Haiku: original and translations

Haiku: Original Haiku and Translations by Michael R. Burch

Ascendance Transcendence
by Michael R. Burch

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

Sudden Shower
by Michael R. Burch

The day’s eyes were blue
until you appeared
and they wept at your beauty.

Imperfect Perfection
by Michael R. Burch

You're too perfect for words―
a problem for a poet.

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 was confined to an assisted living center and couldn't have visitors due to the coronavirus pandemic.

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

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:
lawn fertilizer.

Stormfront
by Michael R. Burch

Our distance is frightening:
a distance like the abyss between heaven and earth
interrupted by bizarre and terrible lightning.

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.

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.

Childless
by Michael R. Burch

How can she bear her grief?
Mightier than Atlas, she shoulders the weight
of one fallen star.

She bathes in silver
~~~~~afloat~~~~
on her reflections…
―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.

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

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

Original Haiku and Tanka by Michael R. Burch

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

 

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 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

brief leaf flung awry ~

bright 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 girl 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

Unrhymed Original Haiku and Tanka

by Michael R. Burch

These are original haiku and tanka written by Michael R. Burch, along with haiku-like and tanka-like poems inspired by the forms but not necessarily abiding by all the rules.

Dark-bosomed clouds

pregnant with heavy thunder...

the water breaks

―Michael R. Burch

 

one pillow...

our dreams

merge

―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

Here's 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 b**b 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

however I held you close...

your heart's muffled thunder, 

your breath the wind―

rising and dying.

―Michael R. Burch

 

Miscellanea

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

Translations

I entered the world empty-handed
and leave it barefoot.
My coming and going?
Two uncomplicated events
that became entangled.
―Kozan Ichikyo (1283-1360), translation by Michael R. Burch

“Isn’t it time,”
the young bride asks,
“to light the lantern?”
―Ochi Etsujin (1656-1739), translation by Michael R. Burch

Brittle cicada shell,
little did I know
you were my life!
―Shuho (?-1767), translation by Michael R. Burch

Bury me beneath a wine barrel
in a bibber’s cellar:
with a little luck the keg will leak.
―Moriya Senan (?-1838), translation by Michael R. Burch

Learn to accept the inevitable:
the fall willow
knows when to abandon its leaves.
―Tanehiko (1782-1842), translation by Michael R. Burch

Darkness speaks―
a bat in flight
flits through a thicket.
―Masaoka Shiki (1867-1902), loose translation by Michael R. Burch

I’m tired,
so please be so kind as to swat the flies
softly.
―Masaoka Shiki (1867-1902), loose translation by Michael R. Burch

Splintering

An unbending tree
breaks easily.
―Lao Tzu, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Keywords/Tags: Haiku, Tanka, coronavirus, nature, love, heart, family, mother, son, seasons, spring, summer, fall, winter, sun, moon, rhyme, rhymed, Japanese, translation, Oriental, imagery, metaphor, plague, life, death