Long Cadence Poems

It may have been the devil himself who prompted the kids in my schoolyard back in 1947 to chant "Patsy Foley's roly-poly from eating too much ravioli."

At first, no one could remember who started the...

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Currents
by Michael R. Burch

How can I write and not be true
to the rhythm that wells within?
How can the ocean not be blue,
not buck with the clapboard slap of tide,
the clockwork shock of wave on rock,
the...

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* Single moments of passion can last forever ... (re-posted for a friend) *

                     ...

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Zen Death Haiku

Brittle cicada shell,
little did I know
you were my life!
—Shuho, translation by Michael R. Burch

Returning
as it came,
this naked worm.
—Shidoken, translation by Michael R. Burch

As dew glistens
on a lotus leaf,
so too I soon must vanish.
—Shinsui,...

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Juvenilia: Early Poems V

Poetry
by Michael R. Burch

Poetry, I found you
where at last they chained and bound you;
with devices all around you
to torture and confound you,
I found you—shivering, bare.

They had shorn your raven hair
and taken both...

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These are translations of some of the oldest Japanese waka, which evolved into tanka, renga and haiku. 

While you decline to cry,
high on the mountainside
a single stalk of plumegrass wilts.
—O no Yasumaro (circa 711), translation...

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Poems about Poems III

Radiance
by Michael R. Burch

for Dylan Thomas

The poet delves earth’s detritus?hard toil?
for raw-edged nouns, barbed verbs, vowels’ lush bouquet;
each syllable his pen excretes?dense soil,
dark images impacted, rooted clay.

The poet sees the sea but...

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Enough!
by Michael R. Burch

It’s not that I don’t want to die;
I shall be glad to go.
Enough of diabetes pie,
and eating sickly crow!
Enough of win and place and show.
Enough of endless woe!

Enough of suffering and vice!
I’ve...

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A Stolen Memory
A Mirthful Chorus
By Sy Roth 


We surrounded him 
Asked to let go.
She stared at the misshapen face,
Unshaven sandpapery skin 
Eyelids a tabula rasa
Fluttery sere skin
And we could see the humor blossoming in his...

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The pencil now resting the image was 'testing' for the creature before him, (his badly-drawn drawin') had come out 'not right' somewhat twisted and tight.

The picture in question, it burst with suggestion, for lines that...

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World War II Poems and Holocaust Poems - IV - Primo Levi

Shema
by Primo Levi
translation by Michael R. Burch

You who live secure
in your comfortable houses, 
who return each evening to find
warm food, 
welcoming faces...

consider whether this...

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Hark and listen well, if those foretoken in the eyes of hungers lust
Trapped in their illusion, trampling the Stars into dust
Forced with the detestation stench by the swamp of absolute disgust
Thou blackest scorpion be accursed,...

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Your silken skin gleams opaline,
Bathed in Luna's soft wash of azure ...
Like a porcelain Madonna by Michelangelo
Conjured to life by the magic of moonlight,
Your eyes open just long enough to affix mine
And affirm I'm in...

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Obey The Cross That Jesus Suffered Although It Will Cost All You Claim As Yours !
Each of us must learn to take a part in the dance be part of Christ's vine by his design
Although...

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Dark Gothic Heart, A Valiant Knight & The inner harmony tuned to its hidden beasts menagerie 

Dark Gothic Heart

I look to the sea
viral implications take me to the surf
along the rocky ledge leads to an...

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A homeless poet

A few days ago, I was walking home with my dollar store notebook in my hand as I walked. I was deep in thought about how I was going to fill these 250...

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1)The Awakening 

I know when fantasies became boundless,
it was the first time I sat on the pier;
Bellowing aqua swells rolled in endless
the ocean’s melody hung in my ear; 

Suddenly the size of a grain of...

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"Skinwalker"


That one’s mind 
is like a scene from Chagall
dreams flow like blood bleeds
across the cortex page curtain call
an audience with the silent speakeasy 
cerebellum with its swift
matter-of-factness 
logically guides the fingers 
to dance across keys...

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An Ode to Femininity and Romance -

The background music of this delicate poetic arrangement is intended to be played softly as you sit back and reminisce on romantic memories while creating new ones - Perhaps...

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Coercion began
as the ground surrounds the seed
baring life and truth
A kingdom of soil
An army of soiled crickets
A pubescent king
Presenting Jo Jo
the leader of the region
and sire to the throne
Forced to lead the masses
basis chases hatred
Bandaged...

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In twilight's realm, where moonbeams entwine,
Two owls engaged in a contrast of minds:
A Great Horned Owl, proud and strong,
And a Great Gray Owl, cunning and long.

Amidst the trees, their feathers shone,
"Who is the wisest?" their...

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I am home ...

oh, my heart
      pray, hush its cadence
         for the sacred sake of unsated thirst
   beg its thrums...

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ENCHANT ME!
(A Contemporary Animist’s Prayer) 

To the shared breath of life:

Enchant me!
Whisper to me in the cadence and rhymes, 
the deeper susurrations of this tellurian realm
with its numinous places that already call out
my name!
Talk to...

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Opening 
Fourth street and the divide meet 
Near the stream where it's waters Impede 
Five metres walk from the wooden bridge 
A little further away from the deserted car park 
Underneath the third tree with...

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M o o n is a rose quartz pearl,
     unraveling midnight musings,
                  glazed in...

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