Long Forbade Poems

Happy Valentine's Day
                                ...

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Once wars were fought with sticks and stones
to flog the flesh and batter bones
and conquer lands, defending thrones -
though gods provoke, not one atones. 

The multitude (by hordes beset
with battle-ax or bayonet)
braved blades, dyed red...

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The Tale of the Duck

The morning was crisp and in need of assist
    from the sun to warm up the day.
The Dragon needed some food to lighten his mood
   so...

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Of Treasures Sought, Diving For Forbidden Dark Pearls

I shall weave you, dear reader, words true and sincere
tho' will not be as great as those woven by poetic peers
It's truth from a life long-lived, too fast...

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I so adored late hours. I was what you would call a night owl,
As fireflies seldom appear, until creamy moon is on the prowl.

I loved the quiet and peacefulness, and staring at a big moon,
Just...

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He wore no mask of murder’s face,
No blade was in his hand,
But still they called his love a crime,
And could not understand.
He kissed a boy with poet’s grace,
The courts replied: “He’s banned.”

They cast him in...

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A Princess sat on her throne in despair whilst her father bellowed “is there a handsome prince out there?” 

“We have waited so long, as a matter of fact, I don’t care how he looks...

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Saturday, Saturday
'Why'd you do this to me'
was my first question, my first reaction
a reflex to point myself the victim
point myself an inquiry I had no response for
I wanted once to see her
to know her face...

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The Punisher and the PunishEd

                           I

The Punisher needs the...

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“Was gesagt werden muss” (“What must be said”)
by Gunter Grass
translation by Michael R. Burch

Why have I remained silent, so long,
failing to mention something openly practiced
in war games which now threaten to leave us
merely meaningless footnotes?

Someone’s...

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"Should old acquaintance be forgot,                              ...

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I.
Zack stared out on the Indian Ocean
through which the adventure cruise made its way,
they were near the famed Andaman Islands,
and would probably reach them the next day.

He’d paid extra cash to come out this way,
to...

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The bombers began to bleed
their heavy tears of death
from 20,000 feet above the breathless battlefield, 
B-17 Flying Fortress formations
moving with apocalyptic aplomb
the shadows of high metal crosses by the hundreds
rippling along the rugged roman earth
bringing...

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Mom of 13 siblings was the last to pass. Behind a hung draped sheet that parted the bedroom she was in, from the living room, she saw Grandpa prepare wooden crates used to pack mangoes,...

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Once i was a prince in your eyes my every wish granted
        even before I could wish it
eevaa peerankal muuvaa maruntu
the hot kuul boiling complaining in the chessman...

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We pray to Allah, not because He
Needs us, but because we need Him so
God is the One who keeps us alive
God is the One who helps us grow


How dare you walk on earth as though
You...

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Here Or Lost Love, Yes?
My name is Gemma. I was born in Rhodesia. I’m 36. I’m a pretty Native Indian woman. I have many interests like tattoos of which I have eight, including an Indian...

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HIS WEALTH

He was renowned for farming 
ploughing lands as large as atlantic  
but his harvests he keeps beyond the sea
beyond the sea all he got

Down here, his roof leaks
his town roads untared
they make use...

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Cinderella

He takes my hand pleasantly in his and says meeting me is his pleasure. 

My joy escapes its hiding place in no uncertain measure.

This is when life begins to demonstrate just one true treasure.

His blue...

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The key's to life
The poem
Lionel Derbyshire

Too hell with pessimism...
I say
Let us sway away from end of life
And poem about life key's
We lookout for a prom
And see a sun ball
Up in the middle of sky
Vivid a...

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Light, the kind that brings the faintest glimmer of hope,
appeared suddenly through a darkened wood;
like an oasis after travelling through the Sahara so parched
with thirst threatening to take my life for good.

Though death’s bony palm...

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If I was to take a word, say focus,
Stand it on its head,
And ask with growing sense of dread,
Why my friend did you just now,
Fly upon this particular 
Moment’s verbal locus?
Torture I might answer, like...

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Mr. President, Mr. Vice President, Americans, and the world:

In the crucible of revolution, our forefathers etched their pledge—
a bold testament inscribed not solely in ink,
but in the quiet, relentless pulse of divine dependence.  
It...

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© Ben Burton 2-20-2015

If I were Edgar Allan Poe
I'd been dead many years ago


Two score, no more, the poet bore
Before rejoining his Lenore


Reflections now, from sixty-five
I'm wondering how I have survived


For, having shared his mental...

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In another universe I was a dominant spouse
Like a dictator I relentlessly ruled my house
Wedded a dainty damsel from another city
My first flame of desire, she was wonderfully witty 

My need for control exceeded the...

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