Long Carnegie Poems

A Vain Word
by Michael R. Burch

Oleanders at dawn preen extravagant whorls
as I read in leaves’ Sanskrit brief moments remaining
till sunset implodes, till the moon strands grey pearls
under moss-stubbled oaks, full of whispers, complaining
to the darkening...

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These are poems about Ann Rutledge and her romantic relationship with Abraham Lincoln. 

Winter Thoughts of Ann Rutledge
by Michael R. Burch

Winter was not easy,
nor would the spring return.
I knew you by your absence,
as men are...

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Joe Bonamassa is famous for more than just guitar skills.
but as for the lovely array of ancient antiques,
His "Nerdville" house is filled with tools and artifacts.

Joe Bonamassa hankers for blues-rock as pioneers age.
Danny Gatton taught...

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Obsessed

Hours and hours practising 
“Practice makes perfect!”
Others have described Antonio’s playing as perfect.
He has played in spectacular locations. Even before Kings and Queens. One day Carnegie Hall, 
the next day the Britannia Panaopticon Music Hall,...

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Untaught vocabulary seems to retard
our insanity multiplied by free speech
which becomes nothing more then
profanity to the public ear when not heard
through the committed

Outsourced, spun and sold to the masses
by the media who wish to entrance...

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Your contingency plan is dead from the minute it rolls off the bed. Your contingency plan is dead and it is not going to spread; it is packed with corruption and it is as heavy...

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Around 29AD, a saviour claimed eternity as a light of future hope,
Recorded or foretold, accepted or rejected, he left a message that stretched,
Across the pages of all mankind, throughout all time, resurrected but neglected,
Simple message...

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Hebrews 7:1-7

Melchizedek was the king of Salem and a priest for God the Most High. He met Abraham when Abraham was coming back after defeating the kings. That day Melchizedek blessed him. Then Abraham gave...

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The Search to Find the Edge of the Ice

They say moss doesn't gather on a stone rolling, in motion,
And even wise algae gets left in the wake,
Of a proud ship, foresail dipped, rising upon an...

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Recruit Division

I never applied to join the Army, a nice man phoned me,
He said I was the type they liked, with a steel certainty,
Plus he happened to mention the nurses on the way,
And the simple...

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Distressed, I attest,
					Like not blessed,
					A voice in my head,
					Said out of bed,
					So I was led to
					A quiet church,
					As owls sang out,
					Midnight gone tombs,
					And my tears appeared,
					Death beckoned long
					finger nails of distraction,
And so I gazed upon...

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"Colorful language is the best way to recreate the incident as it happened and to picture it for the audience".  Dale Carnegie
______________________________________________________________

O, colors, enthrall us through their splendor
Infuse the mundane world with vivid shades
Dazzle...

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O young Lochinvar is come out of the west,
Through all the wide Country this guy they detest,
And save armpit noises he talent had none,
He thought they were funny and thought they were fun.
He thought that...

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My baby
is an up and coming young thing
My baby
got a lot of talent,
and boy can she really sing

My baby
got stage presence like nobody’s business
My baby
is gonna be a big, big star,
and have a lot of...

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To: Mandy Jo

She called me her friend. She was one of the few.
She saw in me things that no one else knew.

I was backward and shy, a chess club bore.
I had tape on my glasses....

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Music drifted down all over me
From the apartment up above;
A piano piece from a symphony
Played with care and love.

I simply laid back and closed my eyes
Letting the music caress my soul.
By its beauty I was...

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The concept of a top ten, is a wonderful choice
For Joe Flach's contest, your words become your voice
Typically for me, music comes first
Below are my ten, please read and rejoice

In alphabetical order, these ten you...

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I watched a child blowing bubbles
Reflective circles
That unshackled themselves
Through a single breath of life
They rose upon an invisible force
Ignoring gravity as non existent
And I wondered what existence
Would presume to exist
Within them

If I, Obviously gossamer thin
Were...

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When I was a kid, I know, long ago,
We scrumped apples from neighbours orchards,
Climbed trees, scared bees, skinned our knees,
And once, quite daft, built a raft on the river exe,
Which upended before I knew about...

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New York, New York, the road in the fork  
   of the events, the places and folks who've buttered the pork

Like Rockefeller, Moynihan and Andrew Cuomo
   Frank Sinatra, Louie Armstrong,...

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the city is closing for the night
stores draw their blinds one by one 
every street is dark save for the dim 
Downtown streetlights bending at the neck

like weighted stems of steel. Rockefellers 
and Carnegie have...

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Sexist Selective's

I’m getting old, easily confused,
So things take time to sink in,
Especially, from around our World,
Issues to behold, such daily news.

Now for some todays big thing to spoil it,
Is not famine or drought,
Nor is it...

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Tennyson's Revenge

Unknown bumbling stumbling reading,
Of an old poem, its story older stored,
About the 'Revenge' of English men
Who died keeping Spain from our shores.

Sir Richards blazing stand, one I never knew,
The gallant English David, standing despite...

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My chair, 
at times over 
the past twelve weeks
my prison cell. 
Seven weeks more 
before my sentence
is completed. 
But today,
my chair is going to be
my time machine.

Not flashy and gaudy,
with a Christmas display
of flashing, colorful...

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Frozen Ground

Everything differs on frozen ground,
Brittle stalagmites obscure green skywards,
Whilst all around damp is the sound,
That crunches the breakfast walk.

Semi-permanence becomes a mirror to our image,
Bifurcated bark life agonises brown skywards,
Its so easy to lose...

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