Long Apache Poems

Salat Days
by Michael R. Burch 

(dedicated to my grandfather, Paul Ray Burch Sr.)

I remember how my grandfather used to pick poke salat ...
though first, usually, he’d stretch back in the front porch swing,
dangling his long...

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                 On the first day of yuletide my dear presented me

        ...

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[Just a little note to help maintain the peace on Soup.          
To cause no animosity among our friendly group
I myself am partial to some tasty asian...

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Reflections upon mine gender identity redux

Although heterosexual 
predilections punctuated
physiological pulsations 
about five inches below
innie belly button of mine 
showcasing undersize
male member, when fully erect 
not much to crow
about, contributed 
diminished masculinity within
body electric regarding 

wordsmith...

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See problems they no worry Timothy
He was raised by his Great Grandmother
One day she taught him
Miho you can make life beautiful or ugly
Work hard, find a woman who has a strong back
Beauty fades it doesn’t...

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Cooper was a large and curious tiger, the bright star of a motley circus,
Always out of step with others; like erring moon, of dawn skies, citrus.

He was well fed and got lots of attention, like...

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After work at Google, I sat with the guys
I said we were elite, enlightened and wise
We had to censor those in this benighted nation
Who spread disruptive disinformation.

A Venture Cap named Hank said this isn't fair
He...

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"Gathering roots holds up a mirror between the map in the earth 
and the map of our minds."
          Robin Wall Kimmerer "Braiding Sweetgrass"

Permaculture Design
is about landscape...

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...Todd was surprised by his stern eyes,
he seemed serious about it.
Todd said, “There’s a town two days on,
my horse can take double a bit.

“But I don’t know about this ‘debt,’
I just did what any would...

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A
                                  ...

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In the 1600's, Europeans lived on the eastern shore
Their numbers grew, they wanted more.
Iroquios, Sauk, Ottawa, and Mohawk were tribes they met
Too many and more, paid our forefathers' debt.
Men moved west thru the Cumberland gap
Daniel...

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Indignant, his head hung low, eyes glassy, all he has is his memories.
Within the pain he can no longer tolerate, within the hundreds of enmeshed bodies…
Stinking and rotting.
All he has is his memories.
Escaping the frightful...

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amuck - adverb.flailing in all directions, about, around - His ideas ran amuck.

brang – verb, past tense.bring – You ring, you rang, I bring, I brang.

chipps - noun, plural.an asset for selling, a favor owing,...

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...A warrior shrieked, pitched sideways,
bled when he hit the ground,
the Apache spurred their horses,
looking to flank around.
But John expected such a thig,
he looked right and saw one,
the Indian jerked violently,
bullet through his eardrum.
Just them a...

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You see that there? That’s Sinter’s Cross,
on the bluff by the stream,
a cross has stood there with his name
since eighteen eighty-three.
That was the year John Sinter fell,
but I’ll not skip ahead,
I’ll do it right and...

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It has came to my attention John that there was an illegal system in the area, it even wiped out my PC temporarily. I had to do a report.
at first I thought it was you...

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I sometimes hear a stubborn myth,
that before Europeans came
the locals of America
all lived lives quite peaceful, and tame.

The old trope of the Noble Savage,
that somehow manages to persist,
polls show a disturbing number
of people believe in...

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We Are One


Dear Ancient Sister
I hear your distant calls finding me on a gentle breeze
You have lived in my dreams for many seasons

My voice 
Your voice
My soul
Your soul
And our Coming of Age

I have always known...

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Shuddering awake in a plane
32000 feet above home, family,
Commitment
Right

Clown inside me thinks he's cute
The poet sticks to the shadows
"Laugh and the world laughs with you
Cry and you cry alone"
Tired of being alone 
Tired of numb...

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Erasure Poem 
So many fake Indians these days
Elizabeth Warren is one
And according to my DNA results
I am too

But my grand-parents spoke Cherokee my mom claims
And they disappeared into the hills 
She claims

Is the DNA test...

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I’m about to die
But before I do,
let me tell you why
There was a savage battle
between some Apache scouts and my frontier men
And as they like to say
down by the Texas border,
it was a Mexican standoff
Neither...

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...But as Burning Wing approached them
three leapt up with long knives in hand,
and dragged Burning Wing from his horse,
down onto the rough desert sands.

Todd cried out as the knives slashed down,
spurred his horse in a...

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I loved you John Wayne!
		I wished you were my father
		or maybe an older brother 
		who’d tutor me to be tough
		when manners weren’t enough
		and toughness was needed
		that civility be heeded
		and not to brag or complain.
		O I...

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You're smiling ...
I'm staring at you
I know you know that I know
That you like me ... that you REALLY like me
Wendy told me, and Linda told her
(After I had Dave ask Debbie to ask Linda)
So...

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They walked around the pond
speaking of the beautiful lotes
she told a story of someone From her youth
about the legend of "Apache Tears"
a man who cried when someone
spoke his name.
She said he cried for them that...

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