Long Gagged Poems

How unparticular the day had particularly been,
On March the third of two-thousand and eighteen,
For the caretaker at an historic Adirondack Inn,
Had lacked company, and therefore, dopamine.

 ‘Twas Sunday when all the guests had fled,
From either...

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State of the Art (II)

These are my "ars poetica" poems about the art and craft of writing poetry. 



What the Poet Sees
by Michael R. Burch

What the poet sees,
he sees as a swimmer 
~~~~underwater~~~~
watching the shoreline...

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A Vain Word
by Michael R. Burch

Oleanders at dawn preen extravagant whorls
as I read in leaves’ Sanskrit brief moments remaining
till sunset implodes, till the moon strands grey pearls
under moss-stubbled oaks, full of whispers, complaining
to the darkening...

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The Ash Can  ©

I got the call on Sunday night.  I was traveling on business.  When I looked at the caller ID
 I wondered why my husband’s boss would be calling me....

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My wounded heart drinks deep from the rotting gut of misery,
Humanity vomits its relics onto the oozing tiles of the real.
I see kids chewing syringes like candy canes,
Their innocence smashed, face down on the concrete...

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Neigh say being  corralled & cult shod 

"Sic semper evello mortem tyrannis"
translation = thus always I 
bring death to tyrants.”

Above the fray of twittering, 
squabbling, and madding crowds,
an arrogantly belligerent creature deified, 
yet vilified...

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Yours truly embarks on wild goose chase after elusive pot of gold

alternately titled: incorrigible lottery dreamer
big plans to relocate self and spouse
to some tropical island paradise
by the dashboard light
(the above line credited
to musician named Meatloaf)
upon...

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5.

                                  ...

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So, she said,
much to everyone's BusinessAsUsual
StraightWhiteMale
surprise,

Sew,
I run into your aversion
to unpatriarchal Principles of Reversion
whenever I deeply listen
to your dark passions first,
then redial,
notice,
[occasionally speak]
as if I trust what I can win/win hear
in PreVersed
unrehearsed response

To liberal GoldenRule...

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This has been a hot minute to say the cold hard truth. I second that! Glasses full of hours turn hands into long time. Darkness saves the day. Light work is easy. Take care; bear...

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Acquah Vicki on Sunday March 31, 2013

 THEY CALL ME NELSON
 
No man can keep the spirit contained 

He herded sheep when they 

called him by name (Rolihlahla)
 
His teacher gave him a new name...

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[Every good story needs a sub plot, so…]

He watched from his vantage point on the bank’s roof
And looked out for folk that he knew were uncouth
His years on the run had made him aloof
But soon...

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He had watched her for two years
patiently waiting for her to grow up.
He knew all her movements, what
made her laugh, all of her moods.

Soon now it would be time, their time
together. She would be fifteen...

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"The Deconstructed Lilith"




Decomposing from a past
left forgotten and buried 
under the weakness of the first man banished

from 
Her Forest,

She rests, bound in the arms of angst 
eternally suspended, 
invisible and unheard

gagged, Her spirit waits 
and...

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Bands of sunlight
Streamed through the curtains
Woke up to a glorious spring day
In Lowndes County Georgia 1918
Little Sara and Clint jumped in our bed
For morning hugs around
A day to remember
Filled with love, legacy
Our people

Slipped on my...

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Unsolved criminal mystery...modest prevarication

Found yours truly
a grateful dead head
convenient scapegoat dejure
Norristown police officers
fingerprinted me for 
casual postal employment
linked to vicious brutal crime
someone else who shared 
identical name and fingerprints as mine
the latter of corpse far...

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The crying grass 
(for the late Victor Jara,* Pablo Neruda 
and Salvador Allende)
by ‘bro. zayid’

In this stadium
of footlaunched spotted balls
of what should be promising soccer stars…
In this stadium
reeking with the stench of terror
and the numbing...

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KRAMPUS CHRISTMAS
All hope is lost for children 
If their festive spirit dies,
The Christmas magic disappears 
As they look through older eyes.

No more milk and cookies
Or a sign for Santa`s sleigh,
Or carrots for the reindeer
To eat...

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"I Can't Breathe I Am"



I can’t breathe
when you 
paint the words 
“Flow” 
on my throat
when the words 
are trapped 
and I am gagged

I can't breathe
when you're kneeling
in prayer 
on my neck 
singing a gentile 
white...

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"The Tree Hugger and the Lost Paradise"

They called her 
the tree hugger,
her forest was full 
of trees that watched
silently, they had 
no mouth to speak,
rustling their leaves
like fingers writing 
strange stories coded
for decoding a mystery
on...

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They Get It

Have you ever wondered about your life, the life of your spouse and children, and the life of your career?  Have you wanted to know how it all will look when you...

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Poems about Poets

Elemental
by Michael R. Burch

for and after Dylan Thomas

The poet delves earth’s detritus—hard toil—
for raw-edged nouns, barbed verbs, vowels’ lush bouquet;
each syllable his pen excretes—dense soil,
dark images impacted, rooted clay.

The poet sees the sea...

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Life carried on brushing up pain
Each day I could hardly remain
Darkness seemed to be my only course
As I falter and enter ultimate remorse
I could not see what's going on before me
As life seemed dim I...

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(In a 19th-century legal judgment studied by all who 
learn the English common law, Sturges v. Bridgeman,
the court found in favour of a "nice" doctor over a
"common" manufacturer, for reasons of pure snobbery.)

The Candyman Can’t

Some...

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VIC’S PLACE
 by
JOHN M. ARRIBAS

When I come to I’ll start a new path
The one I’m on solicits her wrath
When the alarm went off I moved not an inch
If I opened my eyes a brawl was...

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