Long 20th Poems

Poems about Poems IV

The Toast
by Michael R. Burch

For longings warmed by tepid suns
(brief lusts that animated clay),
for passions wilted at the bud
and skies grown desolate and gray,
for stars that fell from tinseled heights
and mountains bleak...

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Turkish Poetry Translations II

Çanakkale Sehitlerine
"For the Çanakkale Martyrs"
by Mehmet Akif Ersoy
loose English translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Was there ever anything like the Bosphorus war??
The earth’s mightiest armies pressing Marmara,
Forcing entry between her mountain passes
To a...

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Merov’s Ghost (1) and Other Shots Across My Bow!

In mid-November of Fourteen, I published my first web verse here, (2)
the earliest spanned sixty years, composed for Senior English class
one night in Nineteen Sixty-One. Assigned just...

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Today
we left off yesterday
to pick up
where speaking non-violent principles 
too often neglect to listen
to liberally artistic,
green and active
yet non-reactive
compassionate healers
may need to co-invest more
in co-operating democratic research
of
and for
WholeEarth DiaLogical Matriotism.

Excuse me,
but co-passioned listening
to silence
speaks not...

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Moby Dick, a novel by Herman Melville, published in London in October 1851 as The Whale and a month later in New York City as Moby-Dick; or, The Whale. It is dedicated to Nathaniel Hawthorne....

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New Year Poetry

Auld Lange Syne
by Robert Burns
translation by Michael R. Burch 

Should old acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to mind?
Should old acquaintance be forgot,
And days for which we pine?

For times we shared, my darling,
Days passed,...

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Grandma died when I was 18 years old, on Christmas day. I never really got to know her well since the family had pretty much kept their distance from her due to her 'weird religion.'...

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Michael Joseph Jackson

Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural...

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~ I  Pray And Hope ~
 ( Pruntiform )



- I  Pray And Hope You  Come  Back  Soon -

 Pray with all my heart and soul that You do.

 And bring...

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Mehmet Akif Ersoy: Modern English Translations of Turkish Poems

Mehmet Âkif Ersoy (1873-1936) was a Turkish poet, author, writer, academic, member of parliament, and the composer of the Turkish National Anthem.



Snapshot
by Mehmet Akif Ersoy
loose English translation/interpretation...

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A notice appeared in the paper recently with the names and faces of eight men who have a combined wealth of $426 billion. According to Oxfam International, in 2015 this would have equaled the amount...

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~I  Pray  And  Hope ~
 ( Pruntiform )



 I PRAY  AND  HOPE  YOU  COME  BACK  SOON

 PRAY  with all my heart and soul that You...

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2017 - year zero

They loaned to the poor, who cannot repay.
They stole from the old, who cannot recover.
They sold our future, for better or worse
and made our children pay.
They schooled arithmetic to be feared.
They tutored...

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~ God  Uplifts  My  Spirit ~
 ( Pruntiform / Whitney )



 -GOD UPLIFTS MY SPIRIT - SHOWS ME THE WAY -
 UPLIFTS  my broken heart and soul everyday 
 MY prayers...

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~ Hear His Call ~
 (Pruntiform )



 HEAR  HIS  MESSAGE,  JUST  HEED  ALL 

 HIS  loving message of love He sends to all the earth

 MESSAGE  of salvation...

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Yet Africa is
expected to fall in
line 
With speed and
alacrity 
Or be headed back to
Europe 
For much deserved
censure
And sanitization in
the heart
Of brutish Europe!
Have we not seen
them in action
At Treblinka and
Auschwitz, brother
With their atomic
bombs in Hiroshima
With their...

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Joe Bonamassa is famous for more than just guitar skills.
but as for the lovely array of ancient antiques,
His "Nerdville" house is filled with tools and artifacts.

Joe Bonamassa hankers for blues-rock as pioneers age.
Danny Gatton taught...

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Ever wonder where big ideas come from?

Memories of FDR
from newsreel clips -
a lion-headed striking man
with rakish grin,
jaw jutting proudly, 
signature cigarette holder
clenched in his teeth
tilted ever upward...
soaring to the heavens
as he cruises by
waving to admirers
in...

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Roaring Twenties

Nostalgia and age like bacon and eggs,
With buttered toast and jam on the side for breakfast;
And coffee, and a glass of orange juice to drink,
And a memory in-between to rethink.

The day begins with boring...

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Ah the cake before the icing!!!!!! 

Notes:

Aimee Semple McPherson (October 9, 1890 – September 27, 1944), also known as Sister Aimee, was a Canadian born in Salford, Ontario. She was a Los Angeles–based evangelist and...

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Mount Rushmore: Carved in Stone

From deep within the Earth’s crust,
An orogeny pushes
The batholith upwards
To become “The Shrine of Democracy,”
Of weathered presidential faces
Chiseled in rock in South Dakota,
Representing 150 years of history
(From the birth of a...

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Author's note: This is not intentionally a historical piece, dear readers, but I thought I should probably add a bit of background info primarily for the benefit of my more international friends and colleagues on...

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Resting In These Tennessee Hills

Lazy mornings in these Tennessee hills
Horned owl in tree behind house hoots all night
Sometimes annoys but often gifts a thrill
As country-fired moon sends us brighter light!

Mellow breeze, waltz morn rays with...

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Overzealousness and assiduousness...

now propels yours truly towards restitution
courtesy sophisticated mountebank,
whose criminal mind
filched mine banknotes
rationed for when I exhibit decrepitude.
Cutthroat robber baron
re: newly minted vandal
an alumni matriculated

from school for scandal
a sheep in wolf's clothing
said culprit I...

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EVERYBODY KNOWS THAT NOBODY KNOWS

The Paleolithic Era was a long time ago. 
It consisted of a few years in a row. 
That's pretty standard as eras go.
I don't know what happened,
but there's one thing I...

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