Long Birdsong Poems

When I was a child
Everything was magical
Full of mystery and the unknown
I read hundreds of books
The library my haven
My home
Hours upon hours
Night and day
I read and got lost in text
They supplied me with adventures
Secret journeys
Fun...

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Epigrams

Autumn Conundrum
by Michael R. Burch

It’s not that every leaf must finally fall,
it’s just that we can never catch them all.

Piercing the Shell
by Michael R. Burch

If we strip away all the accouterments of war,
perhaps we'll discover...

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Let Me Give Her Diamonds
by Michael R. Burch

Let me give her diamonds
for my heart's
sharp edges.

Let me give her roses
for my soul's
thorn.

Let me give her solace
for my words
of treason.

Let the flowering of love
outlast a winter
season.

Let me...

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The Field
by Rumi 
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Far beyond sermons of right and wrong there's a sunlit field. 
I'll meet you there. 
When the soul lazes in such lush grass 
the world is too...

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Birdsong
by Rumi
loose translation by Michael R. Burch

Birdsong relieves
my deepest griefs:
now I'm just as ecstatic as they,
but with nothing to say!
Please universe,
rehearse
your poetry
through me!



I choose to love you in silence
by Rumi
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

I...

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I was listening to Cornell West,
who described our catastrophic tolerance of disvalues for others,
situations we would never tolerate for ourselves,
disvalues like homelessness and hunger,
but also like random violence, 
abuse and neglect,
lack of caring,
as a "conspiracy"...

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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 new GEMS, improvements to previous verses and improved footnotes...

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Last night I dreamed I was Donny's sexy Secretary 
of Public Health Education,
charged with training health therapists
who traveled from home to shelter
with a one question survey,
"Which do you experience as healthier
for yourself,
those around you,
for your...

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On a magnificent morning, in the fragrant month of July,
I was heading to a new job, amidst the golden butterflies.

For I had been hired by Nasa's, Langley Research Center,
To work on new projects, and to...

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I once spent a week in the drunk tank
couldn't handle the spirits that I drank
the cuisine wasn't half bad
we even had a few laughs
but I had to guard my butt with a shank


……………………………………………………………………….


It used to...

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"The Calming of Her Storm"



My mother gave me solace
I fell into her deep hollows
to kiss the wisdom of her 
breath chanting quietly 
I still hear her 
nightingale birdsong caressing 
the soft fluttering 
of her tireless...

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I was out one day walking, along the glad sounding shore,
Gathering pretty seashells, and watching the seagulls soar.

To the left were lofty mountains, touching the azure skies,
To the right, sparkling ocean, and ahead the butterflies!

In...

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Those were such happy days, for I had lately been deeded a farm,
My aunt and uncle were retiring, so tillage had lost its charm.

Since they were childless, and to a retirement community bound,
It seemed I...

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While returning home from my job, in bustling New York City,
The blaring horns of traffic, and the noise were getting to me.

With loud yelling on the sidewalks, and cawing crows up above,
And my poor aching...

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Please don't share this
pledge to inter-religious allegiance
with your straight white monotheistic worshiping
friends and family,

But, just between us panentheistic ecofeminists,
sometimes,
not often enough,
we would be healthier and wealthier
to reflect together upon

Internal polytheistic integrity communications,
bilaterally organic both/and dipolar
internal/external...

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The very fact of being alive, often causes one to seek adventure;
And sometimes it is no deterrent, when it carries traces of danger.

I was not a seasoned survivalist, but very much loved the outdoors,
Like varicolored...

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My inside mystic still searches
for my strongest and best
omnipotently higher all-embracing Power
of unchanging monotheistic Truth
and Beauty.

My outside voices
still long for deeper Power
through widely multicultural EnLightenment
of changing
flowing spanentheism
in-between Earth's ecological Nature face
and my own ego-identity's theological...

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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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Early one morning, as fresh springtime was just ending,
I was hiking in the woods, and overhearing the birds sing.

And with a tranquil heart, and lost in a deep green world,
I was reveling in the gaiety,...

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Our anti-racism, pro-polyculturing health
anti-egopatriarchy, pro-ecofeminist wealth
anti-homophobic, pro-trans-regenerative
anti-injustice Team, pro-restoring peace Organizers

Meet inside a viciously anti-outdoor
windowless
airless
music-less
museless
left-brain oppressively dominant room,
climate,
atmosphere,
attitude of ungratitude.

Two women I passionately admire,
would warmly accompany within any outdoor sacred space,
are doing their best to...

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People often say I talk a lot, but I hardly think that is true,
Like the whispers about the bluebird, of which he never knew.

Talking helps a lot with my job, which is in public relations,
As...

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Now watch this video: Planet Earth: Blue Planet II
https://youtu.be/2f9SItUEtJ8







"Breath, in Blue"



Bluebottles broken scattered
shattered legions on the beach of my heart
my blue planet lungs rattle
my breath battered in the honeycomb maze
vanished all my bees belittled forgotten...

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I never cared to do the dangerous things, and liked to play it safe,
But the strict bonds of ordinariness, can oftentimes start to chafe.

I always preferred to cover my bets, for I hated the idea...

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For years I was an aspiring singer, performing in trendy nightspots,
And I sang my heart out each evening, in all of the local hotspots.

Among the enthusiastic locals, at long last I'd made myself a name,
As...

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When will we gain the wisdom to survive
this disturbing 
degenerate
NegativEnergy
adolescent denialism
of fascist climate-bullying tendencies
toward shrieking violence
at silent displaced victims,
creating rivers of homeless 
multi-degenerating non-thriving refugees?

Where are the all growed up
nurturing regenerate adults
in our capital cities?

On...

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