Long Drench Poems

As winter hazes of January spraying
While I was meditating on how
To write this riveting poem which
Seemed to be for someone who
I never cast in my sight.
Despite her name is not an odd in me
But I...

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World War II Poems and Holocaust Poems - VI - Chaim Nachman Bialik, Erich Fried

After My Death
by Chaim Nachman Bialik
translation by Michael R. Burch

Say this when you eulogize me: 
Here was a man—now, poof, he's...

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Come Down
by Michael R. Burch

for Harold Bloom

Come down, O, come down
from your high mountain tower.
How coldly the wind blows,
how late this chill hour ...

and I cannot wait
for a meteor shower
to show you the time
must be...

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What Good Are Our Tears?
by Michael R. Burch

What good are our tears?
They will not spare the dying their anguish.
What good is our concern
to a child sick of living, waiting to perish?

What good, the warm benevolence...

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Sonnets LII-LX

The Endeavors of Lips
by Michael R. Burch

How sweet the endeavors of lips: to speak
of the heights of those pleasures which left us weak
in love’s strangely lit beds, where the cold springs creak:
for there is...

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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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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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Regret
by Michael R. Burch

Regret,
a bitter
ache to bear . . .

once starlight
languished
in your hair . . .

a shining there
as brief
as rare.

Regret . . .
a pain
I chose to bear . . .

unleash
the torrent
of your hair . ....

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Verse 1: Nothing's in my way today 
I'm finally getting my way 
Glitter sprays in the air
We are on the bridge of without-a-care,
No longer in despair 
You fed me vibrant love, my starlit sky above
You...

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Pre-chorus: Give me a second to breathe...feeling this tension, this hesitation 
Give me a second to breathe...feeling this tension, this hesitation 
Give me a second to breathe and feel a pleasant sensation
Drench me with your...

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Love has a Southern flavor: honeydew,
ripe cantaloupe, the honeysuckle’s spout
we tilt to basking faces to breathe out
the ordinary, and inhale perfume ...

Love’s Dixieland-rambunctious: tangled vines,
wild clematis, the gold-brocaded leaves
that will not keep their order in...

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Livin’ in filth…
Flippin’ out on everyone…
Pow! to my head. Pow! to my head.
Hand me a gun…gun…
Was livin’ my dream
Once in a great while
Was dyin’ in reality
Run just one more mile

*whisper* What am I s’posed to...

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I grew up and out on a four family-owned,
and cooperatively-organized,
extended matriarchal farm.

Four interdependent 1940s through 1970s patriarchally managed businesses,
without substantial questions about who should wear pants,
yet with a surprising matriarchal cooperative understory.

The boxers outnumbered the...

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Oh, I can faintly remember
Last years' frigid December

We were like burning embers,
Kindling our fires of kindness
We were swimming in errors
Don’t let hatred and angst harness
Inside you…
Yes, I do…
Love you unbearably and truly,
So don’t be such...

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LOVE Of Our Life

Life’s journey swim links 2 defined moments - birth & death.
To survive its stretch we swim different strokes,
Delivered inner strength combats heavy tides & puncture pokes,
Hidden forces compatibly energize different folks,
Fortifying for...

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The rest of this poem continued in Part 2
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I had to get out from behind the wall so that my spirit could grow tall
I had to get out from behind the wall to breathe fresh...

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THE LAST THOUGHTS OF A FALLEN CHAMPION

This one time I know I was  caught below the belt
No doubt I got it wrong and I'm far from my best
My last chilling and coin now I've...

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I don’t understand why you make me feel so lonesome
You say to take a stand and be a man for the time being
And I don’t need your hand to hold me tightly
Frankly, I don’t care...

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I.
GRAIL OF TIDES

from the brewing storm’s steeping chalice
the breath of death’s journey awakens in quiet tides 
beckoned by the stirring whisper of mortal winds
furrowed by stoic angels in pallid temporal skies
on wings they dance with...

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Take me to where the wildflowers grow and show me where to go, take me to where the wildflowers grow and wet my soul with the dew of the morning, wake up my spirit at...

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You're cracking me up, brah
You're my beloved friend flaw
You're everything I need now
Why did you do this to me somehow?
I'm a drastic disgrace...
Look at my smeared face...
I am bleeding like wounds never healed...
Never dealt with...

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You sounded so lovely 
When you were a million miles away from me
You are the thorns on my side
My humility scratched away your pride

It’s a love-hate relationship frankly…honestly…

I still hold on to graceful loyalty
Because you...

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Come come come and dance with me 
Come come come and sing with me
A sweet aroma is churning in the air
enchanting everyone far and near
Nature is emitting  goose bumps upon my flesh
And I can...

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Crawl out of your peeping hole 
and face me like a man
You have been hiding for years
and paying people to do your sordid scam
For years you have taunted me
without showing any mercy
invading my privacy
monitoring my...

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dust had gathered on her many memories in outlines and heaps

had sheltered her from full on attacks of pain and self lacerations

the broom with razors attached right next to the end of the stick


inside lay...

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