Long Gums Poems

I believed that I was rural … that I lived in country style,
where the city was close handy … that big distance was a mile.
Trains and buses ferried daily; a freeway ran close by …
comforts...

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SELF REFLECTIONS

These are poems about mirrors, images, self-image, reflections, impressions and self-reflection. 

Self Reflection
by Michael R. Burch 

for anyone struggling with self-image

She has a comely form
and a smile that brightens her dorm ...
but she's grossly...

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Poems about Poems VI

The Board
by Michael R. Burch

Accessible rhyme is never good.
The penalty is understood?
soft titters from dark board rooms where
the businessmen paste on their hair
and, Walter Mitties, woo the Muse
with reprimands of Dr. Seuss.

The...

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Enough!
by Michael R. Burch

It’s not that I don’t want to die;
I shall be glad to go.
Enough of diabetes pie,
and eating sickly crow!
Enough of win and place and show.
Enough of endless woe!

Enough of suffering and vice!
I’ve...

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as the PROPHETS of profits, WE lead and WE’re fair
while WE’re living the life of the poor BILLIONAIRE
– silver yachts, pearly castles, cash (plenty to spare) –
with the world on OUR backs... ah! the burdens...

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Unquotable quotes: The Janitor, Gardienne, Landlady, Housekeeper, Portero, the Sereno and the Hausgast – XXXI  Part One

Be they so named or not in these here parts, visions of shrieking furies with Gorgon heads and...

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{verse 1} 
Stream of blood drips unto the sink…it’s in a puddle of muddled, bittersweet blood – whisper hope in my ears
My heart pumps…in fear of losing you…uoy…u…
Teeth ache, gums bleed on…I blink…never good enough...

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Mother nature oh! Rose of roses!
Mother of all flowers' and smell,
Ylang Ylang! You don't know what it causes!
An aphrodisiac turns you on like hell!

Sandalwood with its masculine warmth poses,
Rosemary clears the head, you can tell,
Peppermint...

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Unquotable quotes: Poets, Poetasters and Platos – XXXVI

     For James McAuley – in remembrance of a memorable week in Cardiff 1965 

The greatest poet ever is NOT Homer, Lao Tse, Ovid,...

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“Barking Up the Wrong Tree” 

ghost gums
shed their bark 
the min-min 
makes good use of it
papyrus, soft enough to 
imprint and write
thoughts, like the 
ripening welts of 
green ants 
small bites sting
subcutaneous and 
meridional, 
terra...

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Science can’t save you, neither can religion,
at least Popper and Niebuhr, philosophers and poets,
are entertainers, which is why actors and athletes
are paid so much. Thanks for the summaries.
I was teaching Shakespeare’s 92nd ridiculous sonnet
to my...

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(21st century pearly white prosthetics,
restored jaw bar wah key) 

Aye noel hunger bristle,
and when false teeth soak at night 
     in tandem with stubby facial gristle
har reckon noah kisses
 
 ...

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I know I need to get outside myself.
The more I complain, and focus on my sore gums, tender knee, and achy shoulder, the more griping I do, the more I suffer.
Ouch! Ouch! Ouch! The pain...

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There was once a widow who had nothing but her beloved twin babies, Rosemary, and Ethan. The Widow loved her twins more than the Earth loved the Sun, and vowed to give them anything they...

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I was in the dumps; but as of right this instant, I'm flabbergasted by my brother's random actions and my weird interactions to be exact...great - messages have stimulated my phone...

Zzzzzzz the buzz was coming...

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“Well, now,” said the dentist, as he crushed my lower lip,
“The X-rays show you have a lot of tartar, and decay.
The gums look bad, and we can use a crown to hide that chip.
I think...

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I heard the dreadful Dryad's scream
As axe bit into woody flesh
The sap oozed out as scented cream
My veins stood out in rictal mesh

My wits all scrambled left me quick
My hands and face were full a-sweat
My...

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The little stall stands behind the black dilapidated wall whose bricks have been showing years of stained motion welled up inside the folly of man. The destiny of the wall speaks to the nature of...

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Apple of my eye darling daughter numero deux gifted me...

Twenty four years ago –
February 4th, 2023,
whose existence begat 
by this dada and da mama aye
revel in your bursting at figurative 
seams viz maturation, and know...

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(myself to myself on myself for myself)

When you hear the clamor of the birds loud
shrieking shockingly it shouldn’t frighten
you they simply don’t realize the magnitude
of the head of sand that gets washed away
onto your shoulders...

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The bane of a cold sore inside my mouth

Sent my smooching life south,
whereby I felt like poor Georgie Porgie,
pudding and pie,
who kissed the girls and made them cry.

The medical term for cold sores,
Herpes Labialis, refers
to...

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(CRUMPLED THOUGHTS POETRY CONTEST)

When you hear the clamor of the birds loud
shrieking shockingly it shouldn’t frighten
you they simply don’t realize the magnitude
of the head of sand that gets washed away
onto your shoulders and violates sanctity.

Did...

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A listing of the fires 
and all the survivors 
will be provided

Names of the dead 
are written on broken cobblestones 
at the bottom of the river

The sheet music 
is in the morgue - reconstruction 
of...

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"Dissolution"



I go to sleep a lot now, 
to escape reality. 
It is as if I am no longer here, 
but there in the other worlds. 
Some dreams are so real. 
Once was a life
where as...

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I never loved you.
I loved, when we
sang songs at the
tired nights.
I loved, when you
smile to the flower,
I loved when you
look alike a rose.
Also I loved the
stars.
They stopped onto
your eyes on
September nights.
I never loved you;

I loved...

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