Long Basketball team Poems

Where Does the Butterfly Go?
by Michael R. Burch

for the children of the Holocaust and the Nakba

Where does the butterfly go
when lightning rails,
when thunder howls,
when hailstones scream,
when winter scowls,
when nights compound dark frosts with snow ...
Where...

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Juvenilia: Early Poems IX

These are early poems of mine, written in my teens as a high school student and during my first two years of college.

Shock
by Michael R. Burch

It was early in the morning of...

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In 1958 Elmer's was the only high school in his county that had been integrated. Basketball was the big sport. People in the little town filled the gym every Tuesday and Friday. They roared when...

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When you wear a dirty shirt,
You're a book getting judged by its cover.
People think you're really poor, or nutty,
Or that you have a menial job.
Or that you're all three of those,
And then they throw in...

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In my earliest years, I had a best friend classmate named "Yank'.
Back then, I didn't care where he got his name, but now I do.  To this day,      ...

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He was born a bouncing baby boy in the year 1975 in Hampton Virginia.

To two loving parents Ann Iverson and Allen Broughton.


While growing up in Hampton, the nick name "Bubba Chuck" was given to this...

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The year of 2022 and we still experience fear. 
Why do you fear us in “Your” neighborhood, especially Black males? You fear Black males, yet Black males may be working for your company. They are...

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The Metro

At the metro 
Railroad cars run on steel, metal tracks above and below ground
A narrow pathway in the dark 
A screeching halt
A loud whistle
A train is approaching  now 

Subway lines follow their route...

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You know I met you while at work
    We go to completely different schools
       I just happen to work right inside yours
    ...

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Mick never had the height but he could jump.                          ...

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In Middle School, I played in several basketball games, two of which
were most memorable. One of them we lost but won the other one.

Once in a while, we are blessed with the presence of a...

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Why the long face, son? Did someone die?
   Aw, Dad.  I flunked my math exam
Did you do your level best, son?
   I did, Dad.  I studied so hard for...

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My first taste of GOD was fed to me by my dear mother when she prayed with me by the bedside each night as she resighted to me The Lord's Prayer. 

Our FAMILY consisted of...

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JUST DUCKY, WHY?


“Oh, look, my little Johnny’s the only one in step.”
It had always seemed that way,
somehow, no matter how hard he tried
little Johnny just couldn’t seem to get it straight.

He colored outside the lines
just...

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Oh, those carefree days of youth
where did they go, where did they go?

He sits quietly in his recliner watching the TV drone on and on...
Handsome in his youth, now his body is gaunt and frail
his...

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'Shorty', they called him from the very first grade in school.
He was seldom chosen for any game as a general rule.
He'd reached his maximum height of five feet six as a teen.
Though small in stature,...

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The "Remix" of 1980 and 1986 continued in 2013: The Louisville Cardinals Basketball Team had bliss,and under Rick Pitino the team did a "Remix" of 1980,and 1986! The Louisville Cardinals Basketball Team were a "Hit"!...

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Sex 101
by Michael R. Burch

That day the late spring heat
steamed through the windows of a Crayola-yellow schoolbus
crawling its way up the backwards slopes
of Nowheresville, North Carolina...

Where we sat exhausted
from the day’s skulldrudgery
and the unexpected waves...

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Ade is a 2.5 wheelchair basketball player, 
Who was born in Lagos in Nigeria in 1978,
His home town is Liverpool, a Mersey sayer,
In Spain club BSR Amiab Albacete is a date. 

He lives partly in...

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IT'S EARLY AS I WHIPE THE SLEEP OUT MY EYES
I KNOW I NEED THIS EDUCATION
I WANT TO BE GREAT IN MY FAMILY'S MINDS
AS I WALK THROUGH THE CAMPUS
I DON'T KNOW WHAT'S IN STORE
I THINK NOTHING...

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FOREVER LOVE

 Margie........my one and only........Margie

 love's music echoes timeless
 spring fed      it flows forever

 Pop would get up early, make Mom's hand-mixed
 favorite black and green tea, and when...

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Simon has been to 7 Paralympic games, 
Starting with Barcelona and including Rio, 
He has a silver from Atlanta - 1992 planes,
A bronze Athens 2004, a bronze 2008 trio.

After a night out on his way...

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"Clean up your toys and come down for dinner, young man"
     came Mom's call from the kitchen
The little boy had a job to do, but he didn't want to do it...

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Below are the majority views of students about to vote
for their next high school head-captain: 


Nelson:

He is tall and handsome,
plays for our basketball team,
knows the best bars in town,
hates maths, just like us.


Pitt:

He's shy,
hates proms...

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In games as in life, we cannot always win; and sometimes we even get  injuries that force us to sit out the game. When in the 8th grade, I made    ...

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