Long Blesses Poems

The Original Sin: Rhyming Haiku!
 
Haiku
should never rhyme:
it’s a crime!
-Michael R. Burch
 
The herons stand,
sentry-like, at attention ...
rigid observers of some unknown command.
-Michael R. Burch
 
Late
fall;
all
the golden leaves turn black underfoot:
soot
-Michael R. Burch
 
Dry leaf...

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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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Zen Death Haiku

Brittle cicada shell,
little did I know
you were my life!
—Shuho, translation by Michael R. Burch

Returning
as it came,
this naked worm.
—Shidoken, translation by Michael R. Burch

As dew glistens
on a lotus leaf,
so too I soon must vanish.
—Shinsui,...

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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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Sonnets LII-LX

The Endeavors of Lips
by Michael R. Burch

How sweet the endeavors of lips: to speak
of the heights of those pleasures which left us weak
in love’s strangely lit beds, where the cold springs creak:
for there is...

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THIS WORLD OF DEW

This world? 
Moonlit dew
flicked from a crane's bill.
—Eihei Dogen Kigen, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Seventy-one?
How long
can a dewdrop last? 
—Eihei Dogen Kigen, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Dewdrops beading grass-blades
die before...

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Nowhere Else To Go

Welcome to Israel: Land of Hope.1
(The land of Zion and Jerusalem.)2
Where prophets walked and prophesied,
For their God, our God:
The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.3

And the Lord spoke to Abram, and he...

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(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 almost inevitable seductions of the infamous and maundering philanderer, Melancholia.).



Dear Euphoria,

...

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Paper preparer please find cherry terror jackfrreeze frost frozen ice cycle are called and not chosen God fearing beware betrayal falls to all chosen green guys small my Homeys disaster only falls once in a...

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"Fraudulent"



A writer writes of people 
walking lonely dark streets
begging for bread, shelter and cold without all

like he’s been there
trudging up and downhill knocking on doors 
that judgmentally remain closed after glimpsed twigging -

a monumental fail,...

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FATTI GLI AFFRI TUOI THE SIMPLE PLEASURE OF LIFE IS ALL WE REALLY OWN IN THIS LIFE I TRIED TO TELL YOU BUT YOU SURROUNDED YOURSELF WITH A CONVOY OF HATRED TO MURDER ME I...

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He sung all the day, all the night of the fourth,
Endlessly, relentlessly, angrily and passionately
Deafening my ears in the wet sugar of his words
In an eternity of hours,
Slowly and dopily, darkness billowed away
Sifting along to...

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"Present!"

It's a lackluster answer (1) to simple life question,
"Hi! How is it going Mom? You feel OK?"
She was lonely for sure, saw no chance of a rescue,
She fought for her kids, though art dreams went...

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I pray for my friend right now and hope he can find his way and his WHY

STATE OF CHAOS

Your home has a consciousness, it has a mind of its own
You must clear up the clutter,...

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Alone, sometimes – with no one to confide in,
No one to depend on, no one willing to share my heart,
No one willing to share the sorrows, the hurt,
No one who understands how very sad I’ve...

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In your eyes, reflected to me
are memories of beautiful,
trembling pieces of laughing hope
still colors of grace and belief
feelings pouring from the shadows
never just make believe
always like the wonder of quiet faith
the struggle between knowing
and just...

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Line of inquiry: 

“Mistaken that I was this body-mind,
I succumbed to desire and fell to fear
but on choosing pathways loving and kind,
light of God in heart began to appear
and truth of my true essence became...

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Through the window of time, waves of souls flow, lost in darkness,
Through the window of dreams, I feel caught in webs of memories and eternal longings.
Through the window of destiny, the mirror of the world...

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Step out with me,
if you would be so kind,
on this melting island of ice.

Full-heated summer sun
feels good on backs and shoulders
and faces turned down and in to hunt,
to fish.
We start each day with gratitude
for warmth...

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"Another Dedicated verse to you, may I embrace your shared silence. This world is too loud. May I stand next to you or even be far away do.  I long to share in your...

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Her full name was Labyrinthia Pennyweight Babineaux, but her closest friends called her Libby. She was of blended French, German, and Native American heritage. Her Great Great Grandparents were said to have come from a...

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If you have ever wondered what side of the fence you should be on consider this...

1.	Christ would never not buy a gun to avoid the temptation perhaps that he might use it in fear or...

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Awaking blithe each morning,
with eyes upon the World,
I wonder, are we mourning
with ebon flags unfurled –
or are they but a warning,
some draped like snakes and curled,
stray stars and stripes adorning,
sent from the netherworld.

I wander through...

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Entered in Kai Michael Neumann contest, Psychedelic Contest
Received a N/A - judged 12/04/2024


"Rejection is the sand in the oyster, the irritation that ultimately produces the pearl.” – Burke Wilkinson

Hearts connect, through light that binds,
Kisses gentle,...

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There are many "cures" for depression, some of them are drugs from a pharmacist, and others are creations by a loving God.

Quietness seeps in through the walls,
Reflective and nurturing, sure that her promises will glisten…
Loudly...

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