Best Reprisal Poems

The rising red sun
arousing Mother Gaea 
with bright red embers....

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I.
Father,
my knees
quiver and quake,
they bend
then break
like a reed
ensnared in
the tempest’s throes

II.
My sanguine palms,
stammering in fear of
Your reprisal,
whimper in their
muted state,
rendered silent by
their barbarity

III.
This timber crucifix,
once...

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Written: December 23, 2023, For Robert James Liguori Contest
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Life must be navigated without family...

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Aroused by denial,
Disturbing thoughts prevail,
Wishing reprisal,
Hostility unveiled.

Sharpened words uncover
The mask in place.
Extreme emotions hover,
Seen in your face.

Venom grows inside,
Feeding the fire,
Where poison resides,
In the skeptic’s...

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Too long spent in deep shadows 
prevented my eyes from seeing
why the lights were so dimmed 
why I had the need for freeing

Verses written by...

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In times of a virus spreading its unruly truths I wonder why

	What matters most seems to be toilet paper

Loops and loops of the stuff and...

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Reprisals are sharp thorns from stabbing tongues
   causing deep wounds that may never heal.
Regrets are sown in the seams of a guilty mind
...

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WAR
Senseless killings
Barbaric and animalistic desires
Necrophilia and sadomasochism
Blinded by nationalistic pride
All out war
So babies have no where to hide
Drone attacks on hospitals and nurseries 
They bury...

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The Story
by Kamal Nasser
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

I will tell you a story ...
a story that lived in the dreams of my people,
a story...

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Is peace of mind knowing when?
Better yet, when and how?
Best of all, when, how and why?
And what can be done about it now?

You say The...

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Sad movies end with tears flowing
freely from her misty blue eyes.
And every romantic moment,
culminates in moans and soft sighs.

My friend and the source of my...

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repugnant racist republican reviled - rickettsia re:itch ruler. 
rapaciously ravaged revered reverential rubric. 
radical ruthless renegade rapidly riotously rips rigged ramparts. 
refrains retaining remnant redolent...

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If We Must Die: (Dedicated to the Memory of Claude McKay, Harlem Renaissance Poet and Jamaican Born)

If we must die: 
Let it not result from,...

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Pay heed to those deeds from whence the heart must confess...
You're far from Rome Proconsul Caesar...
As they say, "All roads lead to Rome" Ariovistus
and all...

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1. Short beautiful minutes in this bar stack
my body rhythms, felt in the next block
on senses, the salad energizes
my inner pricks, in need of a...

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