Long Booth Poems

A good time was had by all at
Mother Daughtry's. The next 
Day Damian was in his usual 
Mood with Molly in her cozy
But large room. He layed on her
Bed she layed on top of him.
"Hmm,"...

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Spring
by Charles d'Orleans (c.1394-1465)
loose translation by Michael R. Burch

Young lovers,
greeting the spring
fling themselves downhill,
making cobblestones ring
with their wild leaps and arcs,
like ecstatic sparks
struck from coal.

What is their brazen goal?

They grab at whatever passes,
so we can...

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Date:   April   2026

The 1st degree is unknown 

Damian and Polly had planned
The trip to the Copy Cat Club
For weeks with Dolly and Molly
The club was popping when
They hit the scene.
The DJ...

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Oasis
by Michael R. Burch 
 
for Beth
 
I want tears to form again
in the shriveled glands of these eyes
dried all these long years
by too much heated knowing.
 
I want tears to course down
these parched cheeks,...

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Having been avid antiques collectors for nearly 4 decades, my wife and I met our share of rascals like this sneaky dealer - 


Damp and chilly winds were blowing, leaves would paint the ground,
As me...

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Oft in My Thought
by Charles D'Orleans
translation by Michael R. Burch

So often in my busy mind I sought,
Around the advent of the fledgling year,
For something pretty that I really ought
To give my lady dear;
But that sweet...

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My wife and I met more than a few of this type of “shifty wheeler-dealer” during our many years dealing in antiques and collectibles.

           ...

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Kerris  spoke to Damian the junior 
Bartender on the phone.  "Yeah, it's 
8 o'clock now.  I'll be there  at 9 to
Open.  Meet me there at that time."
He smiled happily thinking...

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Long in the tooth male doth recount, reflect, reimagine...
his woebegone damn dental daze today May 5th, 2021 

No particular rhyme nor reason
garden variety indentured flunky (me)
revisits his salmagundi salad days, 
when oral blight smote 
left...

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May   2051

Damali was preparing for the big event
Beginning today "12:30 bright and
Early like my Dad said". Damali 
Was thinking. DJ was on video phone 
Now. "Hey Damali! You know who'll 
Be here today...

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Next day   2051

Molly Holly were on their honeymoon 
With Damian and privately disagreeing at their
Table, about who was who and was
Unknown to them and Dolly broke
The Contention, "Maybe we should 
Introduce duce ourselves."...

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This piece has a fairly tricky rhyme scheme =  a-a-B /c-c-B


If All of the Weird Ones Were Cropped


I was sittin’ alone in a booth in a deli in Cody, Wyoming one day, 
When a...

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Date: April   2051

Dolly was beginning a slow panic.
"Alright this can not fail! "Where are
They now? The wedding is tomorrow!"
I wanna call Virginia make sure their
On the up side at home. I I can...

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Ducking into Nell’s Cafe’ to grab a noon-hour snack, I noticed, sitting quietly in a distant corner booth,
A little girl that checked the entire list of common features, including totally trusting eyes and, yes -...

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(##background singers##)
Honestly, things are getting out of proportion (Do your part, man!)
Give me a portion of your love (a portion of your love)
You’re my ultimate luck, desire and devotion 
You’re as beloved and spectacular 
As...

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We always spent the day before a show in preparation,
There always seemed so much to do to get the car in shape,
But all the work was worth it, (or at least we thought it was),
We’ve...

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Here's the deal, folks...

This is, as indicated, the 2nd HALF of this fairly lengthy poem. Due to Poetry Soup's file-size limitations, this piece had to be posted in 2 parts. 
   The 1st...

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Fork git about spooner hiz ham

And join (singing the words 
in the next paragraph) whether alone
in a traffic jam
basting, cooking, then eating a lamb
prepared by thee missus
a superb culinary madam.

“A Ram Sam Sam” Lyrics
A ram...

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Ford's Theater, April 15th, 1865...
Petersen House, Washington, D.C.

I admit to own a passion
for the Civil War in general,
and the life and death of
the sixteenth president in particular
between a hard spot of whiskey
and draughts of arrack;
nonetheless...

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Here's why this was necessary...

   This is, as indicated, the 1st HALF of this fairly lengthy poem. The 2nd half had to be posted separately due to Poetry Soup's file-size limitations. No other...

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We could invite many ways
to slice and dice the prism
EcoFeminist.

I first ran into this label
when spoken by a sexual advocate
in the early 70s
at the University of Michigan,
from the mouth of a transgendering ecofeminist
who felt more...

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Oh, how I wish that phone booths did still exist, so that you could call me up and tell me again how much it’s me that you miss
Remember back the way you used to do?...

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Who am I? I am me, and me is having a little me time
No way!  Five days plus a weekend. 7 days, that’s mine.
It’s not fair. It’s a sin. It’s crazy. No, really honey,...

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A month ago, ‘round New Year’s Eve, I headed out of town to spend a casual evening with a few old friends of mine.
They told me we would meet for drinks at “Rusty’s Iron Bar,”...

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Booth made famous on April 15th, MDCCCLXV... 
Sic semper tyrannis ad mortem
("Thus always I bring death to tyrants").

Ever since early forerunners 
of twenty first century
mankind (sprinted 
across trackless expanse extant
upon planet Earth), 
modern Homo Sapiens...

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