Takaha Shugyo Translation Poem by Michael Burch

Our life here on earth:
to what shall we compare it?
It is not like a rowboat
departing at daybreak,
leaving no trace of us in its wake?
― Takaha Shugyo, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Oh, fallen camellias,
if I were you,
I'd leap into the torrent!
―Takaha Shugyo, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

A single tree
with a heart carved into its trunk
blossoms prematurely
―Takaha Shugyo, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Still clad in its clown's costume—
the dead ladybird.
―Takaha Shugyo, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Wild geese pass
leaving the emptiness of heaven
revealed
― Takaha Shugyo, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Are the geese flying south?
The candle continues to flicker...
―Takaha Shugyo, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Inside the cracked shell
of a walnut:
one empty room
― Takaha Shugyo, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Such gloom!
Inside the walnut's cracked shell:
one empty room
―Takaha Shugyo, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Bring me an icicle
sparkling with the stars
of the deep north
― Takaha Shugyo, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Seen from the skyscraper
the trees' fresh greenery:
parsley sprigs
― Takaha Shugyo, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Tree crickets chirping—
after I've judged
a thousand verses today!
―Takaha Shugyo, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Crickets chirping discordantly—
how to judge
ten thousand verses?
―Takaha Shugyo, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch



Original Haiku by Michael R. Burch

Sleepyheads!
I recite my haiku
to the inattentive lilies.
—Michael R. Burch

Am I really this old,
so many ghosts
beckoning?
—Michael R. Burch

Mightier than Atlas,
she shoulders the weight
of one fallen star.
―Michael R. Burch, 'Childless'

Dark-bosomed clouds
pregnant with heavy thunder...
the water breaks
―Michael R. Burch

Celebrate the New Year?
The cat is not impressed,
the dogs shiver.
—Michael R. Burch

Cats are seldom impressed by human accomplishments, while the canine members of our family have always hated fireworks and other unexpected loud noises.

Early robins
get the worms,
cats waiting to pounce.
—Michael R. Burch

Crushed grapes
surrender such sweetness!
A mother's compassion.
―Michael R. Burch

My footprints
so faint in the snow?
Ah yes, you lifted me.
―Michael R. Burch

An emu feather
still falling?
So quickly you rushed to my rescue.
―Michael R. Burch

The eagle sees farther
from its greater height—
our ancestors' wisdom
―Michael R. Burch

The ability
to disagree agreeably—
civility.
―Michael R. Burch

The sun warms
a solitary stone.
Let us abandon no one.
―Michael R. Burch

Born into the delicate autumn,
too late to mature,
pale petal...
―Michael R. Burch

Soft as daffodils fall
all the lamentations
of life's smallest victims,
unheard...
―Michael R. Burch

Elderly sunflowers:
bees trimming their beards.
―Michael R. Burch

Fireflies
thinking to illuminate the darkness?
Poets!
―Michael R. Burch

As springs' budding blossoms emerge
the raptors glide mercilessly.
―Michael R. Burch



