Long Fumbled Poems

Where art thou anonymous benefactor...to offer me succor?

Ah... methinks legal tender 
could be a boon to help me bolster 
mein kampf with necessary material equipage,
which prospect to acquire essential 
commodities sabotaged 
at the altar of...

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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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Juvenilia: Early Poems V

Poetry
by Michael R. Burch

Poetry, I found you
where at last they chained and bound you;
with devices all around you
to torture and confound you,
I found you—shivering, bare.

They had shorn your raven hair
and taken both...

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The Making of a Poet
by Michael R. Burch

While I don’t consider “Poetry” to be my best poem—I wrote the first version in my teens—it’s a poem that holds special meaning for me; I call it...

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The State of the Art (I)
by Michael R. Burch

Has rhyme lost all its reason
and rhythm, renascence?
Are sonnets out of season
and poems but poor pretense?

Are poets lacking fire,
their words too trite and forced?
What happened to desire?
Has...

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     We sat at the end of the bar in a seedy place on Seventh street.  Nursing our drinks, we both had a bit too much that night.  My...

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At once she paid a visit. In her colorful dress, so revealing and appealingly suited to her slendern torso. I to gaze the door way, mine heart pounded viciously,  a death knock. I was...

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These are poems about starlight and moonlight, moons and stars, dreams and visions, illuminations and intimations …



Will There Be Starlight
by Michael R. Burch 

Will there be starlight
tonight
while she gathers
damask
and lilac
and sweet-scented heathers?

And will she find...

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It's been four years since I've seen so much as an insignificant mountain creek. Been overburdened with comfort, now frantic with nature withdrawals, having to settle for photos found on Google Images: emerald pine trees,...

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It's been four years since I've seen so much as an insignificant mountain creek. I've been overburdened with comfort, now frantic with nature withdrawals and having to settle for photos found on Google Images: emerald...

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Date:  March  2051

3 days until April:
Flight time 3:05 afternoon--  IN flight 
"Dolly and Molly fumbled in their
Seat to achieve comfort. "Ooo does
This flight have to be this long!" 
Dolly was frustrated. Holly...

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IT’S A MAD WORLD In a Lancashire Accent.

I went to the Confectioners today, there was a long queue outside, a metre apart, and it had started to rain. 
The assistant behind the counter had shiny...

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Book in hand, I strode the path
in awesome Autumn splendor.
The warmth of the sun caressing my cheek,
while the cool breeze gently tickled 
goose bumps across my warm skin.
All around me the crepe paper litter
piled brilliance...

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slang..
up-dogged = when you chip in to keep a conversation trend going
fit = gorgeous
buje = unexplainable glamor
football minute = a minute, that with time-outs, that lasts a half an hour.
crute = cute but cringy
women's-rights =...

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Chroí awoke early the next morning, disoriented and a bit frightened.  This was not her bed .  It was so big.  She was tired and felt drained.  Closing her eyes, thoughts...

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I will never forget the Feast of Tabernacles at Lake Arrowhead
I spent my nights there in our beautiful rented house
With Spy loyally by my side
 He slept on my bed and kept me feeling comfortable...

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It was in the mists of morning, beneath the rising morning sun,
We had come to conquer Ft. Langley, It was me and Al and John.
We had all teed off quite nicely, on number one I...

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A couple weeks ago today, while I was sleeping in,
And lay so very unprepared to have the day begin,

I thought I heard the doorbell ring and slightly twitched my head…
I hoped I had imagined it,...

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Dad Revisited- Once More


Last night I sat up in bed and prayed a little longer,
I asked god to send dad back for just one more  day with great fervour.

Dad was waiting for me in...

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I was forever losing things, and my laughing friends called me a klutz,
Like darker skies misplace buttery sun, when a severe storm develops.

I had once lost the keys to my house, and waited locked out...

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"He made a difference."

Gramps, my mother's father, 
Dave Luke -- my grandfather, 
a tall unlettered white (decidedly white) 
Louisiana man -- was born August 1888.  
He lived 87 years.  He grew under 
the...

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T Salamander enjoyed local fame
down by the creek, there with her daughter.
Prided herself on her inky black frame,
bathing each day in the cool, brackish water.
She set amphibious cold-blooded hearts
on fire, exploding, through black magic arts.
All...

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Awaking blithe each morning,
with eyes upon the World,
I wonder, are we mourning
with ebon flags unfurled –
or are they but a warning,
some draped like snakes and curled,
stray stars and stripes adorning,
sent from the netherworld.

I wander through...

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A Dream That Came True.

In my mind's eye I had seen her undress a thousand times
 sending hot flashes that exploded with her moaning
 Months before ever summoning the courage to speak to her
 I...

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*
I found a way to gracefully depart
for I could not respond to her request.
I held my breath and waited for my heart
to once again start beating in my chest.
And as I coaxed my senses to...

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