Long Generative 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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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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From Edward de Bono's Lateral Thinking: Creativity Step by [NonHierarchical] Step

Summary

The emphasis in education has always been on logical sequential thinking which is by [deductively analytical academic] tradition the only proper [true, good, and pretty]...

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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

Richard Mcgeehan Poem

Poetic license I employ
to match inventive
wisdom and witticism
regarding (brother in law of mine 
husband of eldest sister of same)
interspersing, initiating, incorporating
fabrication whenever possible,
and only the subject himself
can discern fact from fiction
and get a...

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I have a son,
in whom I am well pleased,
with more than his share of heart
and mindbody intelligence,
to comprehend vastness of Earth's evolving history
and future demise,
to comprehend full emptiness of universes within
and without
co-arising nondual lonely/solitude
double-binary universes
de/re-generative,

Enough...

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Do you believe racism and colonialism
and economic corporatism and LeftBrain dominance
are coincidental,
cause-effect related,
or co-arising?

If interdependently causal, which is historical cause
and which is cultural effect?

Do you believe political power
and economic investment values/disvalues
are win/lose capitalistic coincidental,
causally related,
or...

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I once heard,
Hope is what can positively happen
after listening to all the realistic facts
and then continuing in good faith anyway.

I also heard,
Cynicism about others,
like narcissism about oneself,
is sadly generative,
expansively powerful,
contagious

Just as hope about others
and compassion...

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Book cause I spend an inordinate amount of time reading...

out loud.

As a hypothetical argument 
yours truly doth not aim
to be unfortunate recipient
of misguided, misjudged, and mislaid blame,
nevertheless I make dubious claim
and baldly recede (ha –...

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Fast as an atomic banshee, he roils sacred halls 
of White House clutches levers with brass balls
American powers remain unrestrained when he calls
Armada to exorcise imagine aery dragons, 
   he inarticulately falls
non-communicative, faux...

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Why are we the human race
rather than another extinguishing species?
Why not the human species
and not the cockroach race?
Why is human nature
intended as somehow supremely natural
not within but faster than,
above and beyond 
inferior sensual nature?

Why is...

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Psychologists,
sociologists,
anthropologists,
and theologians, curiously,
are more likely to confuse the tragic end of humanity
with the end of EarthLife's developmental 
and sacred significance.

Environmentalists,
holistic ecologists,
integral biologists,
students of pre-historic religious re-connecting rapture
are less likely
to collapse the sacred rebirthing value of...

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Today I heard,
despite considerable dissonance,
a distinction between external change
and internal transformation.

This feels like a difference with some merit,
but reminds me of further nuances
and possibilities for healthy
and pathological transitions,
great and small.

Transformation
seems like a good thing.
A negative...

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Purpose
By Sy Roth

Woke this morning to a sodden sky
Stretched to the limit of my arms
And could hear the crack of my back and the crick in my neck
To bespeak an existence.

I think.

Meandered to the bathroom
To...

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Porches,
attached decks,
patios,
intimate places for alfresco,

These make a difference
between a fortressed house
and a transparent home,
between an ego castle
and an eco-habitat.

We also spread rhododendron bushes
and hostas,
flowers and ferns
around our stone
and concrete bound foundations.

We want stable defenses
but prefer...

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Angels have beautiful wings
Sometimes they carry bell that rings
But he has wings of colossal bat
Eyes cobalt blue like a hellcat

Apocalypse is mistaken for time of destruction 
With God’s glory as only hope beacon
But infect it...

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Generative Persistence

Give it a name; “generative presence”, “persistence” 
Emergent with life, feeling and a pulse
Send it on its way while clinging to the egg
Enable it from a distance to become of use
Keep yourself in a...

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As pre-pubescent predilections erected
a shadow in my mirror

A more safely theological "Problem of Evil"
evolved into the elephant in my bedroom
of my own irresistible Evil nature:
My longing for mutually beloving 
intimate relationships
that could only be masculine...

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Of late except the Hummer original war zone macho look.
Packard marque logo displayed a twentieth century flying lady piece. 
Other brand images, hyped products lived with beautiful women
All to woo, the neo-rich the good and...

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Mantle--a fluid shelf that cradles all existence;
Soil--a table that nurtures all subsistence
Flora--a cultivated canvas that neutralizes resistance;
Fauna--a habituated benefactor of indulgence.

Wind--a mysterious force of ambivalence,
Dispersing seed and spore with diligence.
Fondling cloak that cools with benevolence;
Powerful...

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jet-stream, that trails
jet-stream, clearly shown
to us as the mark, as the mark of the one
most awesome of gods, of the Creating Snail
    gentle, and generative,
       ...

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I would breathe you in
Like oxygen 
Hyper with no ventilation ,
Asphyxiation
A mellow mush
Together dried 
Crystallized and surprise!
A lightning bolt
Electric jolt for the

Lady of the Labyrinth

Rainbow omniscience 
Blinding bliss
Kissing the iris
Vision of the prism

Versicolor mix created
Fixated...

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How can I ever be left lonely?
For I long to hear her ET song
Feeble wobbles lost to my ears
Restrained within the universe:

Come let me locate a new shelter
To soak in her soft tender life style
Blending...

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