Long Fonder Poems

The First Valentine Poem

Charles d’Orleans (1394-1465) has been credited with writing the first Valentine poem for his wife in 1415. Charles wrote the first Valentine poem in the first year of his captivity while being...

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Family Poems

Mother's Smile
by Michael R. Burch

There never was a fonder smile
than mother's smile, no softer touch
than mother's touch. So sleep awhile
and know she loves you more than "much."

So more than "much, " much more than...

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Poems about Mothers


Mother's Smile
by Michael R. Burch

There never was a fonder smile
than mother's smile, no softer touch
than mother's touch. So sleep awhile
and know she loves you more than "much."

So more than "much, " much more...

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Poems about Children


The Desk
by Michael R. Burch

for Jeremy

There is a child I used to know
who sat, perhaps, at this same desk
where you sit now, and made a mess
of things sometimes.I wonder how
he learned at all...

He...

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Epitaph for a Palestinian Child
by Michael R. Burch

I lived as best I could, and then I died.
Be careful where you step: the grave is wide.

This poem has also been titled "Epitaph for a Child of...

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Here and Hereafter
by Michael R. Burch

Life’s saving graces are love, pleasure, laughter ...
wisdom, it seems, is for the Hereafter.



Laughter’s Cry
by Michael R. Burch

Because life is a mystery, we laugh
and do not know the half.

Because death...

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Here We Shall Remain
by Tawfiq Zayyad
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Like twenty impossibilities
in Lydda, Ramla and Galilee ...
here we shall remain.

Like brick walls braced against your chests;
lodged in your throats
like shards of glass
or prickly cactus...

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Cleansings
by Michael R. Burch

Walk here among the walking specters. Learn
inhuman patience. Flesh can only cleave
to bone this tightly if their hearts believe
that God is good, and never mind the Urn.

A lentil and a bean might...

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If I Falter
by Michael R. Burch

for Beth

If I regret
fire in the sunset
exploding on the horizon,
then let me regret loving you.

If I forget
even for a moment
that you are the only one,
then let me forget that the...

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My most popular poems on the Internet (I)

A number of my poems and translations have gone viral, according to Google, and some have been copied onto hundreds to thousands of web pages. That’s a lot...

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Poems about Fathers and Grandfathers II



All Things Galore
by Michael R. Burch

for my grandfathers George Edwin Hurt Sr. and Paul Ray Burch, Sr.

Grandfather,
now in your gray presence
you are

somehow more near

and remind me that,
once, upon a star,
you...

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Still wrestling with impasse to contentment

Dispense sing with fidelity blithely agog
just me and mine dark shadow 
slinking along outer limits of 
the edge of night doth blog
passivity, the path 
of least resistance ohm my dog,
shocking...

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"The Children of Gaza" Lyrics: I

These lyrics were written by Michael R. Burch and were adapted in places to the music by Michael R. Burch with input from composer Eduard de Boer.

World premiere, April 22,2017,...

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Wrestling with impasse to contentment

Dispense sing with fidelity blithely agog
just me and mine dark shadow 
slinking along the edge of night doth blog
passivity, the path of least resistance ohm my dog,
shocking voltage surges an emphatic...

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Final Lullaby
by Michael R. Burch

for my mother, Christine Ena Burch

Sleep peacefully—for now your suffering’s over.

Sleep peacefully—immune to all distress,
like pebbles unaware of raging waves.

Sleep peacefully—like fields of fragrant clover
unmoved by any motion of the wind.

Sleep...

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It has been long,

I wish for your voice once more.

I   write this letter to tell that;

Sometimes the sun does shine,

But things will never be the same.

I am still keeping your favorite suit,

Hoping  that  one day...

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Finding Peace

                                 ...

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They say...

Still waters run deep...
Then why are there so many shallow people?

When it rains it pours...
Usually the day after I wash my truck.

Walk softly and carry a big stick...
Or walk hard and carry a small...

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The sound of a piano playing a dirge lies in the air. It was the day before general quarantine measures were implemented by the Austrian government. That same night, for the first time in recent...

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NO CONDEMNATION
Sometimes  I wish I can play the anonymous,  though 
am not autonomous but I've got  an anomalous result so far,
like a pilot things keep piling up, cares about where about still
I...

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Upon a crowded street in Hiroshima, they met. 
    From distant shores they came, seeking to get 
    Some adventure, some beauty, some wonder, some answers. 
As they wandered...

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The Melter Man, the Melter Man, he upsets kids for fun
And when they've been to Ice Cream Gran, his fun has just begun
He’ll kill their ice creams pronto, like they’ve left them in the sun
By...

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The attic trunk, dirty, and oh so old
Had survived the many years untold
Sitting there midst the quiet dust
The hasp and hinges brown with rust

In the young girls’ mind she was compelled
To see what it was...

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~ So when before I was brought to know such 
a day as this ... yes-once it weighed heavily 
on me the thought; will it ever-come ... 
yes and my pain, will it never-end? ~



~ While in the instance of my depression 
I was unable to see the love of God well 
within the waters, kind reflection; but 
now; now through Him I have come to 
behold and live to tell of the treasure 
therein contained and abounding. Within 
this joyous and ever humbling-divine day 
for me of revelation, and so now; now-my-
joy-has-been-sustained. For when I am to 
ponder the simple nature of His love in all 
of its purity, and patient delights; visions 
of these they skip across my mind from 
time to time. As my eager-hand ... the 
open-gesture, it moves to lay ahold 
of the promise of another. ~ 



~ As this intention that I've picked up I carry 
now and cast-briskly ... into the darkness of 
the moist liquids, to land. As the-ripples gentle 
gliding they come to move in freedom across 
the vivid reflection, of this glassy-sheen, while 
slowly they are brought to roll along evenly 
with me-and-onward to-lay in peace-beside 
the stillness; of the open-shores. As-swiftly my-
thoughts of God-and-life they move and-dance, 
upon the-humble shallows deeper and-ever deeper 
into the heart, of the waters ... and so my heart 
here stands-in view of-this-and feeling fonder. ~ 



~ For-the tender ... thoughtful-kisses I give each 
place here in my heart that abide-amid the presence 
of Gods' supreme love, and-perfect-goodness; given-now-
for the many blessings that I see. Amid the glory of-His 
many-other-wonders; I give my-heart again this-day; more-
time ... for the nature of their-open-beauty; to-ponder. ~ 
 
 
because-
ethereal-
elegance-love,
veracious-forever-
enchanting. ~
~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~
~ Truth, ~
e'er aware-
~ evolving, ~
~ evermore. ~
~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~ Time tender ~~
~ terry's to-and-fro, ~
~ their finger running ~
~~~ through its hair. ~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Joy ... runs, embraces-
~~~~ itself! ~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~

~ Love lost, the aching-
desire, burning-within, frail, 
though; will I rise, greater-
before days; because 
promised, hope-
chance; verity 
my faith these 
gentle-whispers-
echo-the-opportunity,
and so it is to them-I-
answer, fall before. For this; 
God; I-know would never negate. ~
 Patience-holds the-hand-of-grace.
 Wisdom embracing-knowing-love, 
peace ... holds-the-hand-of-truth, 
will-together all-discern ... !...

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The moment I laid eyes on you,
I knew I finally found God's perfection.
All the beauty He crafted and sculptured,
Created you without any correction.

I wonder if there were circumstances,
Where I courageously ask your number.
I express all...

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