Long Ars Poems

State of the Art (IV)

These are my "ars poetica" poems about the art and craft of writing poetry. 



Hearthside
by Michael R. Burch

“When you are old and grey and full of sleep...”  — W. ...

Read More

State of the Art (III)

These are my "ars poetica" poems: the ones about the art and craft of writing poetry in a modern world that doesn't always recognize the artists or their work. 



Come Down
by...

Read More

Juvenilia: Early Poems V

Poetry
by Michael R. Burch

Poetry, I found you
where at last they chained and bound you;
with devices all around you
to torture and confound you,
I found you—shivering, bare.

They had shorn your raven hair
and taken both...

Read More

The Making of a Poet
by Michael R. Burch

While I don’t consider “Poetry” to be my best poem—I wrote the first version in my teens—it’s a poem that holds special meaning for me; I call it...

Read More

State of the Art (II)

These are my "ars poetica" poems about the art and craft of writing poetry. 



What the Poet Sees
by Michael R. Burch

What the poet sees,
he sees as a swimmer 
~~~~underwater~~~~
watching the shoreline...

Read More

UNQUOTABLE QUOTES: XLVII - Tongue Twisters

If you want to « have » your cake and « eat » it at one and the same time, simple enough, just split it into two equal parts like...

Read More

Quotes:  -- "  deus ex machina "

""Aristotle praised Euripides, however, for generally ending his plays with bad fortune, which he viewed as correct in tragedy, and somewhat excused the intervention of a deity...

Read More

Theatrum Mundi

Theatrum Mundi, derived from the Latin as: “Theater of the World,” was famously incorporated by William Shakespeare for his well-known metaphorical world-view often referred to under the rubric of “All the World’s a Stage,”...

Read More

beMUSEd
by Michael R. Burch

Perhaps at three
you'll come to tea,
to have a cuppa here?

You'll just stop in
to sip dry gin?
I only have a beer.

To name the "greats":
Pope, Dryden, mates?
The whole world knows their names.

Discuss the "songs"
of...

Read More

Villanelle
by Michael R. Burch

Is poetry mere turning of a phrase?
Has prose become its height and depth and sum?
What happened to the songs of yesterdays?

Does prose leave all nine Muses vexed and glum,
with fingers stuck in...

Read More

Epigrams VII

A question that sometimes drives me hazy: 
am I or are the others crazy?
—Albert Einstein, poetic interpretation by Michael R. Burch


The Whole of Wit
by Michael R. Burch

for and after Richard Moore

If brevity is the...

Read More

(continued from Part 1)

Two points create a line
A space from two words
And on and on a verse
A poetry line is sound and sense
A dense fabric of many textures & hues
Woven on a temporal loom
With patterns...

Read More

Freedom is an alter ego like a mask
Behind which censor has no eyes, and balm its blood applies.
Poetry is my freedom when wings cannot fly
The pain of the arrow in my solitary eye ...
You wrote...

Read More

a notarized copy of this testament
is on file with my attorney
in case of my untimely unearthing
by the invisible background
driving another stake through my lactating heart
but back to our comatose semiotic narrative
The Eel king rips off...

Read More

In a time of sorrow and mourning
           when darkness covers the morning
           when faces ars...

Read More

I have realised shortly that "silence"is one of my 
defence mechanism.
At times when sprayed by anger I drape my 
outfit silence.
Yes, I veil my emotions with quietude.
There are lot of aggression boiling inside 
powerful mind...

Read More

For those of a military cast of mind
There are many poems they can find
Which do embellish battlefield glory
In the telling of their story.

But for me there is another field of play 
Where merry pleasure is...

Read More

Poetry

Poetry, I found you 
where at last they chained and bound you;
with devices all around you 
to torture and confound you,
I found you—shivering, bare.

They had shorn your raven hair 
and taken both your eyes
which, once...

Read More

Poesy requires skill and meter,
     and a bard of golden heart;
or he will tire and teeter.
“Ars longa, vita brevis.”

A bard must seek inspiration, 
     and write with...

Read More

A BRUSH OF ARS POETICA


Rhythmic verses wherein death paints a picturesque of life
or life itself is written in lethargic-dying state:
a dusty stocked vocabulary still cuts like a knife
when done and re-phrased witty, nonparallel and ornate.

Like...

Read More

Ars Poetica
 
Horace circa 19 BC gave some sound advice to
poets on the art of writing poetry and drama.

The following thoughts may echo in our minds,
most likely, the intent of what he may have meant...

Read More

someday, he will sit stiff
on our piano bench 
to which he has grown accustomed, and i,
home, will sit nearby 
in our cozy armchair, 
an old accomplice to my posture.

     i can’t...

Read More

Ars Poetica


Poetry should woo you with the subtlety of a snake charmers flute
sway you side to side, captive, held in its sensuous grasp.
The words should lead you blindfolded through a myriad of meaning
allowing you to...

Read More

Of 
splendid 
thrones of 
gold
Of 
treasures 
manifold

Of Sultans 
and Shahs
Of Emirs 
and Rajahs

Of 
jewelled 
caskets
or lavish 
banquets

Of 
sparkling 
crowns
and 
flowing 
gowns

Of kings 
and queens
Rulers and 
emperors

Of their 
subservient 
stewards 
and 
obedient 
butlers
Or the 
servile 
knaves...

Read More

Poetry is a busy crosswalk downtown,
when everyone moves together with elbows 
held a little wider than normal.
Poetry is a middle-aged man, creased 
and folded, sprawled out on the neglected 
weeds in Woodruff park, eyes wide...

Read More