Valentine Haiku and Tanka, for Beth

one pillow...
our dreams
merge
―Michael R. Burch

She bathes in silver,
~~~~ afloat ~~~~
on her reflections...
—Michael R. Burch

You rise with the sun,
mysteriously warm,
also scattering sunbeams.
―Michael R. Burch

You astound me,
your name
unpronounceable on my lips.
―Michael R. Burch

You astound me;
your name on my lips
remains unpronounceable.
―Michael R. Burch

A leaf brushes my cheek:
a subtle lover's
gentlest caress.
―Michael R. Burch

Teach me to love:
to fly beyond sterile Mars
to percolating Venus.
―Michael R. Burch

How vaguely I knew you
though I held you close...
your heart's muffled thunder,
your breath the wind—
rising and falling.
―Michael R. Burch



Iffy Coronavirus Haiku

yet another iffy coronavirus haiku #1
by michael r. burch

plagued by the Plague
i plague the goldfish
with my verse

yet another iffy coronavirus haiku #2
by michael r. burch

sunflowers
hang their heads
embarrassed by their coronas

I wrote this poem after having a sunflower arrangement delivered to my mother, who is in an assisted living center and can't have visitors due to the coronavirus pandemic. I have been informed the poem breaks haiku rules about personification, etc.

homework: yet another iffy coronavirus haiku #3
by michael r. burch

dim bulb overhead,
my silent companion:
still imitating the noonday sun?

yet another iffy coronavirus haiku #4
by michael r. burch

Spring fling—
children string flowers
into their face masks

yet another iffy coronavirus haiku #5
by michael r. burch

the Thought counts:
our lips and fingers
insulated by plexiglass...

yet another iffy coronavirus haiku #6
by michael r. burch

masks, masks
everywhere
and not a straw to drink...

Dark Cloud, Silver Lining
by Michael R. Burch

Every corona has a silver lining:
I'm too far away to hear your whining,
and despite my stormy demeanor,
my hands have never been cleaner!

New World Order (last in a series and perhaps of a species)
by Michael R. Burch

The days of the dandelions dawn...
soon man will be gone:
fertilizer.



The Original Sin: Rhyming Haiku!

Haiku
should never rhyme:
it's a crime!
―Michael R. Burch

The herons stand,
sentry-like, at attention...
rigid observers of some unknown command.
―Michael R. Burch

Late
fall;
all
the golden leaves turn black underfoot:
soot
―Michael R. Burch

Dry leaf flung awry:
bright butterfly,
goodbye!
―Michael R. Burch

A snake in the grass
lies, hissing
'Trespass! '
―Michael R. Burch

Honeysuckle
blesses my knuckle
with affectionate dew
―Michael R. Burch

My nose nuzzles
honeysuckle's
sweet nothings
―Michael R. Burch

The day's eyes were blue
until you appeared
and they wept at your beauty.
―Michael R. Burch

The sky was blue
until you appeared
and it wept at your beauty.
―Michael R. Burch

The moon in decline
like my lover's heart
lies far beyond mine
―Michael R. Burch

My mother's eyes
acknowledging my imperfection:
dejection
―Michael R. Burch

The sun sets
the moon fails to rise
we avoid each other's eyes
―Michael R. Burch

bright leaf flung awry ~
butterfly, goodbye!
―Michael R. Burch

leaf flutters in flight ~
bright, O and endeavoring butterfly,
goodbye!
―Michael R. Burch

a soaring kite flits
into the heart of the sun?
Butterfly & Chrysanthemum
―Michael R. Burch

The whore with the pallid lips
lipsticks
into something more comfortable
―Michael R. Burch

I am a traveler
going nowhere—
but my how the gawking bystanders stare!
―Michael R. Burch



This is a poem composed of haiku-like stanzas:

Lift up your head
dandelion,
hear spring roar!

How will you tidy your hair
this near
summer?

Leave to each still night
your lightest affliction,
dandruff.

Soon you will free yourself:
one shake
of your white mane.

Now there are worlds
into which you appear
and disappear

seemingly at will
but invariably blown—
wildly, then still.

Gasp at the bright chill
glower
of winter.

Icicles splinter;
sleep still an hour,
till, resurrected in power,

you lift up your head,
dandelion.
Hear spring roar!
―Michael R. Burch



Variations on Fall

Farewells like
falling
leaves,
so many sad goodbyes.
―Michael R. Burch

Falling leaves
brittle hearts
whisper farewells
―Michael R. Burch

Autumn leaves
soft farewells
falling...
falling...
falling...
―Michael R. Burch

Autumn leaves
Fall's farewells
Whispered goodbyes
―Michael R. Burch



Variations on the Seasons
by Michael R. Burch

Mother earth
prepares her nurseries:
spring greening

The trees become
modest,
coy behind fans

*

Wobbly fawns
