Long Climbs Poems

"The Payload" 

The payload 
came crashing down
like rain expelled
from the fat belly 
of a ruinous pregnant cloud 
bilious with buxom promise

it came crashing down 
like school fish released 
from the tight confines
of a course rope...

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"Salvage"


Salvage the fixating salvation 
unfurling from the wreckage
of a numb world twisted inside
treasure climbs swimming 
the ladder from the deep of all things 
reaching upwards travelling in a new time
of melting morpheme moments overlapping 
dissolved...

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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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Here he stands, Edwardian vogue, sometimes with his spats, 
sometimes with his brogues below his dungarees. With rounded collar points and tie, and jacket donned below this flying suit, his waste is tied with simple...

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[This poem 'No God Of  Mine' was seemingly confounding readers as
to its meaning. Ordinarily, if I felt a poem wasn't  cutting it, I'd delete
it, but on this occasion, I've been asked to explain it... so here goes.]


By...

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Note to Readers of Previous Versions:
There are so many new vignettes scattered throughout the poem that I hope you will reread the whole thing! There are new GEMS, improvements to previous verses and improved footnotes...

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Poems about Children III

Miracle
by Michael R. Burch

for Jeremy

The contrails of galaxies mingle, and the dust of that first day still shines.
Before I conceived you, before your heart beat, you were mine,

and I see

infinity leap in...

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Pellucid pachyderms wade across
the purpling River Manjees
and Tozzath watches from the bank, 
the seat of his maroon pantaloons soaked with mud,
his nostrils flaring with the fragrance of ombadalias,
whose lacey petals flutter
like the wings of long-dead...

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7. Playing With Fire
My mom IS quite clear on the dangers of fire,
But if boy'S hooked on flame, then it'S hard to obey,
There'S a longing for “MATCH GUN” (6) that most boys acquire,
Small'S the chance...

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It is so hard to let go of love,
lovingly.

It sharks, 
unpeels more gut more quickly
than reel or reeler ever lost
in all those years of lazy inches
in and out:
casting,
winding in and playing out,
hardly fishing, rarely catching
anything
from...

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"Heart"  

Deep fissures formed
in the cracks of 
the nowhere place
where time leeched
bleeding claret 
through the green 
veined blues

protean bit by bit
the flesh disappears
prematurely 6ft under
mulch for rebirth
the subcontinent
conscientious conscience 
inward reaching

the divine central tableau...

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Nightmare 8. To Lose the Gift of Feeling Heard

Is each person not poet when he spills his heart?
Has your verse lost its edge if it’s true no one listens,
Or does God mean that no one...

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"The Faces of Man"



The faces of Man
transformative 
held in the hand 
of Mephistopheles 

blood sells white and red
pontificating with two fingers

consuming greed for 
want of everything
they meld into the
curves of their crooked bends

he’s come to...

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IV
                                  ...

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“Beloved Femme Fatale”


Musk and Neroli satin skin spoons
Naked feet ‘neath The Pillars of Petra
She towers majestic above you, colours your grey skies
You are worshipping her on your knees
What does it matter, anymore? Before your eyes,...

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Once upon a time there was a brave man
he loved the princess and she returned his love
the king saw a chance to test the young man
he set him three tasks to complete to win her...

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Dear Seven Emotions
 Help me to speak your truth to bring the good news glad tiding just what a Master of all masters said to do speak to the flesh in understanding my desires my...

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My favorite song that I chose was "Cat's in the Cradle". 
By Harry Chapmin. I hope you enjoy my flight of imagination. 
See link to the original song at the end of my lyrics.

Bobby's Dad

When...

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In the obsidian abyss, I melt, feeling the warmth that embraces me,
Awaiting the flight deep within me, a dream without any hope to measure.
Beside my own self, inseparable in this boundless world,
In an eternity without...

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SCENE: Paul, a grief-stricken child walks into parent's bedroom at 1:06 am, climbs into bed with Dad.


Father: Hey, Paul, what are you doing up so late? 
Can't sleep?
Child: *nods*
Father: What is it? What's on your...

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CREATURES   IN   NATURE

        Creatures              Fishes      ...

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The scent of musty, truly ancient fine books,
Waifs seductively behind the impossible doors, 
As they swing wide, out into L.A.’s balmy air,
I enter, a shiver, over what lies therefore.

There they are, the true Hollywood stars,
Scaling...

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Got Me on the Edge known
It was the evening of March 5th on a Thursday pre evening I left my job and just approximately two blocks away at the Baxter Arena convention hall it was...

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Lightly the rain falls upon the lamp lit streets, the shabbily dressed figure
Walks with an air of uncertainty down the cobbled stone streets, leaning,
On his rickety cane, the elderly gentleman huddles beneath his umbrella Of...

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Got Me on the Edge known
It was the evening of March 5th on a Thursday pre evening I left my job and just approximately two blocks away at the Baxter Arena convention hall it was...

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