Long Forfeited Poems

Sonnets XXV-XXXII

Archaischer Torso Apollos (“Archaic Torso of Apollo”)
by Rainer Maria Rilke
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

We cannot know the beheaded god
nor his eyes' forfeited visions. But still
the figure's trunk glows with the strange vitality
of a...

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Sonnets X-XVI


Archaischer Torso Apollos (“Archaic Torso of Apollo”)
by Rainer Maria Rilke
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

We cannot know the beheaded god
nor his eyes' forfeited visions. But still
the figure's trunk glows with the strange vitality
of a...

Read More

Archaic Torso of Apollo
by Rainer Maria Rilke
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

We cannot know the beheaded god
nor his eyes' forfeited visions. But still
the figure's trunk glows with the strange vitality
of a lamp lit from within,...

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Precious priceless progeny 

     Hands down the most dramatic change ever needed to make the most profound impact awoke from helping beget the first offspring. An internal paradigm shift reshuffled priorities...

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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,...

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Whether you have come to possess this compendium of doggerel confessions by chance or by choice, should you decide to venture beyond this page, I politely suggest you consider the contents to be nothing more...

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Once pawn a time...

About four plus weeks after
frazzling fiasco from friggin fraudsters
white knight still mourns swindled money
Lynne Costello Senior Civil Investigator
(assistant to Philadelphia attorney general)
unable to recoup forfeited funds.

While holed up in castle keep,
(albeit fetchodit...

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Archaischer Torso Apollos ("Archaic Torso of Apollo")
by Rainer Maria Rilke
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch 

We cannot know the beheaded god
nor his eyes' forfeited visions. But still
the figure's trunk glows with the strange vitality
of a...

Read More

Stricken with anguished nausea

Written three years ago tomorrow, 
yet superimposed (likened to 
emotional palimpsest) upon 
mental state of yore
recent post traumatic stress 
triggered courtesy war
torn legally tendered greenbacks, 
where enemy bonded, heisted, and netted 
mine...

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(A recent virtual chat with thine youngest daughter
awakened poignant memories adjusting to 
fatherhood for first time).
     
December 22nd 1996 Bundle of Edenic Joy
Twenty one plus years ago 
   faux...

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It was just a silhouette but it reminds me why I left the spirit box closed 
I felt as though the hand I was holding
Was yours and not my own
In my want to believe
But reality...

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I see an angel fly across the sky.
She stops and haloes Rigel,
    and looks down upon me,
         with answers I already knew.

Have you come...

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Death...death...like a cold, distant fog
it looms over these beings
these frail human beings, myself included
attacking their defenseless, quarrelsome - filled minds
like ravenous carnivores sprinting upon their prey
I've counted three, thrice has death sent for the reaper
to...

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To My Mother 
On Mothers Day



I thought and thought
What gift I can give, to my late mother
On this auspicious Mother’s Day,

A gift for my Mother,
Who passed away from this world, 
Many many years back, on...

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To the person, they call, frigid, Translation of Paul Verlaine’s poem : A celle que l’on dit froide

(Poem written on September 5, 1889 at Aix-les-Bains, which I found a bit jarring with abrupt exclamations and...

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I AM NOT THE POET I ONCE WAS , I AM NOT THE POET I HAD HOPE TO BE
 I AM BUT THE POET I HAVE BECOME, NOT THE ONE I OUGHT TO BE, NOT...

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The 2nd reason the eldest remained exempt is someone had to see him as something other than a monster.To testify to his humanity.The remainder sans the baby could not as their own humanity was so...

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When I was 4 1/2 years old, 
as abrupt as a spanking, 
my once reliable mother brought home 
a hospital surprise 
with an alien face and 
a blood-darkened eerie belly clip 
that was to suddenly...

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Idyllic reverie during break of day

May today bring unbridled bliss 
delivered courtesy sunshine kissed
giving Midas a run for his money.

When the last trace of night 
evaporates analogous to milky hue,
whereat a dreamy state 
pervades thy...

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Cuz while ya steel got
moxie, don't nix chance if only a dot
before death finds 
     flesh rotting alot.

A self-actualized fringe benefit
     as I racked up
  ...

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THE HAKIMI'S GAME

He is a professional player,
Plays properly for his Parisian payer.
Family travels & lives the Player.
Player invites a beautiful slayer.
She laid rape allegations against the Player.
Even Ramadan couldn't stop the Player
from dotingly detesting the...

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Just for the sake of saying "hello"

Courtesy garden variety/generic common Joe
who strives to achieve becoming 
(even posthumously) 
an esteemed writer likened to outstanding poe
whit – perhaps illusions 
of grandeur must be reined in 
courtesy horse...

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Fraught as an extremely socially anxious younger person...

hashtagged introvertedness trademark
silently exorcised, ostracized, and vilified
Impossible mission to resuscitate...
a forsaken promising
(even short lived) friendship
regardless of expressed gender
exhibited by other persons from yesteryear.

When trying to jump/kick start
lapsed meaningful...

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Wake up sleepy head is all that’s left to say. Get up I say!
But of course it didn’t help… This was sleeping at it’s best!
The bus was due for school soon, and still in bed...

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You know the story.
Some called it mis-
management, some
said it was original.
We know one thing
it was mirror to create
an effective strategy.
When management
changed they keep the
same format, keeping
the structure, but changing
What we knew into what we
know. Putting...

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