have become the fleetest athletes:
summer

*

Dry leaves
scuttle like crabs:
autumn

*

The sky
shivers:
snowfall

Each
translucent flake
lighter than eiderdown

the entire town entombed
but not in gloom,
bedazzled.



Variations on Night

Night—
ice and darkness
conspire against human warmth
―Michael R. Burch

Night and the Stars
conspire against me:
Immensity
―Michael R. Burch

in the ice-cold cathedral
prayer candles ablaze
flicker warmthlessly
―michael r. burch



Variations on the Arts
by Michael R. Burch

Paint peeling:
the novel's
novelty wears off...

The autumn marigold's
former glory:
allegory.

Human arias?
The nightingale frowns, perplexed.
Tone deaf!

Where do cynics
finally retire?
Satire.

All the world's
a stage
unless it's a cage.

To write an epigram,
cram.
If you lack wit, scram.

Haiku
should never rhyme:
it's a crime!

Video
dumped the boob tube
for YouTube.

Anyone
can rap:
just write rhythmic crap!



Variations on Lingerie
by Michael R. Burch

Were you just a delusion?
The black negligee you left
now merest illusion.

The clothesline
quivers,
ripe with unmentionables.

The clothesline quivers:
wind,
or ghosts?



Variations on Love and Wisdom
by Michael R. Burch

Wise old owls
stare myopically at the moon,
hooting as the hart escapes.

Myopic moon-hooting owls
hoot as the hart escapes

The myopic owl,
moon-intent, scowls;
my rabbit heart thunders...
Peace, wise fowl!



Tanka

All the wild energies
of electric youth
captured in the monochromes
of an ancient photobooth
like zigzagging lightning.
―Michael R. Burch

The plums were sweet,
icy and delicious.
To eat them all
was perhaps malicious.
But I vastly prefer your kisses!
―Michael R. Burch

A child waving...
The train groans slowly away...
Loneliness...
Somewhere in the distance gusts
scatter the stray unharvested hay...
―Michael R. Burch

How vaguely I knew you
though I held you close...
your heart's muffled thunder,
your breath the wind—
rising and falling.
―Michael R. Burch



Childless
by Michael R. Burch

Mightier than Atlas,
she shoulders the weight
of one fallen star.



Ascendance Transcendence
by Michael R. Burch

Breaching the summit
I reach
the horizon's last rays.



sheer green stockings
queer green beer
St. Patrick's Day!
―michael r. burch

cicadas chirping everywhere
singing to beat the band—
surround sound
―michael r. burch

Regal, upright,
clad in royal purple:
Zinnia
―michael r. burch

Love is a surreal sweetness
in a world where trampled grapes
become wine.
―michael r. burch

although meant for market
a pail full of strawberries
invites indulgence
―michael r. burch

late November;
skeptics scoff
but the geese no longer migrate
―michael r. burch

as the butterfly hunts nectar
the generous iris
continues to bloom
―michael r. burch

As springs' budding blossoms emerge
the raptors glide mercilessly.
—Michael R. Burch

I wrote the haiku-like poem above on 3-27-2023 after the Nashville Covenant school massacre.—Michael R. Burch

Incomprehensible
by Michael R. Burch

"Slain" — an impossible word to comprehend.
The male lion murders cubs,
licks his lips, devours them.

Her sky-high promises:
midday moon
—Michael R. Burch

The north wind's refrain,
a southbound train...
Invitation?
—Michael R. Burch

The north wind's refrain,
the receding strain
of a southbound train...
Invitation?
—Michael R. Burch

Elderly sunflowers:
bees trimming their beards.
—Michael R. Burch

The evening grass
accumulates dew,
roots in corpses.
—Michael R. Burch

Midwinter
church bells
seem more cacophonous...
—Michael R. Burch

Coyotes yip at wolves,
their offspring endangered:
politics
—Michael R. Burch

Can eagles soar,
hooded?
—Michael R. Burch

Brittle autumn leaf,
no one informed me
you were my life!
—Michael R. Burch

Early robins
get the worms,
cats waiting to pounce.
—Michael R. Burch

Sleepyheads!
I recite my haiku
to the inattentive lilies.
—Michael R. Burch

Am I really this old,
so many ghosts
beckoning?
—Michael R. Burch

The sky tries to assume
your eyes' azure
but can't quite pull it off.
—Michael R. Burch

The sky tries to assume
your eyes' arresting blue
but can't quite pull it off.
—Michael R. Burch

Two bullheaded frogs
croaking belligerently:
election season.
—Michael R. Burch

An enterprising cricket
serenades the sunrise:
soloist.
—Michael R. Burch

A single cricket
serenades the sunrise:
solo violinist.
—Michael R. Burch



The Ultimate Haiku Against God
by Michael R. Burch

Because you made a world
where nothing matters,
our hearts lie in tatters.