Long 14th Poems

Instruction
by Michael R. Burch

Toss this poem aside
to the filigreed and the wild tide
of sunset.

Strike my name,
and still it is all the same.
The onset

of night is in the despairing skies;
each hut shuts its bright bewildered eyes.
The...

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Poems about the Coronavirus II


This World's Joy
(anonymous Middle English lyric, circa early 14th century AD)
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Winter awakens all my care
as leafless trees grow bare.
For now my sighs are fraught
whenever it enters...

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Medieval Poems



Wulf and Eadwacer
(Old English circa 990 AD)
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

My people pursue him like crippled prey.
They'll rip him apart if he approaches their pack.
We are so different!

Wulf's on one island; I'm on...

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I Have Labored Sore
anonymous medieval lyric (circa the fifteenth century)
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

I have labored sore / and suffered death, 
so now I rest / and catch my breath.
But I shall come /...

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At the footbridge Sue was meeting her beau
(He was married to a woman called Flo)
Sue soon found out his deception
She dismembered his erection
For his love life it was a massive blow

To the hospital fled poor...

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For Pharaoh still exalts himself and thinks he’s in control,
But if he won’t release my folk, he’ll pay a heavy toll.
Tomorrow I will bring down hail like Egypt’s never seen,
On plants and trees and man...

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Yet at this very moment the cathedral was crumbling
down upon the cries of foresaken refugees, 
the monastery's walls wobbling from war's wreckage, 
and as the black bursts billowed into sun drenched brutality
with the bodies of...

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Last night I dreamed.

I dream--

sometimes too athletically,
fertile regeneratively,
viral, positive and negatively 
and in-between sub-climax performing 
some wins and some perpetual losses 
more ambiguously back and forth, up and down, in and out,
and not nearly sensual...

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In America June 14th equals flag day
and in Pennsylvania a federal holiday.

"...I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America. And to the republic for which it stands. One nation under god...

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Traditional Solitaire potential combinations...

that clenched another win today
February 20th, 2024 
(eight hundred and ninety yesterdays ago 
since June 13th, 2021)
original crafting date of following poem,
when yours truly 
single handedly trumped computer, 
for umpteenth time,
which saw...

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"Exits Exist"



prophecies materialised
bad dreams of tomorrow
arrived vaporising today

the higher ones 
prepared their exit plans
they thought they were gods

but they were just
children playing 
at being man 

insanity is a monster
who no longer sees
exits exist

on bended knee

dark...

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Traditional Solitaire potential combinations...
that clenched another win (yahoo)
jimmied today August 15th, 2022 single handedly
just before the crack of dawn
with both hands tied behind my back,
and a blindfold worn over my eyes.

While in the midst of...

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Traditional Solitaire potential combinations...
that clenched another win (today June 13th, 2021) single handedly

While in the midst of playing solitaire 
(with losing outcome foreordained 
after a couple moves), I became gripped 
with combinations predicated on thirteen...

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Injustice is just an inconvenience until it is proven...
When the sun hit their helmets it startled the very souls of the natives
a signal upon their eyes that spoke like a siren of ill prophecy to...

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IN THEE EVENT OF MY UNTIMELY DEATH I WANT THE WORLD TO KNOW IT IS DUE TO MY WEARING WIRES PREGNANT FOR THE FBI BUYING WEAPONS AND DRUGS FROM CORRUPT COPS SELLING DRUGS THIS LEAD...

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A healthy dose of invective flourishes at Highland Manor asylum

I hate to be curt,
but welcome to the monkey house
at 2 highland manor drive,
where all manner of imbeciles go berserk.

I and the missus
(thee unfortunate recipient
of poisonous...

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Finding Shelter During End Times (1)

Do you think you’d feel pride as the last soul alive
on a planet that dies as your knife pricks its heart
(not alone you’ve had help, the last lemming, perhaps,
to run...

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The sound of a piano playing a dirge lies in the air. It was the day before general quarantine measures were implemented by the Austrian government. That same night, for the first time in recent...

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If you're passing by Soup Creek our peace loving town
Do pay us a visit but wear a big smile not a frown
Our town is open to everybody all colours and creed
But check in your guns...

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Valentine’s Day here you come again, 
February 14th lord have mercy on me amen,
You just have to rock up every year without fail, 
To remind me to celebrate the fact I’m still without a Male,
And...

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Incessant flagellation no longer torments nor assails psyche of mine...

until courtesy amazing grace interceded
in the doggone guise 
of Canis lupus familiaris
unwittingly timely deliverance
videre licet as an unconditionally loving 
emotional support animal.

Emotional and financial crucifixion
synonymous with...

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Warning: Barely Closeted Monsters Lurk Here!

Religious freedom’s what’s at stake! True monsters wage this war!
God’s told THEM (1) just when life begins (so faith that differs SIN)!
My Bible does not say, does yours? Raise hands...

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#This is my ELEVENTH poem I've expressed here in 2023. I will share just how MUCH this means to me...
"I didn't plan this, but I was tapped to realize this :-) 
I don't believe this...

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Time To Cook the Rolls 

“Honey, turn on the oven to 350; the movie is starting!”

Soupy Sales is kicking back with June Taylor at Studio 50.
He is flirting with her leggy dancers as they feed...

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Black History
As this month comes to an end 
I want to begin 
First of all I want to thank so many
I will name a few although there's plenty
Martin Luther King
Had a dream
Yes he did 
That...

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