Long Hazard Poems

Charles d'Orleans: a Medieval Marvel


Spring
by Charles d’Orleans (c. 1394-1465)
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Young lovers,
greeting the spring
fling themselves downhill,
making cobblestones ring
with their wild leaps and arcs,
like ecstatic sparks
struck from coal.

What is their brazen goal?

They grab...

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Medieval Poems

How Long the Night
anonymous Middle English lyric, circa early 13th century AD
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

It is pleasant, indeed, while the summer lasts
with the mild pheasants' song ...
but now I feel the northern...

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Spring
by Charles d'Orleans (c.1394-1465)
loose translation by Michael R. Burch

Young lovers,
greeting the spring
fling themselves downhill,
making cobblestones ring
with their wild leaps and arcs,
like ecstatic sparks
struck from coal.

What is their brazen goal?

They grab at whatever passes,
so we can...

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Oasis
by Michael R. Burch 
 
for Beth
 
I want tears to form again
in the shriveled glands of these eyes
dried all these long years
by too much heated knowing.
 
I want tears to course down
these parched cheeks,...

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Oft in My Thought
by Charles D'Orleans
translation by Michael R. Burch

So often in my busy mind I sought,
Around the advent of the fledgling year,
For something pretty that I really ought
To give my lady dear;
But that sweet...

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POEMS ABOUT EROS AND CUPID

These are translations of ancient Greek poems about Eros. Eros was the Greek counterpart of the Roman god Cupid. While today we tend to think of Cupid as an angelic cherub...

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My Last Las Vegas C.E.S. (1)
(A Memorial Poem)
I long counted Steve Bristow a friend (1) and we'd fly off to lunch
some days (Steve would get 'hours in' he needed for license - small planes).
It was...

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Mission Control, this is Flight Z924693744, do you read?
We're having some technical trouble. How should we proceed?

We have spotted a planet, that appears to be suitable to abort;
But, to return to earth, we will need...

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Captain kuni-lemel graduate strikes again - updated

Steely Dan sing queen (me)
outdid himself on sixtieth anniversary 
after Grahame Wood 
determined to meet 
the evolving needs of the community 
opened the first Wawa Food Market 
in Folsom,...

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I often fail to notice
nuanced distinctions
between ethics of punishment,
retribution, on right hand
and boycott,
shunning revenge, on my left;

Between reigning down further abuse
and more quietly raining temporary neglect,
social 
economic
political distancing.

Punishment is a tool
for privileged narcissists,
win/lose competitors,
colonizers,
for fake-righteously...

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Fork git about spooner hiz ham

And join (singing the words 
in the next paragraph) whether alone
in a traffic jam
basting, cooking, then eating a lamb
prepared by thee missus
a superb culinary madam.

“A Ram Sam Sam” Lyrics
A ram...

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Achooo!
It begins, almost always, with a sneeze, 
Which, in some cultures, 
Invites blessings, 
But, in some others, a curse,
As it’s held to be ominous!
Blessing or curse, soon the frequency
And the decibels increase—
Incredibly, irritatingly, inconveniently, and...

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{"Corrupted abandonment issues
 swathe me as a probable hazard, and I remain far from sane, I coat over my sentiments and violate the evidence so nonentity would find the remnants of my body, 
I am...

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The table is old and worn
nicks and scratches 
its red plastic tablecloth left over from a forgotten Christmas
its holiday pattern worn and forlorn
many a Thanksgiving dinner was hosted
the plump turkey as dry as yesterday

many wars...

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                I
Listen up and I’ll tell
              you...

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I  continued down the driveway and then came to a stop, damn, I thought I’ve come down the wrong driveway it must be further up.Then a man appeared from behind some trees with a...

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I OPENED A DOOR TO THE QUANTUM DOT WORLD 
OF INORGANIC ORGANIC MATERIALS.
ALSO KNOWN AS SYNTHETIC BEINGS. PART HUMAN 
PART MACHINE. ONE MIGHT EVEN SAY CYBORG.

CONTROLLED BY FREQUENCIES RADIATING FROM 
WHAT APPEARS TO BE 6G...

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GROWING UP ACROSS THE STREET FROM 
TIGER STADIUM HAS ITS ADVANTAGE
AND DISADVANTAGES.
BEING A YOUNGSTER 
HOT HUMID MUGGY SUMMER NIGHT.
DETROIT MICHIGAN.
JULY NINETEEN HUNDRED AND 73
WOULD TURN OUT TO BE A VERY
COLD
NIGHT.
IN THE MOST UNTHINKABLE WAY.
RUNNING AROUND...

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“The Church of Pasiphaë”



inside the church of me
a heart on fire blazes brighter 
than any morning star you could capture 
to wish a life away, a Lawrence forest ripped,
lit like a funeral pyre I wish...

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Catapulted into seething temperatures beyond the imagination 
risking excitement in escapades that may seem inane,
potential hazard weighted against predicament predestined,
at some future stage I might peer backwards and reassess,
initial impetuousness under caustic supernatant thumbnail,
maybe I...

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Captain kuni-lemel graduate strikes again

Even when iron not red hot, 
I implement non customary quarks 
regarding foreigner rather cold as ice
namely delinquent outsize credit card debt 
mandates yours truly, 
a cheesy survivor who rem: members...

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Walking from the horrid old motel, and out into the smaze, 
a suffocating day, worsened now, by a mocktail shade of smog
in mockumentary proportions, she flounders in a fog.
Too dazed by crazy sitcoms that seem...

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The downplayed hazard of swallowing vitamins a -z

Ofttimes, I nearly find myself choking,
and frantically beck-kin ing
for immediate intervention in vain,
and my time is a piece of wax
falling on a termite
that's choking on the splinters...
analogous to...

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Becoming the prey 
I’m melting away like a 5 foot wick
To show a skeleton of who was once the author
Now the pencil tips break and the pens ink tends to escape 
My eyelids worked overtime...

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If I had to choose
would I brave that dark sea
waves crashing relentlessly upon me
knocking aside the armor I've spent so long
meticulously piecing together

My heart is a fortress
made from clay
water is its natural enemy
and you on...

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