Long Beguile Poems

Sonnets XXV-XXXII

Archaischer Torso Apollos (“Archaic Torso of Apollo”)
by Rainer Maria Rilke
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

We cannot know the beheaded god
nor his eyes' forfeited visions. But still
the figure's trunk glows with the strange vitality
of a...

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Sonnets X-XVI


Archaischer Torso Apollos (“Archaic Torso of Apollo”)
by Rainer Maria Rilke
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

We cannot know the beheaded god
nor his eyes' forfeited visions. But still
the figure's trunk glows with the strange vitality
of a...

Read More

Archaic Torso of Apollo
by Rainer Maria Rilke
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

We cannot know the beheaded god
nor his eyes' forfeited visions. But still
the figure's trunk glows with the strange vitality
of a lamp lit from within,...

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Dream-worker 
delves deeply into my dream;

vibrations fondle anticipation
foreplay wakes wide-eyed 
swells of liquid libido quake the rendezvous edge -
a primordial being in his prime
a masculine ego quest for affaire d’amour;
her night-loving body 
c h a...

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Goodness, I nearly lost my balance on the spiral seashells and broken sea stone chipping matrix.
My quaint obsession with marine life and that skyline paradox blossoming so tantalisingly,  might be a source of some...

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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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HEROES

Near somber guards, units of children heap 
dead leaves, naive to any else fallen.
Friend, you chuckle, but your posture speaks
of duty on this day of contradictions.

Firefighters bow heads in silent paean, 
while polished trucks stand...

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Swept up into piles; everywhere 
Abouts; in collected heaps all 
Around.               
It is almost as if the drab 
Streets were strewn...

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As I look back upon a terrific, exciting, and storied career,
I revisit the trove of golden memories, which I hold so dear.

Although some were bad, they have been predominantly sweet;
But the most striking one, still...

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Archaischer Torso Apollos ("Archaic Torso of Apollo")
by Rainer Maria Rilke
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch 

We cannot know the beheaded god
nor his eyes' forfeited visions. But still
the figure's trunk glows with the strange vitality
of a...

Read More

Inspired by the painting "Highland Lassie" (1871) by Thomas Faed.

(Verse One; In introduction to Cailin)
Walkin' on the highways, searchin' down the byways,
Tromps a lonely figure on the Highland roads;
Peerin' from the Highdown, breezin' through the...

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This is a very sad tale, indeed. Does anything hurt more than a shattered heart?


You asked me for a story from the days of long ago, of unrequited love…of broken hearts…and love betrayed. 
This brings...

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Crown of Sonnets

Yesterday's poems now pages turned brown
Lay scattered, torn on the floor of my years
Written long ago with words I wrote down
When the ink was used to quell the heart's fears
These words of my...

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oh youth in all its callow shades
               is from our hope, precisely made
        ...

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MY FIRST FRENCH KISSES
by
JOHN M. ARRIBAS

My first french kiss; I was lanky, skinny, barely fifteen
I had the hots for the popcorn girl, she was eighteen
She made and sold the popcorn at the Strand Theater
Our mutual...

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Joyful music filled the village
when mother’s barren womb gave birth. 
Born to end Philistine pillage, 
and fill sad, anxious hearts with mirth.

No wine or product of the vine,
should pass your palate when you dine.
No razor...

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A FADING QUEEN
by
JOHN M. ARRIBAS

She had  all the feminine gifts those many years ago
Drawing stares from everyone where ever she’d  go
Back in high school, she was the center of attraction
In every classroom, she...

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Part 1 - A raven alone, ravaging around in the darkness..... 

i.

Ultimately aware, suspense is such, though truly I am sensing,

something dark diverting mind withdrawn, the silence muttered,

since melancholy holds suspicion where to probe now...

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(continued from, "An Epistle Warning against Melancholia: an Allegory--Part I," where somewhere in late 18th-century Europe a friend, Laetitia, by way of a letter warns her beloved girlfriend, Euphoria--a young, gay and unsuspecting mistress--against the...

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“Her Ever Changing Moods, the Rapture Reprising”

Lavender seduces symmetry  
in her ever changing moods
slips into something more comfortable

a swollen tangerine sky 
moves its tongue over 
the blues of her violet harbour 

calling the siren...

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"Distant" 

When winter came
it came fast 
cold as a witch's t*t

unwelcome and 
unwanted, 
we hesitate 

to move 
any further within 
the forest's interior

alarmed at how 
swift the transfiguring
of a season, begins

we think, 
now that in...

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The mystical maid of the seasonal change, in summer darns a
Gown of evergreen, with rose petal blossoms of bows, and leaves
Ribbons woven intertwine through thorns and beauty.
In the rush the colder winds blow at natures...

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The Prince grinned at my revelation,
He let go of my hands turning to the walls of the well
He heaved in a deep breath and laughed, 
Turning again to me,
With incredulous chuckles
“Ah, yes your God has...

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The Hypocrite


The Doubter hides behind religious guise,
Mistakes the raven for the pigeon in darkened skies.
His words beguile, twisting my skeletal fancy into a deceitful smile,
Espousing, “Darkness must be exposed by light”, all the while.
Release the...

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Oh what sorrows have begat thee?
Oh what pain has come upon thee?
Drooping head hanging low
And the billows are moving to and fro
Unkempt hair flying high in the sky
And anxious whiskers are standing by 
Your shadows...

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