Long Gentlest Poems

Pagans Protest the Intolerance of Christianity
by Michael R. Burch

“We have a common sky.” — Quintus Aurelius Symmachus

We had a common sky
before the Christians came.

We thought there might be gods
but did not know their names.

The common...

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Various Heresies 6

Altared Spots
by Michael R. Burch

The mother leopard buries her cub,
then cries three nights for his bones to rise
clad in new flesh, to celebrate the sunrise.

Good mother leopard, pensive thought
and fiercest love’s wild insurrection
yield...

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Chinese Poets: English Translations

These are modern English translations of poems by some of the greatest Chinese poets of all time, including Du Fu, Huang O, Li Bai, Li Ching-jau, Li Qingzhao, Po Chu-I, Tzu Yeh,...

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He sung all the day, all the night of the fourth,
Endlessly, relentlessly, angrily and passionately
Deafening my ears in the wet sugar of his words
In an eternity of hours,
Slowly and dopily, darkness billowed away
Sifting along to...

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Hidden beneath the hopes and dreams, gentle
Feelings, inspiring me to trust, believe
Fondness this alive isn’t accidental
It feels amazing, just like Christmas Eve,
Joyful and inspired, like a heart afire
Breathing whispers of light over the soul
Remembering the...

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Clutching the moment 
Before yesterday became yesterday,
The promise,
Before he pledged his love to me,
The colors,
Before autumn waltzed away, 
Swaying in shadows of soft snowfall,
Breathing white, plunging into the thought,
A blizzard erasing the gentle flames,
Sheltered by...

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When the past tears apart the courageous, leaving…
	Bloodstained bodies – trembling tears, silence,
		Nightmares, grief and no reassurance or relief,		
			In the distance, so much disbelief, where honor
				Wore its shimmering veil – stands a mirror,

Haunted by the...

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Melodies, breathless as foggiest daybreak
healing all my heart’s restlessness 
releasing the song, pure as the gentlest stream
washing away the distance
between happiness and pain,
correcting the silence so beautiful reigns
cleansing the darkness with the hope
from a glistening...

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A whirl, a gust, and a thunderous boom commenced,
Heartened by the latter soreness of silent night,
Shackled through the chill blows above,
A tempest, a storm,
Threshing the world,
Shaking the Prison of Plot,

The waters of the Holy Spirit...

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You had that future retro look:  two thousand seventeen,
There was a slow and sultry permanence, a little slouchy lean
As you eased out of the taxi before it shot off to the right,
Who could have...

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A subtle numbness overtakes my senses. I feel a slight heavy weight fall upon me in the gentlest of ways, almost like you’re wearing a fur coat in a meat locker and someone’s pissing on...

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True love, the kind that lasts,
Remembers to give, with an open heart,
Remembers to listen, to hear what’s being spoken,
Remembers to laugh, to smile, to kiss,
Remembers to embrace the music, the wish,
Remembers to hope, to inspire,...

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Candied dreams, burning away the twilight
Sandcastle memories, taken 
By the softest glow of a Southern moon,
Coloring the thoughts in reflections of sincerest
Beauty, rising like the breathless winds
Roaring through the pines, whispering sighs,
Risking moments bought by...

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Hesitating, I feel his pulse
Racing, like the winds breathless
Whisper, through the oaks, the pines,
Forest’s redemption – erasing the melancholic
Fading stars, glazing a summer sky,
Embracing the mystery of two hearts,
Two lives, pressed together – like petals,
Saved...

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Just beyond the silence, a secret
Blowing, breathless, through the spirit
Sweetening moments, preparing
Laughing kisses, reassurance
That forever lives, steadily coloring
Skies and seas in hues of beautiful,
Hues of dreams – hues of gentlest peace

Just beyond the moments, joy
Pouring...

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The Fisher
by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
translation by Michael R. Burch

The river swirled and rippled;
nearby an angler lay,
and watched his lure with a careless eye,
like any other day.
But as he watched in a strange half-dream,
he saw...

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Tick...
Time has moved on
but I’m standing still...
No matter where I go, I can never run away.
Gray, gray, gray, it’s all gray, everything, gray.
Tock...
They say you're at peace now,
so, I'm sorry if I'm being selfish
for craving...

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A look, a smile, a gesture
Memories, soft reflections
From the heart who knows
This is special… 

This look – it is filled with kindness,
This smile – it quiets the worst anxiety,
This gesture – brings hope to the...

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Hildegard of Bingen, aka the Sibyl of the Rhine, was a German christian mystic who had visions of the Love of God beginning at age three. 

“Cry out, therefore, and compose!”—Hildegard von Bingen, Scivias, translation...

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Love came down, without a sound, assuring us of the presence, the grace, the peace that comes to those who simply believe God is always near and wherever we are, we have love so sincere...

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From my core, deep inside
Where my heart beats, rhythmic
Hopes, dreams, beliefs – everything
I’ll ever need to share a part of who I am,
The woman who loves, the woman who cares,
The woman who hears the beautiful
Playing...

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It’s been thirteen years, but I still think about him a lot
In the morning quiet, standing on the deck he built, not forgot
I sometimes feel him there with me
His presence seems to hear my plea

After...

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Hello my sister


I remember our school days
How i would wait for you
And sometimes i would forget my lunch. or my spending money
You would always give half of what you had
And i would do the same...

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Surrounding my dreams, softly flowing waters
Soothing as the hope that bleeds
Liquid gentle, lulling my life to silence, in peace,
Shadows colored in music, like waves,
Graceful, reflecting the songs that grieve,
In brilliant sunsets, tangerine and buttery yellow,
Flaming...

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I am the real sea
A tumultuous sea
One wave hits another
And that’s me

Waves sliding, edge
Of all the earth
Edge of my childhood
Look upon my birth

Whirlpools spinning bide
In my heart and my mind
Icebergs are
My gentlest thoughts
Whitecaps are
The spraying...

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