Long Almonds Poems

I love you only because I love you
by Pablo Neruda
loose translation by Michael R. Burch

I love you only because I love you;
I am torn between loving and not loving you,
Between apathy and desire.
My heart vacillates...

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Sonnet LXXXI-LXXXIX

Day, and Night
by Michael R. Burch

The moon exposes pockmarked scars of craters;
her visage, veiled by willows, palely looms.
And we who rise each day to grind a living,
dream each scented night of such perfumes
as drew...

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Slang..
Chick-fil-a = the best place ever
jade = 
brooke = gorgeous 
mishin = the boss, as in “You aren’t the boss of me.”

Orpheus
We’re on vaycay. School is OVER, COVID is over. We’re in New York City...

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t was half past five before sunrise, 
when darkness faded into the misty Saturday's dawn, 
just an hour after a bloody confrontation, 
but a brave woman descended into a blood-bathed
street of Lustre, 
with hungry cats...

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The third surgery didn’t work
He tells her there can be another one. 
He lies. Struggles to look in her eyes

She apologizes from a restless state
"I Won’t be here to see them graduate.
I won’t live to...

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Plenty of sleep, no more tv, the wars in the Middle East
are resource wars, disguised as religious debates.
So Dad would say.

A beautiful winter day, hunting
season. A Gun In Every Home, in light of U.S. mass...

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VII.

An involuntary shudder as I watch her 
Spread                           ...

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I’ve dreamt of mountains of rocky rode ice cream, dappled with candy
Kisses of purity sprinkled on top, hot steaming fudge pouring from heaven
On high, cascading as if an ocean of water streaming downwards onto my
Fantasy...

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The Way of the Coconut

The Way of the Coconut, that is our creed,
The coconut gives us all that we need.
From mental to physical, nothing left out,
It covers everything, without any doubt.
Where to begin, it’s really...

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(a rhyme revision in stanza 9 in case the sponsor already read this.)

'Twas the night before Christmas. My shopping was done.
But gifts needed wrapping, and THAT’S never fun!
Huge piles of gifts lay strewn everywhere.
They lay...

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"An X-Mess Carol"

Somewhere standing barefoot
in the sand, she thought with guilty pleasure
“This is the KORO SEA!” and
conjured up a multitude of story scenarios
Buccaneers, Pirates Parlay, Treasure Maps, 
Davy Jones Locker, Jack Sparrow, Ho’es
you know, those...

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cocoa powder puffs
for velvet truffle cheeks...
chocolate blush

sunny yolk says hi
butter gives an oozing hug--
bitter choc just melts

mmm, good, just so good
chocolate tickles tongue...
happy throaty slide

messy brown fingers
hot weather melts bittersweet--
oh! just lick them off

no more...

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"Our Sacred Lady of the Divine Perfect Imperfections" - Part 1

Our Sacred Lady of the Divine Perfect Imperfections
is worthy of our fervent introspection
constantly, equatiously
for SHE is “You”
and “You” is SHE
this is no mischievous 
chicanery, 
this...

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An Icy cold, sweet treat.
                       Often starts with vanilla, cookie cream,
  ...

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Your lips meet my own – 
Finally, I’ve gained hope and confidence 
On another level 
I know now that I’m not alone
Our bond is as sweet and luscious 
Like chocolate mixed with almonds  
The...

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whast dos' he sing of me
that he samples this as 
love
that they might stop
 to write
and sing this as love
must samples be tasted
and talked about
to create words
to speak
lesser of
what circumstance
I stand to thee
and sing


1/4 cup...

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The elegant thoughts of a precious mind the computational formula of a wicked demise. 
Conceptual seires of theories a conspiracy to seduce persuasive succulent poetry.  
Wicked mistress of promiscuous thoughts succulent dreams aromas of...

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I
A queue to a doorway
No-one knows what´s
On sale there
It could be washing powder
Almonds or diamonds
You think this was some
Yesterday
Look out your
Ghost smeared
Window
This is now

II
Throw stones at the
Motorcade 
The pin pricked
Giant will barely
Pause
At banners & petitions
Faded...

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In an old vineyard 
When Jesus was just a lamb 
His coat eight years old 
Working with the chaste Joseph 
His father and guide 
As the beloved Mary 
Kneeled and prayed to God 
In their...

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"The Anatomy of God"

Who shall say there is one God?
if there are many, as it seems
in all the world’s sects and religions -
Who is their God? Is the source
some universal, bright, big, ultra simple,
ultra clean...

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It stood magnificently in front of our Churchyard,
Like the sacred fig tree before any temple-yard;
My going to church, as a boy, had no other reason,
Than picking all bird-dropped fruits, as a mission;
Collecting as many as...

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No dear
Make the date for the tea
Friday at three
For the moon will be
At the windows
At the wee hours
And it will be the full moons
We will pick up as much as we choose
With the scarlet spoon

Monday...

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When a child if gifted with a book it transforms into a key to unlock the mind.  The gate to the secret garden of imagination is pried from its forgiving hinges and the child...

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I miss her, Mother Egypt
and those friends I left behind,
timeless history, marvels and mysteries
etched in stone by her own scribes.

Longing for the waters of the nourishing
River Nile and surrounding seas,
the laughter and smiles of everyone
who...

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The Honey Bee

Not fun to be stung by the Honey Bee
It happened to me picking from a cherry tree.

Only worker bees sting, and only under threat
They die once they sting but the hurt you can't...

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