Long Battling Poems

Currents
by Michael R. Burch

How can I write and not be true
to the rhythm that wells within?
How can the ocean not be blue,
not buck with the clapboard slap of tide,
the clockwork shock of wave on rock,
the...

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Poems about Mothers


Mother's Smile
by Michael R. Burch

There never was a fonder smile
than mother's smile, no softer touch
than mother's touch. So sleep awhile
and know she loves you more than "much."

So more than "much, " much more...

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Beckoning
by Michael R. Burch 
 
Yesterday the wind whispered my name
while the blazing locks
of her rampant mane
lay heavy on mine.
And yesterday
I saw the way
the wind caressed tall pines
in forests laced by glinting streams
and thick with...

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With my Uyghur poetry translations I am trying to build awareness of the plight of Uyghur poets who are being sent to Chinese "reeducation" concentration camps.

Elegy
by Perhat Tursun
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Asylum seekers, will...

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He has the biggest heart.

He enjoys doing things for other people

Just because it’s the right thing to do, and

Knowing he made someone happy makes him happy too.

He’ll do whatever he can to satisfy

Everyone around him.

But...

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Here I stand outside this door heart beating out of my chest, knowing that once I cross this threshold there will be nothing of me left
I got myself into this predicament I wanted this so...

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In the ancient Empire of the Chrysanthemum Throne, horsemen riders from the southern regions, their steel swords close to their sides, clang heavily to their waist as they ride hard to the capital. Before their...

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Crumbled like dust and I began to stumble like ashes with a gust of wind – that’s what I felt before exchanging smiles and goodbyes…
Oblivious obviously…removing the plank from my own eyes of deep-inside-prideful lies
Memorably,...

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The Story of History  

Beyond those beaten days’ depleted daylight
Beyond the bathos of a pandemic bondage
With  the resurrected  sashay’s charmed night
Down in the dumps   at the pretentious  proscenium
A ...

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A Dark Identity

Days into nights... time without time
Normalities of everyday life beckons to remain
Shadows with lights.... to find to define
I am he who goes by without a name

The world is only up to date
And I’ve...

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Gloriously luxuriating in eternal sleep...

versus being alive 
predicated victory videre licet lunatic
if Trump trumped Kamala Harris
and stole 2024 presidential election,  
(whereat Musk bribed 
significant number of voters
handing out wads of cash)
courtesy underhanded modus operandi
and...

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Oppressor and the oppressed.

Who is the oppressed and who is the oppressor?
Who has the right to beat a random person on the street?
Who has the right when to pronounce a person guilty or to see...

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In the raw expanse of land where rivers sigh,  
marked by the shadows of cats and dogs,  
with each puddle of yellow reminding us  
of lives once lived, hearts bound to the...

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Dear global leaders - keep on rockin' in the free world
after implementing long overdue criminal justice reforms,
especially affecting marginalized groups of people.

I vote for more lenient, progressive and tolerant treatment
towards undocumented immigrants, plus implementing
a humane...

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That following month Damian 
Started spending more time with 
His sons.  He opened a new 
Billards hall in town. He made
The trip into town with two of
His sons, leaving the youngest,
Joshua Justin and Jordan...

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MOTHER

Mother is a very meaningful word.
Mother is a person that carries a lot of weight.
When I think of mother,
Mother Mary comes to my mind.

The understanding, courageous, protective Mother.
Understanding the responsibilities of a mother,
having the courage...

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Gloriously luxuriating in eternal sleep

Forlorn; bereft of golden
(slippered) opportunities I weep;
Three score and four years
replete with mailer daemons,
hence mindset adrip
with self denouncing expletive filled bleep
unwritten expressed recriminations
wielded upon figurative head of wimpy blip;
decades elapsed at...

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'm extinct 
I'm irrelevant 
Rare off day today
Go to to store and see if I can pilfer a couple xmas presents
Raise me this way
My moms ddnt 
But my deviation has allowed me
Woke up this morning...

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Your Own Favorite Poem Contest
Sponsor: Carol Eastman

"GOOD BYE, MY LOVE" Part I
Written: December 14, 2015

After the snowfall but before the lily blossoms,
you were this woman who left by choice,
all natural decisions made from a place...

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NEW TIME SAME PROBLEM STILL PREJUDICE

I am colored by my skin type is...
Dark brown I am black
If the color of my skin offends you, then
Just close your, eyes close your eyes;
Be surprised everything in the...

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~ Punished~
                        
One evening with her dad she met this man at...

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"Life is like a chess match 
To win you must be swift and able to maneuver 
Yes, life and the chess match are very much the same 
Once the king dies, no others continue the...

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2012 Celtic 2013 Shamrock 2014 choir music ministry 2015 helping my son care for his wife during chemo finally 2016 welcoming my granddaughter six weeks old whose mother was battling cancer watching their brave battle...

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That's my dad for you... getting his hands deep into the knitty-gritty, when most others would just back off a safe distance away saying, "No thanks! Maybe when Armageddon comes a'knocking we can talk religion,...

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I can clearly sense your utter despair of Der Matratzengruft*
As you valiantly carried on your poetic works to the very end.
This did not change your literary accomplishments well-known,
And your courage through the misery and morphine*...

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