Long Aphids Poems

Lady’s Favor
by Michael R. Burch

May
spring
fling
her riotous petals
devil-
may-care
into the air,
ignoring the lethal
nettles
and may
May
cry gleeful-
ly Hooray!
as the abundance
settles,
till a sudden June
swoon
leave us out of tune,
torn,
when the last rose is left
inconsolably bereft,
rudely shorn
of every device but her thorn.


The...

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"As other spirits sail on music, mine, oh my love, swim on your perfume." Charles Baudelaire

"Sometimes you find an old bottle from which the soul returns." 
Charles Baudelaire

"Smell is a Word. Perfume is Literature."

"There are...

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Winter
by Michael R. Burch

The rose of love's bright promise
lies torn by her own thorn;
her scent was sweet
but at her feet
the pallid aphids mourn.

The lilac of devotion
has felt the winter hoar
and shed her dress;
companionless,
she shivers—nude, forlorn.

Published...

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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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Rejection Slips

With over 5,700 publications if I count poems that have gone viral, I suppose I shouldn’t complain … but I do have some poems that have never been accepted for publication. Here are a...

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Juvenilia: Early Poems XII

Because You Came to Me
by Michael R. Burch

for Beth

Because you came to me with sweet compassion
and kissed my furrowed brow and smoothed my hair,
I do not love you after any fashion,
but wildly,...

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A listing of the fires 
and all the survivors 
will be provided

Names of the dead 
are written on broken cobblestones 
at the bottom of the river

The sheet music 
is in the morgue - reconstruction 
of...

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Advice to Young Poets
by Nicanor Parra Sandoval
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Youngsters,
write however you will
in your preferred style.
Too much blood flowed under the bridge
for me to believe
there’s just one acceptable path.
In poetry everything’s permitted.



Byron
was not...

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"Dirt Road to Hill End"



a midnight drive 
the chauffeur sings soft dreams
before the child in time arrives
a dream not even borne 
a silent second sideways smile, magic,
minutiae missed in the authoress' mind

the stars reflecting
in the...

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AT ONE WITH NATURE

~~~~~~~~~~

The sun shines, brightly lights my day. My garden verdant many hues of green. Greater speedwell, resilient, blooms no matter the season. Late spring, early summer it explodes. Late Jack Frost, it...

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A post from the past.....just trying to put down all the ones I have written but deleted when I left the site for a while......this is almost too long, but I couldn't find which animal...

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Sam is a novice gardener who stamps on all ants
He doesn't like them near or crawling on his plants
Their Queen was angry and wanted revenge
For the ones that had fallen she wanted to avenge.

They planned...

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"Light Wings and Gossamer Black"



tears of all the lost years 
ghosts' pearls falling softly gossamer black

caressing your sad heart’s crimson 
its bleeding broken beautiful cracks

a small heaven winks back 
some of your light wings

the other...

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A Surfeit of Light
by Michael R. Burch

There was always a surfeit of light in your presence.
You stood distinctly apart, not of the humdrum world—
a chariot of gold in a procession of plywood.

We were all pioneers...

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Early in the morning when the air was lying still
A ladybug was right outside, on my window sill.
"What the hell you looking at? I hope you get your fill. 
Get on you little redhead, go...

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The ABCs of Things Green

Algae, alligator, artichoke, asparagus, aphids, Andradite,
Brussels sprouts, broccoli, Buffalo Treehopper, and beans,
Cuckoo Wasp, Cabbage, cucumber, Common Green Darner, and celery 
Dog Day Cicada, Delphinium flowers diopside and dioptase, (rocks),
Emeralds, eyes, endive,...

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And this is the origin of victory:
A man once went to sow his mustard seed;
The path to his garden was impassable muddy
And the weather was discouraging awry,
Thin drizzle and heavy downpour alike
Made clothes stick to...

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We are like wiggling aphids on a quantum computer.
Knowledge beyond the scope of the most gifted tutor.
Spaces and dimensions multiplied by infinity, plus one.

Therefore, I am open to any possibility, oddity -- or none.
Too many...

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In early morning light I wheel myself outdoors. The vibrating air lively with small dancing aphids. In distance near, that booming sound of crashing waves against the sand, waves with their perpetual wish to walk...

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Sand dunes reflecting blazing heat burn tiny feet. 
Undulating waves wash the shores with their cooling.
Morning Glory vines climb high offering a nectar treat. 
Mockingbirds soar above gardens, insect seeking.
Every school-aged child enjoys long awaited...

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Let Us Go To The Haunted 
Hollow

His feet slide across the leaves
Rustle. His eyes are teary
They glint white under the 
night sun
His body is tired, mind weary
As he trudges. Left foot right 
foot
Down an honour...

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Lady Bird
Though not a lady
nor even is she a bird
But she's the most
exquisite beauty
ever seen
though never heard
Her coat of ruby red
‘tis almost designer
one could have said
With small black polka dots galore
This gorgeous creature...

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If I were that rose
[purple]from the breath of may,
I would preach love
not the blood of heartbreaks.

If I were that rose
my necter I shall give freely,
and not as a loan
given to the poor out of greed.

If...

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June 10, 2020

Do you have a garden that you really love?
One that you don’t mind digging in?
You don’t even mind if the Ladybugs eat it
That only kills your aphids dead.

I love my garden!
I love my...

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Gardening in April
I am truly Nature's child.
The sun is newly warming.
The winds have slowed to mild.
Everything about me
Is so eager to begin.
My tools and knees are freshly oiled. 
Spring has uncovered Eden.
The azaleas and the...

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