Long Deficient Poems

Sonnets XXV-XXXII

Archaischer Torso Apollos (“Archaic Torso of Apollo”)
by Rainer Maria Rilke
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

We cannot know the beheaded god
nor his eyes' forfeited visions. But still
the figure's trunk glows with the strange vitality
of a...

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Sonnets X-XVI


Archaischer Torso Apollos (“Archaic Torso of Apollo”)
by Rainer Maria Rilke
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

We cannot know the beheaded god
nor his eyes' forfeited visions. But still
the figure's trunk glows with the strange vitality
of a...

Read More

Archaic Torso of Apollo
by Rainer Maria Rilke
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

We cannot know the beheaded god
nor his eyes' forfeited visions. But still
the figure's trunk glows with the strange vitality
of a lamp lit from within,...

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justice 

What does this vastly misunderstood word mean to you? 

Too what ends? 

May we seek? 

Who(m) may guide us? 

Endless deliberation (spiss spiss spiss)

Debated and glorified by us all 

Beloved; instilled among (a) core...

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New Year Poetry

Auld Lange Syne
by Robert Burns
translation by Michael R. Burch 

Should old acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to mind?
Should old acquaintance be forgot,
And days for which we pine?

For times we shared, my darling,
Days passed,...

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Archaischer Torso Apollos ("Archaic Torso of Apollo")
by Rainer Maria Rilke
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch 

We cannot know the beheaded god
nor his eyes' forfeited visions. But still
the figure's trunk glows with the strange vitality
of a...

Read More

Spawned from the loins that 
Perpetuated the loyal serfs mongrel
Seed:-
These peoples of a conditioned and
"Resigned-To-it-all" breed.
Born into the enveloping tedium
Of interlocking days...Interwoven
With interlocking days -
Victims of stark circumstance
And vague promises unmade.
Gregariously living out their lives
When...

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The elderly, the injured,
The deficient, the mentally ill,
The sick, the chastened,
The weary, the suicidal,
The innocent, the broken,
The lost, lost, LOST ...
You are NOT there with them ... 
Only sadness and loss and pain.
The animals, the...

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Easy to get stuck 
inside my head 
outside Earth's neglected 
aching hearts

Breathing in and out togather
fumes of historically fueled
graphite sheeted walls
too all-encumbering to smell
as monoculture's indoor trauma

Failure to wonder
nuanced appositional
wandering outdoor non-positions,
dipolar bipartisanships
passing in transitioning...

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I have confronted family,
and acquaintances
at the edge of my familiars
to understand my hurt
when they economically
and politically
and socially
and monoculturally
StraightWhiteMale privileged support
RightWing LeftBrained
Patriarchal-Capitalism

Because my Kids of Color,
with physical and mental,
natural and spiritual challenges,
lack of LeftBrain full accessibility

And...

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Should we shed the boy and be a man?
Shoot of spirit wild -to be tamed in the tamed land.
Where is the proof that this cynical evolution;
this cyclical passthrough is a strengthened constitution.
A blur and a...

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God doesn't work through us because we're flawless. Rather He works through us in spite of our imperfections ~ A.W. Tozer


I did it again, I say to myself
Ashamed, humiliated, falling apart
I did it again and...

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Be not apologetic if you spend your efforts being happy and kind
There's not enough happiness or kindness in the world
In preparing for Life it's best to fall in love first to learn its vagaries
After acquiring...

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united states are in debt most
kingdoms countries are in deficit
they have beautiful cars great highways
bread to eat water to drink and almost
free air to breathe
so dont worry about debts deaths and deficits
we are all in...

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so true, Truth is the daughter of time!

tell me yours, I tell you mine, 
Jews or Philistines, 
the reason for your exile to ancient Kemet/Egypt
or Aethiopia

was it not to escape persecution? 

"Get up, take the...

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Once upon an olden time and in a far off land
A castle stood above a town, mysterious and grand
Though locals spoke about the place, down in the town below
‘Twas gossip and just rumours, for the...

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You were my life you know so to go in an instant took mine and your breath away
And I still haven't gotten mine back seven months later to this very day
You see you are my...

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Overdosing (rather binge reading) thesaurus...

Imagine if ye will
earlier one blustery February sixteenth
two thousand twenty one,
yours truly experienced atypical thrill
perusing pages of heavily laden word book
marking where I leave off reading
courtesy no frills inked quill
(sold to...

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Finally May Find His Fate

Read poem about priest and did wait;
I always knew that it would be great;
My face feed;
Another read;
In my poem he finally found his fate.

Jim Horn

Crave and Became Slave

My life in wide...

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When nighttime comes                                ...

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The howling winds of March

Furious gusts of air
mightily blow bestirring anchored poet
sitting comfortably numb
securely strapped in his hard to maneuver
easy bath chair
while all around him debris
strewn helter skelter everywhere
heavy objects unmoored
pirouetting topsy turvy

defying laws of...

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Dueling Americans
love drawing blood from a distance
Crossing swords with their dogma guns ... 
a test of mettle:
Who will bow first
to the pressure building in their lungs
Bipedal zip-lip back-to-back walkers,
bivalve mollusk closed-minded talkers
Fifty paces then turn......

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A couple of years later, at age 19, this farm girl married and, true to her Catholic
upbringing, began having children. She had four live births and four miscarriages over the course of less than seven...

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-Evocation-
The thunderous sound cut through the building
The deafening blast shaking its very foundation –

I jumped awake, in agonizing trepidation
And sat up in bed, my chest pounding.

There was calm, a surreal stillness.
I appraised my room’s mess
And...

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Look for this tragic dilemma: 
either people have reached the real powers
and  handled  the weal of engine 
or government  done  the same
wiped people completely  out
from ruling, managing  and controling....

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