Long Absently Poems

Poems about Poems (I)



What the Poet Sees
by Michael R. Burch

What the poet sees,
he sees as a swimmer
~~~underwater~~~
watching the shoreline blur
sees through his breath’s weightless bubbles...
Both worlds grow obscure.



Muse/Goddess
by Michael R. Burch

“What will you conceive in...

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The Making of a Poet
by Michael R. Burch

While I don’t consider “Poetry” to be my best poem—I wrote the first version in my teens—it’s a poem that holds special meaning for me; I call it...

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No Mark
by Michael R. Burch

A wave implodes, 
impaled upon
impassive rocks...

this evening
the thunder of the sea
is a wild music filling my ear...

you are leaving
and the ungrieving
winds demur...

telling me
that nothing returns
as it was before...

here where you have...

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The State of the Art (I)
by Michael R. Burch

Has rhyme lost all its reason
and rhythm, renascence?
Are sonnets out of season
and poems but poor pretense?

Are poets lacking fire,
their words too trite and forced?
What happened to desire?
Has...

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Vampire Poetry

Pale Though Her Eyes
by Michael R. Burch
 
Pale though her eyes,
her lips are scarlet
from drinking of blood,
this child, this harlot
 
born of the night
and her heart, of darkness,
evil incarnate
to dance so reckless,
 
dreaming of...

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Vampires
by Michael R. Burch

Vampires are such fragile creatures;
we fear the dark, but the light destroys them...
sunlight, or a stake, or a cross—such common things.
Still, late at night, when the bat-like vampire sings,
we heed his voice.

Centuries...

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Her back never faces the door

“I’ll only need you on certain days”

she says
(absently)

“I’ll have to write them down
my memory doesn’t work so well
especially when I am caught up”

she’s thinking
(a lovely stare)

“Who is that in the...

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And I begin my own steep climb into 
The Chalkland Downs                        ...

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Thump-thump of stiffening fish contorting
   In the bilge beneath the gunwale; 
 Lidless, bulging, reddened eyes, swivelling upwards, 
Protruding horribly from the straining sockets,
    Express stupefied amazement at inconceivable 
...

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Bigger than YOU Think

The internet, 
is large... indeed. 
It starts here and never ends. 
It just starts over somewhere else. 

In the beginning AOL, 
time spent waiting to connect. 
Now we sail across the sea,...

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My mind is a war wasteland equipped with exploding landmines
decisions limited; sharpened claws are sinking into me
scarring my flesh upon impact into my lungs
breathe...I can't...breathe
I admit I'm not sure, I admit I'm confused
I admit I...

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Poems about Poets



Long Division
by Michael R. Burch

for Laura Riding Jackson

All things become one
Through death’s long division
And perfect precision.



Nod to the Master
by Michael R. Burch

If every witty thing that’s said were true,
Oscar Wilde, the world would...

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Talent
by Michael R. Burch

for Kevin Nicholas Roberts

I liked the first passage
of her poem: where it led
(though not nearly enough
to retract what I said.)
Now the book propped up here
flutters, scarcely half read.
It will keep.
Before sleep,
let me...

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Safe Harbor
by Michael R. Burch

for Kevin N. Roberts

The sea at night seems
an alembic of dreams—
the moans of the gulls,
the foghorns’ bawlings.

A century late
to be melancholy,
I watch the last shrimp boat as it steams
to safe harbor...

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She was always looking for the light
or some shit
Just a sun ray or a beam
or a candle to be lit
The celestial lost in orbit
An eclipse, and she went with the wrong comet

even van Gogh couldn't...

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My roommates are all up and about. It’s finals week and everyone is hustling about.
Lisa came in from an early exam, it was snowing lightly, she looked right at home.
“How’d it go?” I quizzed.
“E-Z,” she...

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Scarcely the Dropper-- a roach antennae Felt,

Some Maudling exterminator of nakedly inhuman hands.

Boiled renunciation falling sick With life itself,

For Libido has and Always Will Be…. the most Impersonal of instrument.

Stepping out and through a purple...

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Swoon Song
by Michael R. Burch

In this ordinary swoon
as I pass from life to death,
I feel no heat from the cold, pale moon;
I feel no sympathy for breath.

Who I am and why I came,
I do not...

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A hank of damp hair hangs limply on her forehead.  With the back of a work reddened hand she brushes it from her face.  From the galvanized tub before her, she withdraws a...

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Cause and Effect
In my youth I did not understand the difference between love and lust. Always seeking out Love's location but never to locate. Then our eyes met upon a faithful winds gust. That was...

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...The man nodded a bit, taking it in,
then absently stroked the beard on his chin,
said,”Everyone wants hat they think they deserve,
I can’t help but think you got it backwards.

“Not you alone, the issue is this:
You’ve...

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It's gone, the thundering voice of destruction, leaving behind the shattered lives and loves of yesterday.  The darkness is broken only by the sounds of silence.   We have survived the tornado.

There is...

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A Wintry night and a pitiless wind did blow,
This could be the night when we get the snow.
Struggling under the weight of shopping bags,
Got to get home before my strength flags.
Turned the corner,now at the...

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a tsunami catapulted cruising skiff
skyward landing with quiet thud
across undulating infinite granular waves
formerly solid state rocks and minerals

optimism vibrant upon initial unforeseen
crash asper for test dummies
foundered as undertow fostered diminishing hope
initial faith for survival quickly...

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As dreams fall away,
Leaving the softest memories,
Delicate as the newborn babe,
Who lights the soul with his smile,
And, lets the joy seep through the nights.

As morning whispers its grace,
Inviting the music of birds who praise,
In notes...

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