It's been so so long
It's been so long since I saw
Since I saw life dance

Life dancing the bop and jitterbug
Life dancing to rock and roll
Life dancing to country and ballroom
Life dancing to anything
I'm sure we will experience the dance again

Brian Hill - 2020 # 129

Dear diary;
I have thought a lot
about leaving this all behind
and buying a one-way ticket
to anywhere where no one
knows my name.
I want to forget who I am
and lose myself
in another's culture.
I want to stay until I tire
and do it all again
somewhere else.

I rushed into the sea
When I spotted some land
The tough sailors asked me to stop
I told them to wait and stand
Soon, I realized we were on a sinking boat
Someone had pulled the plug hole underneath
The captain told us to save ourselves and hold
They left me hanging from the trees, as they rowed away from me

The crowds cheered for us
As we made I back and forth
Turns out there was a hole again
The laughter faded as the water poured in
When the slaves jumped out from inside and swam again
The people left for their homes, hurriedly
The captain told us bring some buckets
And away, away the shipmates swam away

The banks called as I made it back home
Asking if I had money to consume
They wanted to see me
As I hadn't paid the loan
I wrote them a letter as a plea and said no
They wrote me one and asked me if I had a plan
I send one back and it said "None."
As I fled across the country
They caught me half-way with bags in my hand

The heat is becoming unbearable.
[average repair cost $488]
I'm manually cranking the window
[1998 Chevy S-10]
While Dad drives me to the store.

I'm craving Nutella
[Great Value Hazelnut Spread]
And pomegranates seeds.
[only one container without mold]
I hope Mom doesn't mind the price.

Turning 22 this year;
[also a model from 1998]
I hope to start on Testosterone
[again]
And maybe learn to drive

ऐ मालिक, सिर्फ इतना-सा मुझपर तू करम दे,
मुझे सनम से प्यारा मेरा वतन कर दे! !

कर दूँ निछावर तन-मन-धन सब अपना,
इतनी प्रज्वलित मुझमें राष्ट्रप्रेम की अगन कर दे! !

सकुचित न होऊँ क्षणभर भी सरफ़रोश बनने को,
ऐसी मनोवृत्ति का, मेरे ज़हन में जनम कर दे !!

अस्तित्व मिट जाए दहशतवादी नर-पिशाचों का इस धरा से,
और परे हो मुल्क से गद्दारीभरी सोच भी ऐसे उसे तू दफन कर दे! !

मेरी माँ के आँचल तले चैन से सो सकूँ मैं,
ऐसे विदा होने पर अता मुझे मेरे तिरंगे का कफन कर दे! !
ऐ मालिक, सिर्फ इतना-सा मुझपर तू करम दे! !
- सचिन अ॰ पाण्डेय

I want to drive him to the country and sit in the silence like dew.
And listen to the grass stained hills take little sips of air.
And listen to the roosters gasp for the light of the rising sun.
I want him to feel this – this Texas.
Where the crickets croak eternal  
and the cayotes call confused to country dogs like the wild.
I want to drive him to the country and weep excess tears
down our cold, city scathed cheeks
in rhythm with the birds as they sing their morning songs –
and swoon each other awake.
Who will swallow the worm as prey?
And you’ll hear them say:
maybe it isn’t so much about all you do and do and do?
and the sun’s lips share the same message,
but only to the few who know a Texas country morning
like a well-kept secret:
whose cups catch the cows stretching when they wake.

I want to drive him to the country and cry
and decide what life is like in synchronous solitude
with her timelessness
Singing of Dawn’s baby yawn -
the sound of her silence a sweet surprise.
Her fingertips linger
on each blade, on each bend, on each bug and tree.
I want him to understand the longing in each whistle and tune –
for country cravings aren’t satisfied with one lover’s hand,
but imbued with the light touch of a million–
all abundant in each drop of river and pond.
And when he sees the shadow of fences lining pasture walls
and reflecting on the wet ground,
we’ll turn on the engine and drive away.
The day will forget, with its ever-searching eyes,
what it saw in that morning sky.
But the body will remember – as it does
with each kiss, with each touch and scent,
sweet, sweet Texas will whisper her fingertips full of song –
and the birds will sing, and the worms will whine,
and the dew will drip as your senses will rise.

Martial Epigrams

You ask me why I've sent you no new verses?
There might be reverses.
—Martial, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

You ask me to recite my poems to you?
I know how you'll "recite" them, if I do.
—Martial, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

You ask me why I choose to live elsewhere?
You're not there.
—Martial, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

You ask me why I love fresh country air?
You're not befouling it there.
—Martial, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

You never wrote a poem,
yet criticize mine?
Stop abusing me or write something fine
of your own!
—Martial, loose translation by Michael R. Burch

He starts everything but finishes nothing;
thus I suspect there's no end to his *******.
—Martial, loose translation by Michael R. Burch

You alone own prime land, dandy!
Gold, money, the finest porcelain—you alone!
The best wines of the most famous vintages—you alone!
Discrimination and wit—you alone!
You have it all—who can deny that you alone are set for life?
But everyone has had your wife—
she is never alone!
—Martial, loose translation by Michael R. Burch

You dine in great magnificence
while offering guests a pittance.
Sextus, did you invite
friends to dinner tonight
to impress us with your enormous appetite?
—Martial, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Coq au vin
by Martial, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

1.
Hosts always invite you to dinner, Phoebe,
but are you merely an éclair to the greedy?

2.
Hosts always invite you to dinner, Phoebe,
but are you **** Amaro to the greedy?

Amaro is an after-dinner liqueur thought to aid the digestion after a large meal.

3.
Hosts always invite you to dinner, Phoebe,
but are you an aperitif to the greedy?

4.
Hosts always invite you to dinner, Phoebe,
but they’re pimps to the seedy.

Ad cenam invitant omnes te, Phoebe, cinaedi.
mentula quem pascit, non, ****, purus **** est.

Keywords/Tags: Martial, translation, Latin, epigram, verse, recite, wit, discrimination, country, air, dandy, wine, wife, dinner, appetite

they said
”uhuhuh imma buy a big gun
bazooka 47
and imma **** of dem zombies
cause dey
surely *******”
and i can’t say nothing to them
cause
i don’t know that they’re not coming
the way things going