Long Bemused Poems

Epitaph for a Palestinian Child
by Michael R. Burch

I lived as best I could, and then I died.
Be careful where you step: the grave is wide.



Autumn Conundrum
by Michael R. Burch

It's not that every leaf must finally...

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See
by Michael R. Burch

See how her hair has thinned: it doesn’t seem
like hair at all, but like the airy moult
of emus who outraced the wind and left
soft plumage in their wake. See how her eyes
are...

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Radiance
by Michael R. Burch

for Dylan Thomas

The poet delves earth’s detritus—hard toil—
for raw-edged nouns, barbed verbs, vowels’ lush bouquet;
each syllable his pen excretes—dense soil,
dark images impacted, rooted clay.

The poet sees the sea but feels its meaning—
the...

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Sonnets XVII-XXIV

Discrimination
by Michael R. Burch

The meter I had sought to find, perplexed,
was ripped from books of "verse" that read like prose.
I found it in sheet music, in long rows
of hologramic CDs, in sad wrecks
of long-forgotten...

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These are poems about Dylan Thomas, as well as poems "for" and "after" Dylan Thomas. Dylan Thomas was one of my favorite poets from my early teens and has remained so over the years. I...

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Myth, after Dylan Thomas
by Michael R. Burch

Here the recalcitrant wind
sighs with grievance and remorse
over fields of wayward gorse
and thistle-throttled lanes.

And she is the myth of the scythed wheat
hewn and sighing, complete,
waiting, lain in a low...

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"Dream 1: 4 Weeks in Positano"



Kisses long linger warm lips tasted intense
so sweet like cured Valencia Oranges
lips liquored triple sec not dry drunk on love
softly grazed, then held long

slow, deep, warm and wet

The story is...

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Why did He let me break?
Was it for a future's sake?
How did you all get here?
Are we all lost in epic fear?

Keep pressing on, my dusked Dawn
We welcome the sun, that's what we look upon

Do...

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Forever forgive me
For my one and only iniquity
Please forgive me
With forbearance eternally

Lots of anger and lust
Got a hold of me…
So, I must...oh, I must…
Set my soul free

Forever forgive me
Determine my footsteps to the light
Emotionally unhappy
Intervene...

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A funny frog called Mr Snog,
once lived beside a slimy bog,
he was a most peculiar fellow,
his hat was red, his boots were yellow,
his waistcoat was an olive green,
the strangest sight you’ve ever seen,
no matter where...

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Feel more than free to take a quick tour into my mind's eye
Then, you'll find that you're on my mind and I don't know why 

Dare to wonder Where to wander
Dare to wonder What I...

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Geese, Goslings and the Bridge

Sometimes, when you least expect it, Mother Nature makes a u-turn and draws you into the ridiculous.  Such was the time recently as I was returning from a friend’s home...

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She watched the demolition team enter her old school. In the next few days it would be raised to the ground. The end of an era she thought, Christ, it was depressing.
Suddenly a thought entered...

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Her back never faces the door

“I’ll only need you on certain days”

she says
(absently)

“I’ll have to write them down
my memory doesn’t work so well
especially when I am caught up”

she’s thinking
(a lovely stare)

“Who is that in the...

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I'm smart when I'm in my shell of solitude
Waiting till you're gone
So I can wear this attitude of gratitude
Bug off, bad attitude
I don't mean to act so rude
I feel ashamed and nude
The day is finally...

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In Marshside Lea, there stood a tree, old in trunk and bough
'Twas long ago, this tale, although, it may still stand there now
And in its shade, the young sheep played as often did young lambs
Whilst...

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LOVE Of Our Life

Life’s journey swim links 2 defined moments - birth & death.
To survive its stretch we swim different strokes,
Delivered inner strength combats heavy tides & puncture pokes,
Hidden forces compatibly energize different folks,
Fortifying for...

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Newsflash:
"Stranger times have never been
As humanity battles forces as yet unseen..
Not just those things beyond our eyes
But hidden troubles that wrestle for our lives.." 
---

Hark the Herald Angels Sing
Glory to the New Born King 

So...

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A boy and board in Brooklyn
bedeviled by the breath of baroque battles
bemused with a belligerent brain beauty
and befriended by battlefield bravado, 
the chessmen championed his ego
wickedly warring to a visionary's voodoo,
those soldiers of black and...

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Note to Readers of Previous Versions:
There are so many new vignettes scattered throughout the poem that I hope you will reread the whole thing! There are many new GEMS, improvements to previous verses and improved...

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The messages you send me puts me on Cloud 7…
Sweet love of mine…
That’s why I meet up with you at 7-eleven…
You’re looking fine…
Not everything lasts – I’ve learned…
All the messages – all have burned…
In the...

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Saw you cry cry cry and pout
No doubt...I don't care anymore
What are you crying about?
Can't you see I'm jaded to the core?

I hear people preaching about marriage
When they're married themselves!
No humility! Just overrighteous and like...

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"Understood"




My feet stand solemn
grounded they're barefoot 
sinking in the undertow,
feeling what’s real

my toes grip the past

while the slow words 
wash it irrevocably away 
the ego sashays
and hangs that Faust in the wardrobe

Locks it away
turns the...

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What I'm Gobsmacks, Bamboozles and All This Confuses Me
 

       What I'm Gobsmacks, Bamboozles and All This Confuses Me
          ...

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CONFUSED WORLD:

The world's totally confused,
If you do right you're contused.
To and fro, they go back to the magoos. 
Their systems make no amuse,
It only dismantle laid down routes;
Leading souls to grab unexpected woes in demonic...

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