Long Afloat Poems

Zen Death Haiku

Brittle cicada shell,
little did I know
you were my life!
—Shuho, translation by Michael R. Burch

Returning
as it came,
this naked worm.
—Shidoken, translation by Michael R. Burch

As dew glistens
on a lotus leaf,
so too I soon must vanish.
—Shinsui,...

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Juvenilia: Early Poems VI



An Illusion
by Michael R. Burch

The sky was as hushed as the breath of a bee
and the world was bathed in shades of palest gold
when I awoke.

She came to me with the sound...

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As to the this and the that and the how and the why,
    I pass no judgement on the tale at hand.
And leave it to scribes to much later decide
  ...

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I shall resolve to leave this
Place now...
And steadfastly search out,
Nestling between ridge and bluff
Amidst the folds of a foreign 
Land,
Several acres of unkempt ground
Fallow and rough;
Upon which stands...
Crumbled stone walls
With an exposed slate roof in
Some...

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These are poems about starlight and moonlight, moons and stars, dreams and visions, illuminations and intimations …



Will There Be Starlight
by Michael R. Burch 

Will there be starlight
tonight
while she gathers
damask
and lilac
and sweet-scented heathers?

And will she find...

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Once again it’s Saturday; the day when footy reigns supreme.
The Dogs are up against the Cats, the premier favoured team,
but I’ve got no doubts the mighty Dogs will surely cope with that.
I couldn’t think of...

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Break my neck; snap it in two, snap it in half
don't give me that incredulous, frightened look as I ask
don't hesitate in front of me, please just do me this favor
so I gain a halo,...

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LOVE POEMS I by Michael R. Burch

These are love poems by Michael R. Burch: original poems and translations about passion, desire, lust, sex, a first date and dating, a first crush, a first girlfriend and...

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In the darkness of the night, 
a ruby gleams 
to contrast a slumbered eye awakened 
to feeling, 
reflection, light, 
Lady "Genie", eyes aglow
like a beast, in mid-stride,
lost in her midnight dreams is clothed in a...

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Defecation accidentally clogged...

for the umpteenth time 
during spate to sit scrawny buttucks 
on porcelain throne id est 
videre licet toilet bowl...
with toxic water brew threatening
to overflow onto the floor,
and hence found yours truly (me)
immersing himself...

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The Story of History  

Beyond those beaten days’ depleted daylight
Beyond the bathos of a pandemic bondage
With  the resurrected  sashay’s charmed night
Down in the dumps   at the pretentious  proscenium
A ...

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I once spent a week in the drunk tank
couldn't handle the spirits that I drank
the cuisine wasn't half bad
we even had a few laughs
but I had to guard my butt with a shank


……………………………………………………………………….


It used to...

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RED

One hundred years ago in Pollockshaws
A man was laid to rest,
From humble beginnings to a martyr
They buried Scotland’s best.

A man who stood for the people
A man unshaken and proud,
Till the imperialist and capitalist murderers
 Connived...

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So it was that the night transcended peacefully over my head
Taking me through thick clouds,landing me upon parched land
Spilling  tranquil moments into daylight complexity.
So it was that I found myself among a crowd of...

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Newfoundlanders can row, you should see some of'em go,
when they puts a punt on a pond. 
But I don't like this mess, all this Race foolishness,
I'd never seen so much goings on.

If you wants to...

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The flames of the furnace (well-travelled by wind
slowly glazing the rags of gray women chagrined
at the sight of a hair fleeing tresses now thinned) 
sometimes billow like waves flooding naves through the night,
when the lightning...

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My spirit has been calling to get up and go to the sea
My spirit has been telling me that there is something for me to see
My spirit is calling me to fly over the big...

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In the May-time of my life
time bloomed each day a prickly boll –
but I, like the softest cotton within such a sharp seed  
swaddled in the purity of security 
for what seemed like eternity...

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The Mojo Trick
Loch David Crane
June 1979

Sweat-sticky and hot! The P. I. is not
	a comfortable place to be;
but sit here and perspire (as though by the fire)
	and I'll tell a tale to thee.

I was coming alive...

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                                  ...

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5.

                                  ...

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(continued previous part 1)

The duke then: “Tell now: of others indeed
Some Latin among sinners do you know 
Behind pitch?”. And he “I  had to secede,

It’s not much, from one who near had to stow.
I...

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Part 10

The Sun high above was swiftly given a shove
    As the Moon appeared to swallow the night.
And with another miserable day... just hours away,
    They all slept to...

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Worthwhile


Your smile is a sonic boom, it blows me away.
I didn’t have a wow moment,
There is no word that can say,
How amazed I was,
I was lost,
I was gone.
I ceased to exist and I was reborn...

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"Perspective of an Invisible People"

Struggling for over four hundred years
Drowning in rivers of tears
Throughout the country's history
Accepting black people, still a mystery
Since the country's discovery, we've been abused 
Standing with strength, will prevent us from...

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