We watch the world tell
Us how to live everyday.
We suppose we don't question, but we still question
As we live our lives
Through the lies
That we tell
Ourselves everyday.
Every day is, just another lie
That furthers us from ourselves
And what we would dream of.
We bite a lie right off another
We hide and then we cry
For our own self-made self
The one we refuse to stop.
We feel the need for the change,
But regardless we wont ever change.
We only change,
Our faces,
Our colours,
Our clothes and dresses
Just to look new, under a fresh-looking lie.
Maybe this is all a lie,
Which is hardly untrue.
And that the truth is,
You will never lie, when you lie.
Because you are made of lies.  
As a matter of fact,
We are made of lies.
We all lie, and we are the law.

Without the sun
the flower fails to bloom,
curled in with her sadness and gloom.
With no flowers out
the sun fails to rise,
to spread his rays across the sky
and bring his warmth and cheer,
Two beings on different times
leading to each of their demise,
stars lined up solemnly
as the moon bears witness
to this tragedy.

Orpheus
by Michael R. Burch

after William Blake

I.

Many a sun
and many a moon
I walked the earth
and whistled a tune.

I did not whistle
as I worked:
the whistle was my work.
I shirked

nothing I saw
and made a rhyme
to children at play
and hard time.

II.

Among the prisoners
I saw
the leaden manacles
of Law,

the heavy ball and chain,
the quirt.
And yet I whistled
at my work.

III.

Among the children’s
daisy faces
and in the women’s
frowsy laces,

I saw redemption,
and I smiled.
Satanic millers,
unbeguiled,

were swayed by neither girl,
nor child,
nor any God of Love.
Yet mild

I whistled at my work,
and Song
broke out,
ere long.

Keywords/Tags: Orpheus, singer, poet, William Blake, whistle, Satanic, mills, manacles, law, leaden, ball, chain, prison, song, freedom

So Things Have STEPPED UP Now ...
To What Clearly Amounts ...
To A ... GLOBAL Lockdown ... !!!
  
Cos We’re Facing A War ...
UNLIKE ... ANY Before ... !!!
  
But Who’s Really Sure ...
What They’re Fighting For ... ???
  
Fighting For Life Is Reaching New Highs ...
While Political Guys Now ... POLITICISE ...
How It Is That The Masses Now Live Their Lives ...  
  
Inside And Online ...
NO Going Outside ... !!!
  
Unless Your Willing ...
To Make A KILLING ...
  
By Showing Off BUTTS And The TOP of Thighs ...
For ***** Guys Still Willing To Buy ...
  
A Lapdance While Receiving Food ...
And That’s Some Truth That’s Now In View ... !!!!!!!!
  
Incredible Yes But Don't Ever Forget ...
That The Selling of *** Will Never End ...
That’s Right Even When Contact Can Cause Death ... !!!
  
Dollars And Cents ...  
Are Still Needed YES ...
  
At A Time Where The Dow Is Going ... DOWN ...
Due To LOCKDOWNS Across Numerous Towns ... !!!
  
So The Pound Right Now ...
Isn’t Quite As Sound On Foreign Grounds ...
  
Because It’s Value Is Going ... SOUTH ... !!!
So It’s Causing Frowns And Furrowed Brows ...  
  
And Clearly Now ...
Is Sending Markets CRASHING ...
Economic Panic Due To This Pandemic ...
  
No Crunch Or Credit ...
But When You Really Check It ...
  
Now Monetary Moves ...
Are Being ... Suspended ...
Instead of  Just Being ENDED ... !!!
  
Lockdown Loans And Mortgage Quotes ...
Ah But That’s A NO GO For Corporate Folks ...
They’ll Want Their Dough When The Virus Slows ... !!!
  
... Think About It YO ... !!!
  
Do You Think That Cashflow ...
Has The Virus In Tow ... ???
  
It May Well Do ...
And May Well Affect YOU ... !!!
  
So Play It Cool ...
Don’t Make Dud Moves ...
That May Well Prove To Not Be Shrewd ...
  
Don’t Spend Like A Clown ...
Cos’ of Government Mouths ...
  
I Suggest You Take Time ...
To Really THINK About ........................................
  
The Long Term Affects ...
of This ... Corona ...
  
........ “ Lockdown “ ........ !!!!!

Der Abschied (“The Parting”)
by Bertolt Brecht
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

We embrace;
my fingers trace
rich cloth
while yours encounter only moth-
eaten fabric.
A quick hug:
you were invited to the gay soiree
while the minions of the "law" relentlessly pursue me.
We talk about the weather
and our eternal friendship's magic.
Anything else would be too bitter,
too tragic.

German text:

Der Abschied

Wir umarmen uns.
Ich fasse reichen Stoff
Du fassest armen.
Die Umarmung ist schnell
Du gehst zu einem Mahl
Hinter mir sind die Schergen.
Wir sprechen vom Wetter und von unserer
Dauernden Freundschaft. Alles andere
Wäre zu bitter.

Published by Poetry on Demand, The HyperTexts and Ghani Project

Keywords/Tags: Bertolt Brecht, German, translation, parting, farewell, ****, law, minions, henchmen, thugs, pursuit, chase, embrace, hug, rich, cloth, threadbare, soiree, dinner, meal, event, eternal, friendship, bitter, weather, exile

Bertolt Brecht Epigrams and Quotations

These are my modern English translations of epigrams and quotations by Bertolt Brecht.

Everyone chases the way happiness feels,
unaware how it nips at their heels.
— loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

The world of learning takes a crazy turn
when teachers are taught to discern!
— loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Unhappy, the land that lacks heroes.
— loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Hungry man, reach for the book:
it's a hook,
a harpoon.
— loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Because things are the way they are,
things can never stay as they were.
— loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

War is like love; true ...
it finds a way through.
— loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

What happens to the hole
when the cheese is no longer whole?
— loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

It is easier to rob by setting up a bank
than by threatening the poor clerk.
— loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Do not fear death so much, or strife,
but rather fear the inadequate life.
— loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Keywords/Tags: Bertolt Brecht, translation, translations, German,  modern English, epigram, epigrams, quote, quotes, quotations

The book of life is
Made with stone tablet on it
is Ten commandment