Long Clenched fist Poems

Observance
by Michael R. Burch

Here the hills are old and rolling
carefully in their old age;
on the horizon youthful mountains
bathe themselves in windblown fountains...

By dying leaves and falling raindrops,
I have traced time's starts and stops,
and I have...

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Juvenilia: Early Poems IX

These are early poems of mine, written in my teens as a high school student and during my first two years of college.

Shock
by Michael R. Burch

It was early in the morning of...

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For All That I Remembered
by Michael R. Burch

For all that I remembered, I forgot
her name, her face, the reason that we loved ...
and yet I hold her close within my thought:
I feel the burnished weight...

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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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Sonnets XC-XCVII

Artificial Smile
by Michael R. Burch

I’m waiting for my artificial teeth
to stretch belief, to hollow out the cob
of zealous righteousness, to grasp life’s stub
between clenched molars, and yank out the grief.

Mine must be art-official?zenlike Art?
a...

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Chains never fall completely.
Scars embed themselves like burns under the skin,
And even though the skin is a body, it cannot hide the shadow of the irons.
History screams, but its lips are sealed with silence,
A silence...

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My phone is always off. I then check and return my messages inevitably.
These are actually precautions I must take for my own personal safety.
If I happened to be crossing a busy intersection and my phone...

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(alternately titled: Typical daily mindset today – 
July 17th, 2020)

The following words
mostly unredacted, nevertheless finessed
for curbed poetic/prosaic appeal
lock, stock and barrel
codify, and edify (hoopfully not mortify)
any reader unbeknownst and/or familiar
with unsteady state of yours truly,
(an...

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Encounter with guardian angel January 20th, 2022

We (myself and thee missus)
experienced shell shock
analogous to war weary soldiers
back home from the western front
experiencing battlefield flashback
analogous to awakening dormant
post traumatic stress disorder.

Mental health challenged renter
twice threatened us
(think...

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April has come but March still lingers, this is the reality of the east winds,
April and May, a the time for poets, as they write off the tyranny of reality,
Fickleness and uncertainty, has always been...

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Pointed Art
Michael R. Burch

The point of art is that
there is no point.
A grinning, quick-dissolving cat
from Cheshire
must have told you that.

The point of art is this—
the hiss
of Cupid’s bright bolt, should it miss,
is bliss
compared to Truth’s...

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What's up?
What's going on?
How come it's 3AM?
And bright as noon?
Have I finally made it
Into a Looney-Tune?

Who left me a hot breakfast,
Then disappeard?
How the hell did I
Overnight grow a green beard?

And that new Lamborgini
In my driveway
Painted...

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Repetition


by Edmund Siejka


In the window 
He caught a glimpse of his reflected face
Pale from being indoors
Day after day.

Something made him think about 
Way back when
Was it the smell of cheap food? 
Or a sudden bell...

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In this evening, I wear the perfect smile, and,
you’ll quake, in the wake of my guile 
Cause I’m the best liar you’ll ever meet,
Because, In a way, I swear, I’d  mean it
Not, to say...

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More times than none, when my door bell rings
bad news or tragedy is what it brings.
If knocking at my door should follow that
then I'm ten fold more prone to a panic attack.
If the knocking at...

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Man so mighty and wise
still has to define this
that another living being's life
has the same value as his 

Boasted, brazened
written in stone
raised above 
these highest places 
where power reigns
crushing down  
in white 
clenched fists
gripping...

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In the late evening, half past 8
I heard a noise from far away.
It was a bird, make no mistake.
I could've sworn I heard my name.
Maybe I did,
or maybe I had gone insane.

For out in the...

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In an era long since passed, an Oriental carpet adorning the 
floor from far off lands seems to object to the
leopard skin beneath a fair maiden’s feet, yet this English lass 
seems oblivious as she...

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Premonition
by Michael R. Burch

Now the evening has come to a close and the party is over ...
we stand in the doorway and watch as they go—
each stranger, each acquaintance, each unembraceable lover.

They walk to their...

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can we just talk about all the famous male chefs?

like hi guys , could you go back to the garage where you belong and fix my car?

next thing you know men are going to want...

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When stretched forever is my day                   
I while the empty hours away     ...

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Stuck inside of a nightmare
lookin' like I might just slight tear
myself from the light there right
barely a knife couldn't share me a slice of the right hare
even if I slice up the bright hair
this rave...

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Chained undulations drew lustful admiration 
Hungry hands grabbed slender agile ankles
" Hey, -  let her go. A beautiful lady dancing,
Appreciate her", handsome stranger asserted


Narelle, ocean haired sequin harem allure, noted
Broad shouldered, neatly attired stranger...

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Ladies and gentlemen, pardon my intrusion.
I won’t take long, I’m only here to Break the ice and test the waters.
Make you laugh a little Before this script starts feeling stale like Blood without water.
But it...

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From the heart these words are sown
Borrowed from the word and on loan
Follow along as you will read
In turn these rhymes your soul they’ll feed

In an attempt to pen like Cowper and Knox
And share these...

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