Long Hermit Poems

You Never Listened
by Michael R. Burch
 
You never listened,
though each night the rain
wove its patterns again
and trembled and glistened...
 
You were not watching,
though each night the stars
shone, brightening the tears
in her eyes palely fetching...
 
You...

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As I look back across more musical times
of rhythmic reflections,
ceremonies and commemorations
of each dawn and dusk eremitic liturgy,
if that is not an oxymoron
of sound and sight,
song and dance,
tragically sad, yet also bilaterally bound with happier...

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Recluse by dint of circumstance

Proud anonymous troglodytes 
forerunners of mine
confronted threats less horrific
than forty fifth commander in chief
of United States of America.

He/him (matted hair, ratty, scrawny, 
and tetchy ugly villain)   
scurried into dark...

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Every second, every minute, every single thought about you
Wonders of this still could be too good to be true
Fluttering in my heart, palpitations go amiss
I yearn for the touch of your skin, and I constantly...

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“Before The Firing Squad”



the firing squad 
came dressed
in faux smiles

the intervention cake 
was spoon fed, like honey,
by mother superior

to the lesser bee,
with self-righteous
magnanimity

she wore the badge
Devil’s Advocate, proudly,
without any clear authority

casting bloodied 
nasturtiums around the...

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Part-1: Preamble

God loves us, so He split Himself in two
Motionless as space, kinetic as time
Shiva and Shakti; truth known to but few
As the word of God - Om sounded life's chime

God's vibration caused a ripple...

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Our lives and our time
Fired useless
Into the air
Toy cap gun shots
Those winter palaces unstormed
No tax offices ransacked
Where is utopia I asked
And no-one knew
They looked at me with pity
As if I still talked
To an imaginary friend
At...

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They sit on their own
in their Hermit Kingdom
other side of the wall
singing their song 
entitled 
nothing to envy

peeling the skin 
away in generations 
it's worse than a famine
where colour 
is wrung 
from the inside out

emotive...

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Metaphor of outrage, Translation of Carlos Bousono’s poem : Metafora del desafuero

			                    ( In celebration of...

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The Castle On White Otter Lake

That rustic, old log castle
Stands facing the lake.
Built by hand, by one man
To acknowledge his presence,
In a changing world, he felt
He could not participate in.
And so chose to live like...

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SOJOURN THROUGH TAROTSPACE

Let me tell you a story,
Of a deck of cards, in all its glory.
Well, some will say, what’s the big deal?
To them my humble reply, come, conquer, and heal.

The story is my take,
On...

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Most mind boggling mysterious mortal

Mystification prevails stupefying yours truly
befuddled, he blindly stumbles along rocky
pathway illusory impediments strewn helter
skelter intangible obstructions hinder access
psychological barricades effective impasse

detains, deters, detours manhood maturation
manumission manifestation materialization
linkedin, when permanent submission arises
beckoning...

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Across figurative and literal blackened white board...

Where death of democracy writ large,
nevertheless psychological strength predominates
unlike earlier chapters of mein kampf.

Mine hardscrabble existential debacle 
spelled losing game
swept me up in malevolent mindset 
far adrift from harbored...

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Days like these...the days that drag on and on
If only it was quiet everywhere
if only it were quiet inside my head
Too bad, so sad
this carefully orchestrated area of noise
is just part of the elements that...

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A stone round standing fortress crowns forever beauty
The name translated to english Grianan means sunny spot or sun temple
The land bows down inspirational the view 
seat of the high kings dating back to 1700 B.C
Overlooking...

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Unquotable quotes: The How of Democratic Kill – XXXIX, Part One

Born in 1868, Alexei Maximovich PESHKOV, better known as MAXIM GORKY and hailed as the chief proponent of Soviet literature, the veritable champion of the...

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While on the topic 
of blood kith and kin,
I relate another 
fabricated poem about 
blimey bloke of a fisherman. 

Trawl tale of a fictitious seaman told to ye...

Courtesy webbed whirled wide net wit
cursing thwarted life,...

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Predictions work in twists of what makes life workable
High and often misconstrued by the dogma of science
Lies and damned lies and statistics for the insecure
Foes foretold surprise when the blindfolds shed masks
In the light of...

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Ready...Aim...Fire!

In light of tension twixt
brinkmanship rumbling one
East Asian Tiger
country otherwise known as
"the land of morning calm,"
yours truly t'will invite 
"freedom foo fighters"
tubby regaling with a jubilant aire
total mortal Kombat 
levels threat of human warhead
bomb dubbed...

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Tuck into the public
private seclusion.

My aversion to inclusion
includes a stub, a tub,
a carelessly careful curation,
a velvet rope, a hint of hope,
a folding chair, softened and stickied 
by foam and frothing soda spills.

A not soundless though...

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Antinatalist Poems

Habeas Corpus
by Michael R. Burch 

I have the results of your DNA analysis.
If you want to have children, this may induce paralysis.
I wish I had good news, but how can I lie?
Any offspring you...

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Schvitzing for more'n sixty hours without electricity
(visit https://www.aol.com/?ncid=
crosssellusaolc00000003 - for further details)

Courtesy rare derecho
killed four people
nearly forty eight hours ago
power outage affected more than
half a million people
in mid-Atlantic states.

Residents in Schwenksville, Pennsylvania
(the poet's hometown)
smack dab...

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I feel like I'm always crouched at the starting line.
Waiting for that gun shot, so I can take off
I have to run for my life.
It never comes, so I wait.

On edge.
Restless.
Knowing I can never relax...

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Heretic condemned to burn at stake
reprieve eleventh hour granted clemency
commuted death penalty
criminal sentenced solitary isolation
rat infested dungeon ultimate punishment
doled out after protracted proceedings
courtesy amazing graceful puffed dragon
unwittingly delivered merciful respite.

Cowled ascetic busied himself
exotic gaseous/ liquified...

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Richard V.S. Chris (Part 1) 

Prologue: Tears falling down his face, Richard hurries down the busy street trying to seek 
refuge and the mellow mood sanctuary of his bedroom. Opening the front door as quietly...

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