Long Amoeba Poems

Rejection Slips 2

The Shape of Mourning
by Michael R. Burch
 
The shape of mourning
is an oiled creel
shining with unuse,
 
the bolt of cold steel
on a locker
shielding memory,

the monthly penance
of flowers,
the annual wake,
 
the face in the...

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Lozenge
by Michael R. Burch

When I was closest to love, it did not seem
real at all, but a thing of such tenuous sweetness
it might dissolve in my mouth
like a lozenge of sugar.

When I held you in...

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Prose Poems II
by Michael R. Burch

These are prose poems (is that an oxymoron?) and experimental poems...



briefling
by Michael R. Burch

manishatched, hopsintotheMix, cavorts, hassex (quick!, spawnanewBrood!); then, likeamayfly, he’s suddenly gone: plantfood.



bachelorhoodwinked
by Michael R. Burch

u are charming...

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Poem 1: A Boy And His Painted Piano

he used lively greens
tender blues,
touches of plain mauve 
and rainbow trout splatters
to paint music
on the gas fumes 
that inhabited the clean air
that once use to live there.

he made...

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Housekeeping not a strong suit with the missus

(***warning ungapatchka language ahead***)
regarding following lines courtesy the missus,
who adventitiously, inadvertently, unknowingly
allowed, enabled and provided inspiration I
attest Frau Harris inspired me as she lies abed.

Flush with rage the...

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UNDERBELLIES


What underbelly is this 
          containing quiet grasping greed for
my magical sword gifted to me by St Michael ?
       What...

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June 2, 2014 at 7:26pm

 Too much testosterone in our Bologna

too much testosterone-e in our baloney

killed the dignity of our femininity.

Stepped out of my character onto front

lines, armed with cocktails, rocks, and lighters

Mothers, warriors, and...

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(***warning ungapatchka language ahead***)

Hence plead ding for 
Mary Poppins wannabe
with snap of her fingers 
can affect ship shape
tidiness, which task 
needed before May 2022 
when yearly inspection 
indeed takes place.

Flush with rage the spouse 
will...

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Housekeeping not a strong suit with the missus

(***warning ungapatchka language ahead***)
regarding following lines courtesy the missus,
who adventitiously, inadvertently, unknowingly
allowed, enabled and provided inspiration I
attest Frau Harris inspired me as she lies abed.

Flush with rage the...

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A kangaroo in dungarees hops hopefully 
	To win first prize in the Favs contest hot
		On the heels of an enlightening glow worm

Surely life is no competition but the stage lights
	Reverberates all the promising contenders
		Reincarnation oils...

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"50 Words for Poe: Temporal"



"Labyrinthine mind 
within chalked 
bones of cranium
lies the vestibule 
and shrine of
broken sacraments -
absent Advent,
Pentecost and
an "epiphany" 
solely lacking 
The All Divine.
There She lays like
Iseult waiting for 
Dragon's tongue
Black night eternal
immersed...

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(***warning ungapatchka language ahead***)

Flush with rage the spouse will become allied
if reference made how she buzzfeeds disorder
altercation especially likely if divorce blurted
making me wish to experience (immediately)
bartered bride, when mine pointed finger doth
nonverbally chide markedly...

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Friends used to say like an elephant I never forget
these days I have the memory of a goldish or amoeba
often find myself staring blanking into the fridge
wondering what I am doing there, what I’m looking...

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Where, oh where, is God? 
When will the man-child stop asking why,
stop searching for the other, the greater, the bigger
the more glorious presence?

This constant need to see other than oneself as the source.
Even with a...

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You gaudy stars do not get giddy when I grieve
Nor wrest through clouds to melt this darkness
That so befits what logics to your destiny weave
For all dreams, and all theories prove finiteness
Where death draws the...

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Before they silence my voice
Under jackboots and bone crushing dogs
I must set fort before dusk
As I am shielded 
By his gore
And crafted like Daniel
In the lions den
And Jonah in the whales gut

I must scurry to...

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PROLOGUE

Umpteen billion years
Big Bang, supernova, gas
Brief eclipse of time

Gases swirling, fall
Sun and planets, water, goo
Brief eclipse of time

Another billion
life, amoeba, fishes swim
Brief eclipse of time

Movement, change and flux
slither, crawl, climb, walk and talk
Brief eclipse of...

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Pure filth in the sick terrain of disease
amoeba,bacteria gnawing on carrion putrid
smelling awful the fetid wafts captured noses
puissance in resistance aided by gear little
toll was heavy like a hammer of God.

Sins overgrew like wild moss...

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From the ashes of superstition,
like a Phoenix we have risen!
As he puts on his White Lab Coat
of Unthinkable Wisdom.
In reality... yet constantly dreaming.
Under a microscope he tries to find meaning.
Building blocks of existence,
a scientist's relentless...

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I did not plan to be a single cell amoeba
or this me, a conglomerate jigsaw of a being
a million times removed from primordial goo.
I was peacefully inanimate at times
endowed only with a little foggy awareness...

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Somewhere in the darkness a tiny wave of energy begins to oscillate 
It sends ripples of potentiality across the vast ocean of space
The ripples turn into larger waves 
And create a shock that reverberates throughout...

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Splintering away from all that matters
Burdens of trust shred my brain to tatters
Gratitude infects while I glimpse your face
Hurdles abound to perk my apathy
Until I'm stung by that buzzing wrath bee
Bold cup full of bliss...

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like gossip, love's epidemiology
causal, a vector rampant spreading
has another uncontrolled physiology
a loving caring directional heading

love can't grow in a Petri dish
unless you're an amoeba or other cell
if agape's agar to feed, would wish
then i'd suppose...

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Just holding on


I’ve been spinning around;
I’m so lost in this town.
Still trying to find perfection;
Looking for direction.
I need a guiding hand to push me like you mean it!
I want you to help me, to tell...

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So many sick rivers 
Of pain, shock and shiver
Flow from longstanding wounds
Of soul-chopping depression that surround
Many islands next to you and me
As a consequence of the malady
Our development system is trapped in
Because of the flaws...

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