Long Hesitantly Poems

With this needle and thread I stitch the wounds Avril left
but with this blade I angrily carve a new
rough, short, jagged adjacent from the bone in my wrist
for a reflection of our relationship
and an outlet...

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I Know The Truth
by Marina Tsvetaeva
loose translation by Michael R. Burch

I know the truth?abandon lesser truths!
There's no need for anyone living to struggle!
See? Evening falls, night quickly descends!
So why the useless disputes?generals, poets, lovers?

The wind...

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Joulupukki awoke early the next morning and hurriedly dressed.  His intention was to catch DynDoeth before the crowds started gathering in the eating hall.  He had but one question for him that he...

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As Lumi left the two, they strolled slowly along the cobbled streets and the mood changed from jovial to serious.  DynDoeth's voice lowered to just above a whisper,
     “Joulupukki, I...

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WINTER, 1948 [40 Saxton Street]

for W.W

The winter nights that pass now
are so unlike the winter nights
that passed before, that I often
struggle back in those suspended moments
when sleep grapples for a hold,
to once again hear the...

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I am appalled by the acts of atrocity in this world of eccentricity 
How can you handle the rebellious transgressions of all children, women and men?
I want to serve You, master, with all I got…
I...

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I made a U turn at dusk as dark night creeps  upon me
I tried to catch my breath from the horrible smell that was stifling me inside
I did not know which way to turn...

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The Whiskey Bottle Wish

 	One late summer night outside a saloon in the mid-west, an intoxicated Dusty Rogers, stumbles out of the Bar nearly taking one of the revolving doors with him. As he flutters...

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“You have been busy Seileach.  Again, please allow me to offer my deepest respect for this council and its members.  As for my last piece of business I wish to share with this...

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*last winter break*

I woke up abruptly, my chest gripped and tight. My face felt hot but my arms stung as if frostbitten. I gasped for air that wouldn’t come, as if I had a plastic...

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The moral mortgage of mice and men 

Yours truly quite astute,
especially regarding cute
little field mice, also known 
as meadow voles,
which imprecation one doth emote,
when aforementioned animal burrows inside
leaving pellet size poop in their wake
suddenly presenting...

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It’s the Thursday morning before valentine’s day. Lisa and I are scrambling to get out of our suite. We share an Organic Biochemistry class and we’re running a hot minute late. As we pulled on...

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In the hospital gown, a skeleton 
of the man who once held his little girl,
embracing her like she was fragile,
like the heart who is finally failing him,
the heart who is diagnosed ‘congestive heart failure’,
as it...

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i heard a...what do they say...a spine chilling scream
...is that the saying?

a spine chilling scream
followed by

'he's dead, my G_d he's dead'

the phrase echoed 
inside the whole of me
like tennis balls bouncing between two parallel walls

i...

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Waited patiently for you
Hold up, I think this is true…
Feeling like I’m losing my pride
Something in me, again, has died

Going crazy, so back track to our good times…rusting like ancient dimes
I spent my days in...

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He was a leprechaun who wore a silly shamrock hat
He incessantly counted golden coins by day, as he lazily sat
For a tiny fellow his belly had grown dangerously fat
He paid no mind, " Can you...

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Under the towering bridge, beside the tulip garden, next to the curvy ridge, sat a soldier awaiting no one.
 
Merged with a melody of notes, when the rappling river hummed it's tune, this man felt...

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Story of a Condemned Criminal

In a secluded investigatory chamber
a veteran detective is conducting an examination 
on a suspect who insists he did not commit the crime.

The investigator must commit the suspect for trial
because he arrested...

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Solitary rituals of mourning the write way, right?

Papa... bless his (your) heart and soul,
impossible mission your second born
sole male heir cingularly communicates,
viz his avocational crafted poem, since
written words, mine metier
write most pained words

with great difficulty,...

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Sipping aromatic coffee on my duty break 
I glanced beyond the hazy vapors
outside toward the isolated runway;
under moonlit sky giant aircraft at standstill.

Despondent like me they seemed outside,
Inside my zestful mind seemed free,
While I wondered...

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WORDS. They are my silent friends. I love them. Really love them. Always have. Always will.

I slumber on at night in fitful sleep. Then they come for me, wondrous and insistent, and torture me relentlessly....

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I remember being forced into the darkness, my eyes adjusting. Without light the world exists in a blurry mess of gray and black figures blending together into a flurry of nothing recognizable. I'm stumbling, I'm...

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Shadowed silence vibrates melancholy
As the darkening clouds spiral overhead 
Open spaces, breathing air of mystery
bloody ink of terror break in...doused in dread 
Shattering the portrait to pieces instantly
A turn to the left & to the...

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This poem is written in the same vein as "Letting Go."  ...  For my mom.



Again
   by Amy Swanson 



Another time,
    another place
      ...

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Sleep, those putrid portions of decay,
wither away at my conscience,
and nudge my crusted eyes open,
to the pain of daylight usurping the drape.

Legs slump, feet thud the carpet,
to another unwelcome day,
how many times will I have...

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