Long Farmer Poems

The Amistad Mutiny

Slavery, a dirty word no matter how it’s pronounced:
Abducted and herded to the slave fortress of Lomboko1 for trade.
To be tossed in chains below deck on the Portuguese ship Tecora,2
Sailing the Atlantic Middle...

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Oh my soul what hails you?
Oh my soul what awaits you?
Oh my soul why are you in despair?
Oh my soul I have not deserted you
Oh my soul I have something to share
Oh my soul I...

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Galore of buzzfeeding, needling and scamming female hustlers...

with a scheming, loving, and enticing guise
alive and well seeking gullible guys
(once upon a time just like me),
who experiences close encounters
of masterly baited entrapment
on Facebook Messenger
and most likely...

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Food glorious food

Asia generic guy gastronomy (and how gourmet foods eat destructively clearly beyond any) excess enthusiasm, the necessity to feed and clothe this lean mean exercising machine gunning corporeal essence christened Matthew Scott Harris...

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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 many new GEMS, improvements to previous verses and improved...

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The ugly head of the Original Intent issue
co-arises with what were our ForeFather Patriarchal Patriots
thinking and feeling to leave out prohibitions against antiChristian degeneracy,
and to put in permissions for antiChristian degeneracy.

No.
Wait.
That's not right.
We could not...

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It interests me to peer past the drafting
and rewriting shoulder
of Thomas Jefferson,
unhappy slave-owner,
and John Adams,
with domestic slave-owner nuisance issues,
and other principle writing minds 
of original democratic declaration and constitution shaping times,
as they listened to their...

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Tea in the afternoon with his wife of many years is usually peaceful, Hubert thinks before he makes his announcement. Then he says it. 

"I'm going upstairs," Hubert tells Ruth as he hoists himself out...

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When I was born in 1949, Harry Truman was the President of The United States.  Of course I do not personally remember him.  Mr. Truman was followed by Mr. Dwight Eisenhower, but I...

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February 27th, 2018 literary tinkering rejiggered October 11th, 2024

I believed fortune cookie maxim 
cryptic message couched
Apple Macbook Pro update process
alternately titled “markedly 
a Luke warm welcome Matt unfurled
courtesy Jimmy John,
who embarked on 
imp apostle bull...

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Such Tenderness
by Michael R. Burch

for the mothers of Gaza

There was, in your touch, such tenderness—as
only the dove on her mildest day has,
when she shelters downed fledglings beneath a warm wing
and coos to them softly, unable...

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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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Young Timmy saw Jim walking down the street.  Timmy considered a quick retreat, but steadied himself with a shrug.  Timmy dreaded the sight of Jim, a teenage bully and wanna be thug, who...

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“He fought often and once bled in the cause of freedom, but his habits of War did not lessen in him the peaceful virtues which adorn his private life.”  Doctor Benjamin Rush, signer of...

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I was so anxious to get away but I did not realize what was on the way
I got a standing ticket because all the tickets have been sold out some on the black market, others...

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Zulaikha:
What a bird you are, o red-billed Bird, 
you don’t eat reddish mangoes!
By eating which ash, will you exist then
in this bower of fate?

Yusuf:
That there is any fruit better than the name of God
and any...

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Part I.

Harvest time was winding down, 
I was taking lunch in town, 
After spending six long hours plowing stubble.
Washing up I met a man, 
Guessed he was a harvest hand, 
His combine crew, he said,...

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Farmer Fred was out in his field making inspection
When I snuck up on him without detection
I stated my greetings with great voice inflection
Which caused Fred to jump in the opposite direction
Then he smiled and made...

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Let me explain the numbers I see
The first chart illustrates the five states that flipped
Notice how close the totals are
So, when folks dismiss the evidence of fraud
As being inconsequential I think this demonstrates they’re mental...

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Scent Of Paddy Flower

                               ...

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I was driving to Utah, because I had gotten a promotion;
And chose the scenic route, so as to put things in motion.

I had been traveling from Los Angeles, to Salt Lake City;
And the scenery along...

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Friday May 13th, 2022

An excerpt taken from a lengthy tome,
written courtesy a favorite poet of mine.

Paraskevidekatriaphobia  struck within a blink,
I swear yours truly never took a drink,
nevertheless he witnessed
and falsely accused of being a...

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Three cousins played a “game’ of war
A map of Europe spread across the floor
No adults there to keep the score
As each of them wanted more and more

Three of four empires lay upon that map
As they...

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[Characters: Thomas, Jesse, Mark]

In a small town of Athens, Thomas and his disciples served the town well, with their Wisdom and Knowledge, by helping out the less fortunate, feeding the homeless, teachings, and gaining more...

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Did I hear that wrong?

On my way for another appointment
with the vampire bleeding Quest,
big stage conversations on the radio
travel way too fast
for me to stay tuned in
to our nesty mess
at my normal liberal-conserving pace.

A single...

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