Long Forsook Poems

Vacuum
by Michael R. Burch

Over hushed quadrants
forever landlocked in snow,
time’s senseless winds blow...

leaving odd relics of lives half-revealed,
if still mostly concealed...
such are the things we are unable to know

that once intrigued us so.

Come then, let us...

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Winter
by Michael R. Burch

The rose of love's bright promise
lies torn by her own thorn;
her scent was sweet
but at her feet
the pallid aphids mourn.

The lilac of devotion
has felt the winter hoar
and shed her dress;
companionless,
she shivers—nude, forlorn.

Published...

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Medieval Poems



Deor's Lament (Anglo Saxon poem, circa 10th century AD)
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Weland knew the agony of exile.
That indomitable smith was wracked by grief.
He endured countless troubles:
sorrows were his only companions
in his frozen...

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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...

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Juvenilia: Early Poems by Michael R. Burch



Desdemona
by Michael R. Burch

Though you possessed the moon and stars,
you are bound to fate and wed to chance.
Your lips deny they crave a kiss;
your feet deny they ache to...

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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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Translation of Mahakavi Bharathiyar’s poem: “Asai Mugam” or “Beloved Face”
                         ...

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Juvenilia: Early Poems XII

Because You Came to Me
by Michael R. Burch

for Beth

Because you came to me with sweet compassion
and kissed my furrowed brow and smoothed my hair,
I do not love you after any fashion,
but wildly,...

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LOVE POEMS IV by Michael R. Burch

These are love poems by Michael R. Burch: original poems and translations about love, passion, desire, lust, sex, dating, romance, relationships and marriage. 



She Was Very Strange, and Beautiful
by...

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Excerpt from “fake” encomium given years ago... 
at Lake Wobegone High School (my alma mater), 

and recently discovered ridiculous rough draft
amidst plethora of junk emails
while practice reading some lines 
regarding Midsummer Night's Dream 
upcoming performance.

Arch...

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*Image of Thunder & Lightning by Pixabay.

The Stranger
My life warps by its beasts of woes
depression dogs my day
at night, stress drains my restless soul
the wrongs have no delay

Myself am I, forsook decreed
hope laid by things...

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By George (burning hard), I Shaw tried to playwright

offers his unsolicited tidbits 
as scene courtesy 
the following virtually 
staged philosophical insight.

Arch back like 
a professional ballet dancer 
to stand out from other pedestrian applicants 
seeking...

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I relished being hungry for Thanksgiving pop slop gloppy grub

whereby the missus didst potchke
created whirling dervish hubbub
after enjoying repast, 
(fit for a tarnished king),
yours truly able, eager, and ready
to soak my ego freezing carcass in...

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Do the Dead see with their own eyes

    for Thadchayani, my poetry-loving doctor sister :  28/08/1929 – 26/10/2014 
            ...

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I relished being hungry for leftover Thanksgiving pop slop gloppy grub

(a poetic partial fiction 
blended, diced, fricaseed, 
marinated, mixed, pureed, sautéed, 
stewed... with fact)

Hmm... on second thought
lemme join anorexic club
until rib cage protrudes taut and...

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Often times I wonder if I may have missed 
a greater calling or purpose in my life.
As a young man I was frivolous and non-sensical
when it came to asking the most important questions:
“Why am I...

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"Soul Contract (Part 2)"

If God created us? Who created God? And who created that God’s God?
This is like throwing a pebble in a Pond
the waves perpetuate spreading outward ever on.

Residual image of the Soul
handed free-will...

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Nor Usman’s treasure-chest you own, Nor Ali’s empty bowl,
With spirits of such great forbears, What kinship has your soul?
The honoured of their times, they lived, For theirs was true iman,
You live disgraced, as having left...

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I felt my name slip off his tongue 
Before he even thought to consider 
Whether to pronounce it 
Ashanti Asante or Asanti 

Oh Queen Nanny, let them be 
Pitch black warriors 
made night their playground...

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If raindrops rise in leu of fall
would you seek the meaning overall?
Would spectacles endow with a clarity of fog
would you follow tangled lines of a rearward call?

Inevitable advance to stepping backwards
and dreams which mock to...

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Written: September 19, 2023
Mocking The Dead Poetry Contest           Sponsored by: Silent One 
"Do not be afraid of death. Death transforms to something wider. Death is...

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You may have heard the 3rd class would dance
and many among them did not stand a chance
to be rescued out of the tragic Titanic disaster
but have you heard more of their heroic pastor

Who in 1912,...

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My son had come back home to stay for just a little while.
He brought with him his terrier friend;  a lively, puppy child.
The skinny, little half grown dog came bounding through my door.
I couldn’t...

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I hear it though a friend
and my knees begin to bend.
"It's Sasha"

My eyes grow,
the world begins to slow.
my heart stops beating
logic is fleeting

Hands quiver,
a gut-wrenching thought
clings hold in my chest

Vision blurrs,
tears well up,
lungs get tight.

8...

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12/20/21


Ten hut!
Can't let up
Even though, it can get messed up
Really F'd up
Do not get fed up
Keep your head up
Stay sharp, don't get set up
Careful where a disagreement ends up
Heads up!
Many fast to wet up
From the...

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