Long Callused Poems

Southern Icarus
by Michael R. Burch

Windborne, lover of heights,
unspooled from the truck’s wildly lurching embrace,
you climb, skittish kite...

What do you know of the world’s despair,
gliding in vast solitariness there,
so that all that remains is to
fall?

Only a...

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Poems about Adam, Eve, Lucifer

Eden
by Michael R. Burch

Then earth was heaven too, a perfect garden.
Apples burgeoned and shone, unplucked on sagging boughs.
What, then, would the children eat?
Fruit indecently sweet,
redolent as incense, with a tempting aroma...



Outcasts
by...

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the Horror
by Michael R. Burch

the Horror lurks inside our closets
the Horror hides beneath our beds
the Horror hisses ancient curses
the Horror whispers in our heads

the Horror tells us Death is coming
the Horror tells us there’s no...

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Various Heresies 2

You
by Michael R. Burch

For thirty years You have not spoken to me;
I heard the dull hollow echo of silence
as though strange communion between us.

For thirty years You would not open to me;
You remained...

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within these times of war
Within these times of war


Within the times of war

Silence of its terrors calling
Children play within their laughter
Now recedes in cries of torture
Screeching whistles scrap metal clusters
In murderous heat of summers day
rage...

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People sometimes tell me the heirlooms given to me hold no value over how my heart feels, but these things have memories, stories of where they've come from that tug at my heart.  They’re...

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Time moves quickly, catching me unaware.  It seems just yesterday I was a child growing up.  Yet in a way, it seems like eons ago. I wonder where all the years went. ...

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To my left, a withered lady
recounting each and every blink of life
To my right, an empty seat, Rather, occupied but the presence I deny, grown cold
From an asshole in a suit reading a Maxim magazine...

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Staking Claims: For Yucatec Maya & Native Peoples

The stones of the desert cry with me
They are brothers and sisters, but no bloody kin
New hearts see just cold rocks … no warmth or charity …
Might you...

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We had saved our precious stock of grandpa’s grape
prepared the ground and amended the soil.
After laying out the orchard, we planted cuttings with our own hands.
Fed the young vines with love and creek water
and waited...

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In the back of my head, in the garden shed,
I see him as clearly as fresh white paint:
A little boy sat on the creosote floor, 
Dragged grazed knees hugged up to his chin, 
So familiar,...

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Morning Coffee With The Lord
By: Tom Wright
5/25/99

As I neared the old gent's campsite
a faint voice I could hear.
It seemed to sound distressed
and I could detect a twinge of fear.

I heard him say, "Why is it...

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I came from a village
Very fortunate to have attended college
He came from a cottage
Got lost on his quest to finding courage
I need not waste time for I have no future leverage

 During the busy day when...

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He stands, 
his left leg resting upon a powder keg,
slightly bent, 
with arms resting upon his knee.
                  ...

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STAND WITH A FACE OF HUMILITY

Thou curse a great angel to fall 
from the heavens of glory and power,
though let man build towers for himself alone
letting him gaze on earth down.
Daggers are unknown but 
they...

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I couldn't be prouder
than the day you were born
my beautiful little miracle 

your tiny fingers curled over mine
your pretty eyes captured me
and melted me
I loved you then
and every day 
since your 
arrival from heaven

we won't...

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I 
am 
the 
voice 
in 
the 
early 
twilight 
calling.I 
am 
the 
voice 
that 
cried 
in 
the 
dusk. 
Am 
the 
limbs 
shaking 
and 
the 
lungs 
convulsing. 
I 
own 
the 
tongue 
that 
cracked,the 
lips 
that 
parched 
and...

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The hand plants the seed of love in hopes of a new garden.
The heart gives way to love like a blooming rose for all to see.
The hand is a drunk man that takes the effervescent...

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I hear a chord
It resounds so deep in my ears 
It feels like the secrete chord
That David played to please the lord

This chord resounds ding dong in my head like slow-bells
A harmony more resounding than...

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THE GAMBLE

Of all the men who gambled there on the hill that day,
I felt I’d be the winner when I began to play.
And sure enough, it happened!  I shouted out for glee
When all the...

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You marketing types love us.
Blue all over, fear of nothing a man can throw,
Quick to bow down when the boss come by...
not the one paying me...., 
but the one who rules my roost. 

Day breaks...

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Can your calluses callus enough that God’s touch
will not touch a nerve ending (to reach you) if God
wants to kiss you (wants contact?) Yes, there! I’d guess not!
But that does leave unanswered if God would...

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Wrinkles and twinkles and wind colored cheeks
callused old feelings well hidden

Take a ride in Old Vermont across the covered bridges
Wander through the woods of Maine on down east running ridges 
Stop and face the hard...

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tiny, plump, and new, not yet forced to feel the weight of the world.
growing, soft, and dirty, curiosity has called them to do its work.
diligent, fresh, and shaking, endless opportunities are just within reach.
callused, rhythmic,...

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Barefoot on the paving slab chill, concrete
feet feel frostbite emanations in their callused souls;
rooftop mystique clamours silent slate triangles,
perched the stray cat observers, red-eyes smoking coals.
Down to the river's edge where swaying reeds
feed mongrel contemplations...

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