Long Backwoods(a) Poems

Poems about Poems IV

The Toast
by Michael R. Burch

For longings warmed by tepid suns
(brief lusts that animated clay),
for passions wilted at the bud
and skies grown desolate and gray,
for stars that fell from tinseled heights
and mountains bleak...

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I melt into the plural sky
its rippling tableaus of tomorrow
underneath open light waves 
see-saws the labyrinth
like Delphi tendrils crossing channels 
all the changing faces played
automatic, embedded in misty consort 
with Hyde-Lees and Yeats 
love-crushed oracles
ghostwriting...

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New Year Poetry

Auld Lange Syne
by Robert Burns
translation by Michael R. Burch 

Should old acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to mind?
Should old acquaintance be forgot,
And days for which we pine?

For times we shared, my darling,
Days passed,...

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He was born in backwoods Missouri.
1840 the year he arrived.
Conflict, sickness and hard times prevailed.
Through it all he grew strong and survived.
Skills to live were a gift from his father.
Faith in God from his mother...

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I loved my job as a botanist, which took me to many foreign lands,
Like the golden sun rises smiling, to meet all our natural demands.

I was always marked for this work, ever since I was...

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“In the time when the heart beat slows” 

In the time when 
the heart beat slows
I close my eyes 
and meet you there
that place of aether
the either or,
the conversation 
takes a turn,
all the trees holding
creatures...

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           Your past, your romantic past, is a shadow. Like all towns, Port Angeles was a combination of rain and clouds, sun and mist, with a chamber of commerce, barrooms and boards of directors, the known...

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Granny Mae was a sweet old soul, but Granddad - not so much.  His all time favorite things were downin’ flies by spittin’ chew...
Droppin’ lines - illegally - from bridges...snaggin’ cats...an’ brewin’ Buckeye County’s...

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Jolly Polly Sue Conner was her name, and she came
from the grand old town found just outside of Harvest Oak,               ...

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tweaked to pass inspection broadcast on the double
(alternately titled snafu: ma bell heave hubble
vehicular repairs (prohibitive)
finds me bleary eyed stupefied
and countenance grizzled with prickly stubble
collapsed amidst virtual rubble).

Best sung courtesy rotten dull liver:red worst
after words...

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In June of seventeen seventy-eight
General Clinton led British troops north,
forced to abandon Philadelphia,
he now marched leisurely for New York.

He knew American troops shadowed him,
and he realized that he had a good chance
to draw Washington out...

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Moms wondering when her son will come home
She don’t realize he now belong to the road
Chose his own destiny, a hustler’s life
Married the game, she’s a demanding young wife
He’s lost sight
Throat tight
No longer can tell...

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His name was Alex Bergeron,
grew up west of New Orleans,
from a line of backwoods Cajuns,
went to school to follow his dreams.

He grew to become a doctor,
quickly built a name for himself,
Alex built himself a good...

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...He left here there, and she had a stunned look,
so did the first responders standing by,
no one had ever heard Dan talk that much,
much less express the feelings deep inside.

Needless to say, Tanya caught lots...

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Amos was a boy from the backwoods, 
lived his life back there up in the sticks.
Hunting, fishing, swimming, and drinking, 
was the way he would get all his kicks.

Well now Billy showed up that summer,...

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V.
Besides a rushing stream he saw a stone hut,
framed by aspens clinging to a rough slope,
the chimney was stained from long years of use,
But who lived out here? He just didn’t’ know.

Until his eyes happened...

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Elan's word?
Zulu's sword?
Heartsichordiums-convulsive-verb
"Anabantium", O wraith of mord.

So is it, it is for Hilerides-Dales, 
which green-discourse, 
Southeast of Wales 
or some other perch 
of liaisoned Angeles-porch ? 
Is one-way with a steep of glades newly born....

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I’m standing here so nervous, just about to pass out
Terror has it’s grip on me-I’m filled to the brim with doubt

My palms are sweaty and itchy, I’m having trouble holding on,
What in the heck was...

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Smoking and drinking what the hell were u thinking ? 
Theres No food on the table , the lights always blinking 
We ain't got cable 
I thought we were stable, now They want us out...

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BENEATH THE OLE’ SYCAMO’ TREE


In an unkempt place hidden in the backwoods underneath the ‘ole’ Sycamo’ tree lays a remnant of a people whose existence is noted only by weather beaten fragments of splintered wood.

Beyond...

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Long ago when I was younger, yearn for knowledge I did hunger,
heard about a rumor going ‘round.
Twas a legend told for ages, passed along as time turned pages,
strange as any tale twas ever found.
Rumor said...

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Just a Thought......20 below can be a temp......20 below can also " tempt"

Sometimes we have a life long dream...

but not sure where to start....

and sometimes we must go to the extreme..

with a thought that's not...

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IV.
But come the next day he saw no Cammy,
and could do nothing but sigh mournfully,
then say to himself,”I guess we're all done.
Even broken she'll stay here in the sun.”

Norm returned home, to his calm, rustic...

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I was having a dialog
with my inner shock collar
a present from my fairy godmother
who had trimmed the hedge
into leafy mammals with teeth
ready to protect the perimeter
and as sure as incisors segue to molars
they tore loose...

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In the foothills of the Ozarks lived a man named Jed.
He was so poor, and barely kept his family fed.
He struggled to survive and never had quite enough.
The land he lived on was full of...

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