Best Occluded Poems

OMENS
O’er wintry land bare trees now sway
On wing above, black birds traverse
Occluded skies of baleful grey
Outspreading wings imparting curse 

Yet outcomes told by prescient sense
With omens of dark consequence
May be belied restoring sight
Of hope; see yon horizon bright

[Poem in 8x8 form]

Submitted to:-
Contest: Unrest of Spirit
Sponsor:...

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Written: January 16, 2024
                _______________________________________

Always strive to trust your heart
With everything you do, 
Don't be afraid of what others may believe.
 
Comply with your heart—it speaks best
Always follow your instincts,
And...

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There was a possibility of snow.
I looked out on a chilly white scene,
reflecting that extremes of weather are 
matched by extremes of political fronts.
	The season hangs its head 
		under a burden.

Out for a walk with 'Duke', I ducked
under snow-laden branches,
but it was the beast of...

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It hurts to be excluded
Even if you're feeling mixed
'Bout the venue that's reputed
To be one some people nixed.

For at least if you're included
You know someone seems to care
And it's not like you've intruded;
You're encouraged to be there.

Often motives are occluded
So conclusions may be reached,
But you're...

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OMEN
O’er wintry land bare trees now sway
On wing above, black birds traverse
Occluded skies of baleful grey
Outspreading wings impart a curse 
Omen of darkest consequence
Outcomes perceived by prescient sense
Oppress the spirit, damn the day...

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Sonnets XCVIII-CII

Willy Nilly
by Michael R. Burch

for the Demiurge aka Yahweh/Jehovah 

Isn’t it silly, Willy Nilly?
You made the stallion,
you made the filly,
and now they sleep
in the dark earth, stilly.
Isn’t it silly, Willy Nilly?

Isn’t it silly, Willy Nilly?
You forced them to run
all their days uphilly.
They ran till...

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The Tender Weight of Her Sighs
by Michael R. Burch

The tender weight of her sighs
lies heavily upon my heart;
apart from her, full of doubt,
without her presence to revolve around,
found wanting direction or course,
cursed with the thought of her grief,
believing true love is a myth,
with hope as...

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Heat Lightening
by Michael R. Burch

Each night beneath the elms, we never knew
which lights beyond dark hills might stall, advance,
then lurch into strange headbeams tilted up
like searchlights seeking contact in the distance . . .

Quiescent unions . . . thoughts of bliss, of hope . ....

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Catch that love
When it glides gleefully like a rock dove
Doesn't it cover the desolate abyss
Or gives love to see our bliss?

It speaks, greatest of speakers
Words that beacon ingenuity to goal seekers
Healing wounds of gloom and torture
Conjuring messages that plant upright posture

From where is a song...

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apologies to E. H.

"Blow, blow, ye western wind...  Christ, that my love were
in my arms and in my bed again"

Once she hated it, like Hemingway's Catherine 
hated rain, (I see myself dead in it).  Now, she sits 
in solitude at the gentle offspring...

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Scribal notions these, and oh so sorrowful,
But, despite their seeming poignance they are not additionally puissant, no. 
I have seem them, wrapped in warmed and moist leaves:
No, not the leaves as pages of books, as duodecimos and folios and so forth, no:
I speak of leaves...

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Incongruent realities thru timeless mist,
Pursuant pleasures are truly missed…
Forever looking within horizons lost,
Endeavor endless of loves tossed…

Hearts broken between blackened veils,
Parts shattered leaving lachrymal trails…
Secluded symphonies were quietly playing,
Occluded occupants of sacrificial slaying…

Time displacing illusions of distant dreams,
Sublime seductions descending moonbeams…
Desires disrupted by Venus of...

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Into the snow white castle only tepid feet bound
Head mirror of quilted bed reflects a glimmering compound
Satin blanket spreads over each frozen mound
A blinding glare from the silted bed doth rebound
With each heavy step mist arises from fluffed goose down
Arching o'er head a crystalline canopy...

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Blithe notes of Twilight's symphony alight
Into occluded abyss spindled cords take flight
Duller shades into harmonious bands unite
Grainy film spreads o'er recess a dank, dingy kite
Initiating eve's wake, ethereal blinds shut tight
Midnight's, chilling vigil stills darkened night
Nyx's, silver, pale orb mystical procession doth ignite
Twinkling pallbearers on...

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Harmony of the Spheres

Oh, you’re included; the path to
Knowing God’s occluded; this
Denouement of the movement
has been precluded in this speech;
salvation is out of reach; no storm can
fill the breach of gapping schemes and dreams—
this much I know: upon the crest of dawn; his emissary
sits in...

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