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 and Cherokee Native Americans

I have recently created these new translations of Native American poems ...

What is life?
The flash of a firefly.
The breath of a winter buffalo.
The shadow scooting across the grass that vanishes with sunset.
—Blackfoot saying, translation by Michael R. Burch

Speak less thunder, wield more lightning. — Apache proverb, translation by Michael R. Burch

The more we wonder, the more we understand. — Arapaho proverb, translation by Michael R. Burch

Adults talk, children whine. — Blackfoot proverb, translation by Michael R. Burch

Don’t be afraid to cry: it will lessen your sorrow. — Hopi proverb

One foot in the boat, one foot in the canoe, and you end up in the river. — Tuscarora proverb, translation by Michael R. Burch

Our enemy's weakness increases our strength. — Cherokee proverb, translation by Michael R. Burch

We will be remembered tomorrow by the tracks we leave today. — Dakota proverb, translation by Michael R. Burch

No sound's as eloquent as a rattlesnake's tail. — Navajo saying, translation by Michael R. Burch

The heart is our first teacher. — Cheyenne proverb, translation by Michael R. Burch

Dreams beget success. — Maricopa proverb, translation by Michael R. Burch

Knowledge interprets the past, wisdom foresees the future. — Lumbee proverb, translation by Michael R. Burch

The troublemaker's way is thorny. — Umpqua proverb, translation by Michael R. Burch

Life is like an onion:
As each layer you peel,
You seek true reunion -
Closer with the real you.

Each life kills or cures you
From life's infernal ills.
Every man pays his due
Just as we do our bills.

Each man judges himself.
As he stares in the pool,
He thinks he sees an elf
Holding his worn out tool!

Every life should reveal
The nature of that soul...
We may try to conceal
How far we've yet to go.

We may lie to others...
But to ourselves be true!
Let's not judge our brothers!
Be mindful what we do.

You know
There’s nothing more terrifying than you
There’s nothing more understood than me
There’s nothing more worth noting than us
And there’s nothing without the one who sets us free

Home from the winds, home from the sea!
Bidding all my friends come to tea,
I laid dishes for thirty-three;
But none sat at table with me.

I called the beggars in for tea,
And they were more than thirty-three –
They drank my health; I left for sea
With a heavy heart within me.

Listen and Learn
from
Insight and Wisdom
giving
Instruction in Prudence
producing
Knowledge and Discretion.
With thanks to
Mother's Inspired Utterances.

Ideas cast in thoughtless gold,
Will rend no fortune's tale.

Though dreams forged with dauntless hold,
Will breathe truth preveiled.


~Robert van Lingen

Climbing a mountain on a rainy day
inspires you to embrace
the light showers that comes your way,
and humbles you down enough
to appreciate walking in the city streets
on a regular sunny day

These are interesting times
Blessing cursing each moment
Smelling like the '80s
Rhyming with the '60s
Cringing like the '40s
Gasping at '17

It's The War of The Worlds II
Man versus man versus nature and self
A free-for-all melee, just name it
Where bacteria and viruses
     and gas and atoms
Will be our doom in the end
But not before we've wreaked havoc

on all that we love.