still . . . all men have passed this way, or will. ### honeybee by Michael R. Burch love is a little treble thing— prone to sing and (sometimes) to sting ### 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. ### brrExit 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!" ### briefling by Michael R. Burch manishatched,hopsintotheMix, cavorts,hassex(quick!,spawnanewBrood!); then,likeamayfly,he’ssuddenlygone: plantfood ### Stage Fright by Michael R. Burch To be or not to be? In the end Hamlet opted for naught. ### Housman was right ... by Michael R. Burch It's true that life’s not much to lose, so why not hang out on a cloud? It’s just the "bon voyage" is hard and the objections loud. ### Athenian Epitaphs by Michael R. Burch Here he lies in state tonight: great is his Monument! Yet Ares cares not, neither does War relent. —Michael R. Burch, after Anacreon Blame not the gale, or the inhospitable sea-gulf, or friends’ tardiness, mariner! Just man’s foolhardiness. —Michael R. Burch, after Leonidas of Tarentum Mariner, do not ask whose tomb this may be, but go with good fortune: I wish you a kinder sea. —Michael R. Burch, after Plato Does my soul abide in heaven, or hell? Only the sea gulls in their high, lonely circuits may tell. —Michael R. Burch, after Glaucus Passerby, tell the Spartans we lie here, dead at their word, obedient to their command. Have they heard? Do they understand? —Michael R. Burch, after Simonides Now that I am dead sea-enclosed Cyzicus shrouds my bones. Faretheewell, O my adoptive land that nurtured me, that held me; I take rest at your breast. —Michael R. Burch, after Erycius Keywords/Tags: epigram, epigrams, epitaph, epitaphs, Greek, translation, Greece, life, life and death, grief, mother, mother and child, eulogy, dirge
#epigram#epitaph#life#death#grief#mother#child#eulogy#dirge#lament
Written by
michael-r-burch
62/M/Nashville, Tennessee
May 11, 2020
May 11, 2020 at 12:15 AM UTC
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