Long Hellhole Poems

Poems about Poems (II)

Kin
by Michael R. Burch

for Richard Moore

1.
Shrill gulls,
how like my thoughts
you, struggling, rise
to distant bliss?
the weightless blue of skies
that are not blue
in any atmosphere,
but closest here...

2.
You seek an air
so clear,
so rarified
the effort leaves...

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State of the Art (II)

These are my "ars poetica" poems about the art and craft of writing poetry. 



What the Poet Sees
by Michael R. Burch

What the poet sees,
he sees as a swimmer 
~~~~underwater~~~~
watching the shoreline...

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COFFEE
       HOUSE 
       BLUES


I am
in the A.M.
Am I ?
I think I am!

It is A.M.
in the coffee house
down on MacDougal
down the stairs
behind closed doors
another...

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Synopsis:
A powerful video, lyrics and music that sheds light on the devastating impact of poverty, illustrating how it fuels crime, gang violence, and psychological trauma in communities around the world. Innocent people, caught in the...

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We were both arrested, 1st degree burglary, and me 1st degree burglary and 2nd degree 
attempted rape!  I couldn't believe I was charged with these two charges, when nothing was 
stolen, we didn't break...

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As mortal veils dissolved, our bodies merged in the ossuary's somber symphonies, two mistress awakened by the velvet-wrapped cadavers, our disinvested hands tracing syllabic patterns across the olive verdure of our skin, as maelstroms of...

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Mom

So many words to say, so many things unspoken
where were you when all I needed was your love
and devotion?
To protect me from all the evil and darkness in this world
But instead, you decided to sacrifice...

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"Er, What's up, Doc?"
the doorman will say
his partner snickering behind
as you pass by the open doors 
into a hall of guitars and music posters
you peer into rooms with televisions 
or children playing with battery powered...

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For Silent One's - Mamma Poetry Contest

Where is the love, Mamma?

Through broken Louvre blinds, you're ever watching
Rosary beads clicking prayers on repeat mode, uttering
Your plethora of Faith keeps me steadily striving 
Though, frustrated when peace...

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Inmate #0459587
As an inmate I feel I'm gonna suffocate and I wanna disappear.
I'm surrounded by hate and there's much evil in the atmosphere!
Behind these steel bars, I'm all alone searching for peace in my soul.
There...

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On this dreary winter morning I sit on a bench in Central Park.  Lost in my own 
thoughts of the conversation I had with my ex-wife and her last remarks.  I keep asking...

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THE CHOICE

HE WAS asleep
Between space and time
The first light on the world
Floated idly
On him
He was just born.

His folded hands
Glowed a pale pink
To keep the fire of life
He wondered if he was really awake.
Is it the...

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Poems about Poets V



Edna St. Vincent Millay Has Her Way with a Vassar Professor
by Michael R. Burch

After a night of hard drinking and spreading her legs,
Millay hits the dorm, where the Vassar don begs:
“Please act...

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Me father was a collier, worked Harton off the coast 
Though he rattled from the coal dust he was whiter than a ghost 
But the one thing that reviled him in his God-forsaken post
Was the...

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Growing up with a family, in a town very small
Learning to live life to it’s fullest, even if I never had it all
It may not of been a place, where everyone wanted to be
But it...

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Married for eleven years
It began simply, with daily tears

It wasn’t always bad
Yet on most days I felt terribly sad

The good times were great
No indication of our eventual fate

Together we spawn two children
Early in life they...

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Ever reliant placid pilled compliant nevertheless undefined anarchaic fool fk clandestined anamorphoric clumsy apparentless undistinguished negiligent aforthought defiant scopic blind congenital aborted panoramic distilled coherent brain dead dynamic stagnant democratic fascist positive negative here now...

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CHIMERA

	(verse 1)
I’m scared to go to sleep, 
 so, I fight to stay awake.
But, I know the sandman will eventually win,
 and my eyes will become heavy like a zeppelin.
Until that time comes around,
 I’ll...

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He sat in the darkness, the room full of light,

                 And though it was midday, it felt like midnight.

...

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I was born and raised here, 
In the hellhole, 
Called Monroe.
I don’t belong here.
That is horribly why,
I have to go.
I was warped here,
In the Hadean eon.
For what I could reckon,
No apparent reason.
I feel like I’m...

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Fear permeates from the depth of his soul
As he scrapes the sides of his deep hellhole
A sweet incessant chant keeps calling him out
It tells him to join the others that are about
His soul leaps feeling...

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The marijuana drug trade is being legalized.
Over the last 10 years, this herb has been helping glaucoma victims’ eyes.
      Therapeutically marijuana is sold as a medical pain suppressor.
An herb that...

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woman, oh woman
even after your
constant, daily
treatment of abuse
I demonstrated
I could have been
your karate kid.

In your defense
did I not impulsively
stand tall between
two warring giants
me, a whippet of a kid
arms outstretched
like sabre swords
pleading don't hurt
her....
taking blows
meant for...

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My birth name is Suzie, some say I’m a floozy
But I can’t be choosey, that’s just how it is
I’ve slept with a teacher and even a preacher
And many a doctor got more than a kiss

Don’t...

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(No Hope)


The alone...
oppresses me.
She settles inside of
the life she has stole,
leaving the shell of me,
as cold as stone.
Oblivion so close
I can feel it's low groan.
For my sadness and sin
you now make me atone.
I can't bear...

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