Long Abject Poems

Sonnets XXV-XXXII

Archaischer Torso Apollos (“Archaic Torso of Apollo”)
by Rainer Maria Rilke
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

We cannot know the beheaded god
nor his eyes' forfeited visions. But still
the figure's trunk glows with the strange vitality
of a...

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Sonnets X-XVI


Archaischer Torso Apollos (“Archaic Torso of Apollo”)
by Rainer Maria Rilke
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

We cannot know the beheaded god
nor his eyes' forfeited visions. But still
the figure's trunk glows with the strange vitality
of a...

Read More

The Panther
by Rainer Maria Rilke
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

His weary vision's so overwhelmed by iron bars,
his exhausted eyes see only blank Oblivion.
His world is not our world. It has no stars.
No light. Ten thousand...

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The Pied Piper from New York City – Part One

Dare his name be said?
I say, of course, Yes! 

The Pied Piper, himself, is the man, the myth, the legend.
And they, the so-called incurious lot of...

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Stars fall under failing skies...stars fall...stars fall...
And sadly...i start to drive.
Through the unremarkable village with its tall 
Georgian Bay window panes, lightless,
devoid of visages; outwardly staring back at my 
Abject countenance with detached contempt and...

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(based on Aldous Huxley's book "Brave New World")

Human hatchery

Clink clink clink clink...
Test tubes prattling past
along the chrome plated production line.
Glistening under fake fluorescence
humming in harmony
with the magnetic motors
of conveyors, centrifuges and camshafts.
Biological blobs of gamete...

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The world is constantly changing 
People are steadily rearranging 
Life seems to be a gigantic nightmare 
Keep moving, but never getting there 

This country was built on the backs of slaves 
Our ancestors buried in...

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A Most Courageous American President for the Ages

I thought it would be most appropriate for me to take a moment to
share some of my reflections on the life and distinguished public
service of the late 41st...

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It was a late Saturday morning, and I was getting my 12-year-old self ready for our weekly summer sand-lot baseball game. I had my ball glove hanging on my bicycle handlebars, two baseballs, and my...

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I suppose there are no new problems in the world to be exterminated,
well, I mean, of course there are as many new problems
as there are creatures having a new day today,
but I mean I suppose...

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Swept up into piles; everywhere 
Abouts; in collected heaps all 
Around.               
It is almost as if the drab 
Streets were strewn...

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La Charte des Droits de l’Homme pour les Aborigènes - Translation of Oodgeroo Noonuccal's Aboriginal Charter of Rights by T. Wignesan


Nous avons besoin de l’espoir, pas de racisme,
La fraternité, pas d’ostracisme
Du progrès pour les Noirs,...

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Placed First in:
Can`t Believe It was a Na Poetry Contest
Sponsored by Silent One

                      ...

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Archaischer Torso Apollos ("Archaic Torso of Apollo")
by Rainer Maria Rilke
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch 

We cannot know the beheaded god
nor his eyes' forfeited visions. But still
the figure's trunk glows with the strange vitality
of a...

Read More

I need some natural,
organic,
spacious kinda time.
Where is nature in this time,
my time,
our time?

Perhaps nature is to time
as solid forms are to flowing recreation,
as body solidarity is to mind creativity,
as Yang is to Yin,
as Full-Blown Climaxing...

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The Truth Of This Magnitude”

Obstinate defiance from an indignant child 
Consummate reliance on the spirit of the Wild 

Intricate compositions of meticulous art 
A syndicate of derision that is waiting to depart 

The honorary commemoration...

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A bug upon a green leaf sat
Cautiously eyeing up a cat
Who, unaware of the bug's intentions
Continued with its cruel conventions:
Of catching a mouse then setting it free
Then leaping up it once more with glee
Until the...

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The Conditions of Living

Stark organisations of my observations
Respond to beauty with pure elation 
Instead of chronic devastation 
Process the abject consternation 
From contrived over-saturation 
And acute mass manipulation 
That should be in legal confiscation
Truth found...

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My momma was big on naps when I was a girl.
Until I was eight years old, she sent me to my room on summer afternoons.
It was probably because of the heat in the south,
The way...

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Unquotable quotes: Gals, Dolls, Bitches and Broads – XXXVII

An adulterous couple soon make lying, cheating and downright treachery (not to mention their role as carriers of germs within the orbit of the family) the principal...

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FROM WHITE HOUSE

I ham aghast at increasing banality, deviltry, ferocity,

   imbecility, liability, obscenity, rapacity, ugly

   offal popularity witnessed by Donald trump

hence aye aerate thoughts, 

   how ass a nine...

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Mighty White the US!

How ‘white’ whites are who worship Sun and think a tan line’s fine
though folks whose skin is darker tone won’t see a valentine!
Let’s say proof’s real, fear’s justified, and poverty breeds crime,
but...

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I can't sleep.
Or, I can
and did
for three hours
but I continue waking
into a Stephen King nightmare
too real to ignore
because I feel isolated
in this quagmire
of hopeless history.

In this my collective nightmare,
President Trump goes to Saudi Arabia
like Mr....

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Under the bridge in Del Rio are stopped, stuck, stationed
Thousands of migrant Haitians, not Ukrainians
Frankly, if they were the latter, they wouldn’t be sanctioned
Detained, abased, mistreated and deported like Haitians
Like herds of cattle to detention...

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Expiry date               
                 14.

I taught...

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