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Today’s Poems: Two by Michael R. Burch. [1]

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Date: 2023-08-30  

I enjoy Michael Burch’s translations of ancient poetry several of which I have reposted here. They appeal to me because he attempts to maintain those poems poetic ideals that seem less important to more academic translators. He is also an accomplished poet. I recently discovered two of his more political poems which I have reproduced here. While they may lack some of the poetic merit of some of his other poetry, I, given my obsession with things political, thought them interesting and so I decided to share them with you.

First They Came for the Muslims by Michael R. Burch

after Martin Niemöller

First they came for the Muslims

and I did not speak out

because I was not a Muslim.

Then they came for the homosexuals

and I did not speak out

because I was not a homosexual.

Then they came for the feminists

and I did not speak out

because I was not a feminist.

Now when will they come for me

because I was too busy and too apathetic

to defend my sisters and brothers?

AUTHOR’S NOTE: It is indeed an honor to have one of my poems published by such an outstanding organization as Amnesty International, one of the world’s finest. Not only is the cause good―a stated goal is to teach students about human rights through poetry―but so far the poetry published seems quite good to me. My poem appears beneath the famous Holocaust poem that inspired it, “First They Came” by Martin Niemöller.* Here’s a bit of background information: Words That Burn is an online poetry anthology and human rights educational resource for students and teachers created by Amnesty International in partnership with The Poetry Hour. Amnesty International is the world’s largest human rights organization, with seven million supporters. Its new webpage has been designed to “enable young people to explore human rights through poetry whilst developing their voice and skills as poets.” This exemplary resource was inspired by the poetry anthology Words that Burn, curated by Josephine Hart of The Poetry Hour, which in turn was inspired by Thomas Gray’s observation that “Poetry is thoughts that breathe and words that burn.” My poem now returns a staggering 690,000 Google results, suggesting that it has been widely cut-and-pasted.

* First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist.

Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out— because I was not a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.

Martin Niemöller

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/8/30/2190561/-Today-s-Poems-Two-by-Michael-R-Burch

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