Long Giza Poems

Rejection Slips 2

The Shape of Mourning
by Michael R. Burch
 
The shape of mourning
is an oiled creel
shining with unuse,
 
the bolt of cold steel
on a locker
shielding memory,

the monthly penance
of flowers,
the annual wake,
 
the face in the...

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Rejection Slips 3

Rejection Slip
by Michael R. Burch

Whenever my writing gets rejected,
I always wonder how the rejecter got elected.
Are we exchanging at the same Bourse?
(Excepting present company, of course!)

When editors reject my poems, did I slip...

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Copyright © 2008 #03
4/12/2008 // (Edited: 1/22/2013/lp
(a historical glimpse of humanity's rise)

*This poetic epic begins with the
greatest sin against humanity

*This poem is dedicated to all
serving and protecting the
¨Basic Rights of Mankind¨

Once, mankind was forgiven from...

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Musings at Giza
by Michael R. Burch

In deepening pools of shadows lies
the Sphinx, and men still fear his eyes.
Though centuries have passed, he waits.
Egyptians gather at the gates.

Great pyramids, the looted tombs
—how still and desolate their...

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A new day perhaps, of immeasurable tin, sound of din
A hurricane noise, a thrall of riotous cuts, although thin
The blood-curdle choke of rage from before
Now purchased like plasma from the needle store
Go hump yourself, If...

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The hour matters none ... for the energies have exhausted.
In the year of our Lord ... nineteen hundred and twelve, April fifteenth.
Writes a future living star ... wish their joys so he may shine.

'Tis to...

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The numbing effect ..
Effects in every way..
At sunrise...
Until sunset..

It is loyal ..
It is dependable
It is reliable..
It is resilient
As it is persistent..

It almost has a mind of it's own..
It is quite an entity in itself..

It had...

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No Primus Inter Pares

Germans at the Costa Brava they just cannot yield
‘Brava’ the fight and they are conquering once more

Always the first on the beach or the striped deck chair but
The towel goes right up...

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231: two minutes, thirty one seconds divided 2038
From be a perfect 365 days. Curses in evening where the
warmth of summers mind me. The sun centers it's self perfect to make annoy many. They recovery of...

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231: two minutes, thirty one seconds divided 2038
From be a perfect 365 days. Curses in evening where the
warmth of summers mind me. The sun centers it's self perfect to make annoy many. They recovery of...

Read More

231: two minutes, thirty one seconds divided 2038
From be a perfect 365 days. Curses in evening where the
warmth of summers mind me. The sun centers it's self perfect to make annoy many. They recovery of...

Read More

231: two minutes, thirty one seconds divided 2038
From be a perfect 365 days. Curses in evening where the
warmth of summers mind me. The sun centers it's self perfect to make annoy many. They recovery of...

Read More

231: two minutes, thirty one seconds divided 2038
From be a perfect 365 days. Curses in evening where the
warmth of summers mind me. The sun centers it's self perfect to make annoy many. They recovery of...

Read More

For breakfast she starts out modestly:
a cup of tea, no milk, but sugar plenty.
By nine o’clock her stomach’s growling,
and Edna’s in the kitchen prowling.
There must be something she can chew,
a bagel or a donut, and...

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I love my country Nigeria,
Though marred by malaria.
I've a bouquet of sweet aria,
Blooming in my heart's rear, 
Which my country must hear,
Else it flees to Rhea.

I love my country Nigeria.
It tilts like the Tower of...

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A lifetime of waiting, stacks of National
Geographic half as tall as me, piled on
every step. A girl with nothing to do but dream.

The yellow-black jackets buzzed, I flowered
as I turned the pages. The relics of...

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The teeth are dry. 
It is Silken Thomas 
muffling for promises 
among the rats in his straw, 
jostling for a hand, 
once wielding but now 
scratching the toes of power. 

The tongue leather bitten, 
studded...

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The Dreams of Library Ladies

Library ladies could it be you sometimes dream
With books (and children) all put in their place
Do you imagine an alternate library scene
A view transformed to more exotic space

The British Museum, perhaps...

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Hey there Janie,last name Doe...
tell me baby,where ya wanna go?
maybe for a ride feel the wind in your hair,
maybe the nearest park,or an old country fair?

May I suggest,we take the fastest jet
fly overseas,to the sights...

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I stared, and stared, and stared
Following the light with my eyes
To see beneath the dress
The deep bosom of water suckling
Babels on the ancient salt of primal seas.
We build our ladders not from mountains
But their stones
Children...

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excavation underway
'neath the paw of Egypt’s Sphinx
is Cayce’s prediction coming true?
will the meaning of life be found?

on an astral plane there can be no lies
no secrets, no masks, no questions
thoughts and fears of every creature...

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Talkin bout 'Ahunda,
Talkin bout 'Ahunda,
Talkin bout 'Ahunda;

Mtu huyu huko na suti ya kijivu cha flannel;
Yeye huko juu na takataka ya kuzungumza kwa kinywa hizNi jivin kufikiriNi yeye ni mzuri sana;
Na kumchukua dada huyo huko, yeah...

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Live life zealously, it’s an absolute end,
There’s no afterlife and no heaven,
Beyond death, who cares where I’m send,
If it’s hell for me, let it be so my haven!

Ha, I envy them the most who dwell
where...

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As we ate on the 33rd floor

" his eyes shifted "

" the feather lifted "

and I knew once more

" ten keys "

are his way to a door...

" my trowel "

is for Phi!

and the measure

of my...

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oh, how the pyramid, does grow and grow.
how was i to know?
i signed that dotted line, in repose.
should have dotted i’s and crossed my legs.

my first hint arrived with labor pains.
i squatted jewels – diamond,...

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