Long Heaviness Poems

Blue Hunter's Moon of the Festival of Lights.
And the day of Vengeance of our Holy One to comfort all those who mourn.

Isaiah 61:3-11
I Proclaim the acceptable Generation or Year and Day of Yehoshua also known...

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Come Down
by Michael R. Burch

for Harold Bloom

Come down, O, come down
from your high mountain tower.
How coldly the wind blows,
how late this chill hour ...

and I cannot wait
for a meteor shower
to show you the time
must be...

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What Good Are Our Tears?
by Michael R. Burch

What good are our tears?
They will not spare the dying their anguish.
What good is our concern
to a child sick of living, waiting to perish?

What good, the warm benevolence...

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THIS WORLD OF DEW

This world? 
Moonlit dew
flicked from a crane's bill.
—Eihei Dogen Kigen, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Seventy-one?
How long
can a dewdrop last? 
—Eihei Dogen Kigen, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Dewdrops beading grass-blades
die before...

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[Well, ShallowMan’s ne’er at a loss
for voicing shallow thoughts that gloss.
With trenchant wit he reaps the dross
when seeking sense in applesauce.

But to his aid flies FactoidMan
who always has a Fact at hand;
with him, who needs...

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Regret
by Michael R. Burch

Regret,
a bitter
ache to bear . . .

once starlight
languished
in your hair . . .

a shining there
as brief
as rare.

Regret . . .
a pain
I chose to bear . . .

unleash
the torrent
of your hair . ....

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This is the Second Part of the Translation from Rabindranath Tagore, Nobel-Laureate Philosopher Poet from India. 





Father only smiled; thought, "women
are emotionally heated balloons! 
Life is a difficult  salvation, they don't have that knowledge", 
After...

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Love has a Southern flavor: honeydew,
ripe cantaloupe, the honeysuckle’s spout
we tilt to basking faces to breathe out
the ordinary, and inhale perfume ...

Love’s Dixieland-rambunctious: tangled vines,
wild clematis, the gold-brocaded leaves
that will not keep their order in...

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"Ground Level Entry"

“She fits the bill”,
they say it 
insouciantly

visions of being 
carried in the beak 
of a bilious pelican 

where it builds
its rudimentary nest, 
it uses sticks and debris

no stones, yet,
from irreverence
thrown at it

no higher...

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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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This October  5th of 2046
Desharah has finally achieved her
Aspiration her enchanting 
Graduation from 16 years old to
17. She thought she'd have more
Freedom make grown-up choices.
She'd have a voice in. "Desharah 
Smiled to her self...

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I remember…

Being 3 and crying, screaming
Because my mommy was leaving
For a day at work, … dreaded hours
As loneliness for her fell like black
Rain drenching me in awful rejection

I remember…

Being 6 and climbing out of bed
At...

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She was a grand piano: grand in structure, grand in beauty, grand in quality 
of sound. She had captured the heart of every pianist who had come to play in 
the great hall. Once they...

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She was a grand piano: grand in structure, grand in beauty, grand in quality 
of sound. She had captured the heart of every pianist who had come to play in 
the great hall. Once they...

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Ech day me cometh tydinges thre
"Each Day Three Tidings Come to Me"
(anonymous Middle English poem, circa the 13th century AD)
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Each day I’m plagued by three doles,
These gargantuan weights on my...

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Ode to Be

I feel different from other people,
Some say I am weird and strange,
This endless striving to be accepted, 
Just leaves me disheartened and drained. 
I haven’t found God in the Bible, 
But your eyes...

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I can't feel my feet below the rubble
I feel numb inside once more
I can't deal with so much of my stubble
I will shave it off to the core

I can feel my heartbeat beating in my...

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I watch the sun fall from the sky
tumbling soundlessly, the horrid quiet deafening.
As I see it touch the horizon, the world burns
and clouds, like kindling, burst into flames
set afire, until their brilliant hues burn to...

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I’ve made my entrance into this world.
You looked at me with your eyes you did adore.
Your love and protection I could feel
My name you gave me was written and sealed.
You held and nurtured me all...

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Light pours out across the hills,
Destroying the darkness
With its reflections and sparks
Crystal clear, glistening
Through the doubts and confusion,
Awakening the silent yearnings,
Hopes lost in the past,
Dreams that you thought wouldn’t last

Light disturbs the secrets, silent
Amid the...

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Prelude: A BRIDE SET FREE

How romantic, the fall, so far above the pleading waves.
The heights, the depth, to look the deep in eye and weep.
Air space between the lovers’ arc and shallow graves.
The tangible singsong...

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Exiting highway 101 again....
Past Pacific Heights, to the Marina districts boulavard
Circling back towards the Palace of Fine Arts
An escape, after leaving the Tenderloins gentrificational neighborhoods
In the lines of questions; as I now gaze upon the...

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Come out of the black hole… 
Lie face down on the bed…I’ve been bedshaped all night long
Heaviness of my eyelids takes it toll on me
Fly…fly with your top speed…keep your head
Above the surface and take...

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The boatman’s Song				10/Many

The beauty of that black horse got doubled
With the glittering beauty of the princess on the horse 
Who was elegantly riding that black horse beauty 
While coming towards the boatman with a speed...

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Awoken by sudden flashes of painted bricks slipping into my skin
I hid inside the newly bare nail beds
chewing on carbon copies of myself 
my teeth clicked

scrubbing the rythm and blues desk 
iron blood 
and pipping...

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