Long Embalmed Poems

Various Heresies 3

Breakings
by Michael R. Burch

I did it out of pity.
I did it out of love.
I did it not to break the heart of a tender, wounded dove.

But gods without compassion
ordained: Frail things must break!
Now...

Read More

Rejection Slips 3

Rejection Slip
by Michael R. Burch

Whenever my writing gets rejected,
I always wonder how the rejecter got elected.
Are we exchanging at the same Bourse?
(Excepting present company, of course!)

When editors reject my poems, did I slip...

Read More

Salvation of a Formalist, an Ode to Entropy
by Michael R. Burch

Entropy?
God's universal decree
That I get to be
Disorderly?
Suddenly
My erstwhile boxed-in verse is free?
Wheeeeee!



Eternal Currents
by Michael R. Burch

How can I write and not be true
to the rhythm...

Read More

"Peace in the Nowhere"

Ghosts remain in this place
they read their words 
marked each day on walls
like prayers, it gives them
peace in the nowhere

someplace relevant to go

Ghosts commune in this place
disowned long ago or walked
off the...

Read More

- 2016 -

- JANUARY -

A freezing cold evening

Where the stars shining bright

With frost blade flanks

From mouth and nose steam

In the clear silence

White untrodden snows

Nature's frozen pulse

Sleep like a little baby

One gracious moon

After the night the...

Read More

Various Heresies 4

I, Lazarus
by Michael R. Burch

I, Lazarus, without a heart,
devoid of blood and spiritless,
lay in the darkness, meritless:
my corpse?a thing cold, dead, apart.

But then I thought I heard?a Voice,
a Voice that called me from...

Read More

LOVE POEMS V

These are love poems by Michael R. Burch, about life, the dream of love, virtue, a first kiss, a first crush, the birth of a first relationship, the joy of a first love...

Read More

Rejection Slips

With over 5,700 publications if I count poems that have gone viral, I suppose I shouldn’t complain … but I do have some poems that have never been accepted for publication. Here are a...

Read More

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,...

Read More

Two new crutches and two double shots of Bushmills Irish Whiskey enabled Joe Faherty to move from the back seat of Moira Murphy's 1976 Buick into Eagan's Funeral Home for Tim McGillicuddy's wake. At 87,...

Read More

Ah... tis nothing greater than...

malfunctioning heater 
on that brisk winter day
recorded here as proof positive
regarding following reasonable rhyme.

While scrolling thru 
poems crafted yesteryear,
I chanced to jog my memory where
there
occurred power outage necessitated 
more than divine...

Read More

“The ribbon is cut
 The die is cast
 The cement is dry
 Yet nothing lasts
 The brazen rewarded
 The hero a fool
 All reason outdated
 New fury the tool”

A journey presented
Your ship to go far
With...

Read More

Whatever rules they make up now in twenty-twenty-one
‘Little’ Frankie tells his dad I need to have some fun
His dad said how about a pet, I’ve just embalmed a pup
But Frankie moaned I’m sorry but I...

Read More

Time To Cook the Rolls 

“Honey, turn on the oven to 350; the movie is starting!”

Soupy Sales is kicking back with June Taylor at Studio 50.
He is flirting with her leggy dancers as they feed...

Read More

***  C A T and the SPHINX***

Cat is on the prowl
Without taking a step!
Proud fellow, often unseen,
Gracefully gliding by.

He feels he knows it all —
At least all that is necessary to know —
Of the...

Read More

When heinous fangs
of life drain
the amethyst glow
flowing above 
infected ripples of time,
I question the 
chaos that claims
serenity through 
saline serenade 
of sirens, composed 
with midnight ink
across a mazed face 
of a starless canvas,
What if these...

Read More

At this dawn of "bon voyage", 
after million escapades of 
blindfolded fate, I'm trespassing
through the pirouetting pigments 
of fading frolics and 
windsurfing towards rose-oiled 
beams of glossy sun as its 
gossamer grandiose has 
finally enveloped...

Read More

"The meek and the humble will be elevated to places where the haughty can never ascend even with a ladder. Stay humble in victory and calm in defeat"- by poet

 far away in ancient Jerusalem,
stood...

Read More

Psychopath definition: A mentally ill or unstable person. A person who engages in antisocial behavior and exhibits a pervasive disregard for the rights, and feelings, and safety of others.
 Serial killer: Performing a series of...

Read More

"The Haunting"

What happened 
was a crime
in more ways 
than one

who can understand 
the mind of a recidivist
twisted, calculating
in this story, there is 
more than one, 

the night 
of a thousand 
cutting knives
the turn of the...

Read More

No Sin for a Mirror

 Arabic Poem by: Habib Al-Samir*

Translated Into English by:

Inaam Al-Hashimi (Gold_N_Silk)

=========================



In a room,

Bordered by the sun on the right

And the moon on the left,

A mirror stands

On a smooth wall

Exposing or concealing...

Read More

As the apologetic sun
melts in hibiscus vase
of pastel-peach 
horizons and peels off
those pristine pigments 
of egoistic elegance, 
sailing upon 
aquamarine foam
of vanilla waves ~
where dignity
unveils a clemency
within catharsis, 
I dare to surrender
towards the 
pink-teal blends...

Read More

Pinkerton's mortician is the richest man in town...despite the fact, the story goes, despite the day he'd came
Ridin' in from Badger Holler - dressed in filthy rags - lookin' for a meal without a penny...

Read More

The ribbon is cut
The die is cast
The cement is dry
Yet nothing lasts
The brazen rewarded
The hero a fool
All reason outdated
New fury the tool

A journey presented
Your ship to go far
With doldrums eclipsed
By the light of new stars
The...

Read More

I
Anchored on a sun filtered shore 
Upon rocks which lay the days of yore 
In swirling pristine aquas of alluring calm 
Let it serenade heal my bruised palm

To chronicle tales of my hearts longings 
And...

Read More