Long Hunched Poems

Dad, I remember well the night I grew up. 
I know you remember that night too...
   I know you never forgot this happening:
  
It was 1966, an early Fall night, around 10:30...

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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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No One
by Michael R. Burch

No One hears the bells tonight;
they tell him something isn’t right.
But No One is not one to rush;
he lies in grasses greenly lush
as far away a startled thrush
flees from horned owls...

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The missus served me high test coffee...

Ah... tis nothing more heavenly 
(to one borne again devout atheist)
then a spring like January 18th, 2023
here at Highland Manor apartments
picturesque green covered landscape,
where intrepid dandelions 
dare to defy...

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Love Unbound 
In the quiet, unassuming town of Willowbrook, there lives a man named Elias. He was a shadow of his former self, his once vibrant spirit dimmed by the harsh glare of divorce and...

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Have you seen a Rockwell 1950's Lemonade Wars?
Two girls, both white of course,
dressed for YoungRepublican success
scowling at each other on a pristine deserted street
of the tree-lined rich suburban variety,
arms folded across their angry 
relentless middle-class...

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(a university-life vignette)

It’s Saturday morning at about 9am. I’m in the chemistry lab, a sterile looking room with 12 workstations that are like multi level kitchen islands with sinks and various lab gear. It’s the...

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In numerology twelve has special meanings - they’re twelve days of Christmas, twelve months in a year, and Taylor Swift’s had twelve number-one albums. All we care about at Yale, are the twelve days until...

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                                  The...

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It’s Monday afternoon, the first day after Fall Break. Several of my suitemates are here, relaxing a bit before we hit the dining hall and then scatter, like debris from a bomb. There are a...

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HOPE BY N3
Slashed at the throat a blow aimed not at the esophagus but at the vocal cords
Paralyzed by something worst than fear,
Speech grows limp even as silent screams are constrained by shame’s chord.
Tethered like...

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growing up too soon

	you said: is there anything more excruciating than lagging behind
						being passed by
	a hasbeen
				still knocking on portals
twitching toes twirling thumbs
         in fidgety drawn-curtained waiting rooms

and...

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still the climbing green lianoid lass


her tender tendrils torn  


massive metal lying like a cutlass


in her lap forlorn


                ...

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Television triptych throwback

and despite remote chance 
to channel small medium at large
metamorphosis I may witness 
analogous to caterpillar
will transform me into a butterfly
otherwise Norwegian bachelor (batch chiller)
farmer will simply plow along
taking a stab writing "FAKE"...

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SPRINGTIME MEMORIES



Mountain sentinels
By ancient town;
Clear waters cascade


Cobblestone streets
Winding pavements;
Trade offerings buzz


Fertile plains
Crystal clear waters;
Shady trees guard


Treasure-hunting stroll...
Through Lijiang Old Town;
Curiosity detours


So many things to see
Pleasant fare tempting;
Buying spree bargains


Artisans at work
Township flings open trade;
Silver metal...

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There’s a man across the ward from me with a hearing aid that whines,
‘Old age coming on you see, I’m only seventy-nine.
Me hernia’s shot, and so’s me sight, my specs they’re thick like bottle.
But, I...

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Suddenly frisson cold with fright...

I describe, suddenly feeling scared
and tried to summon sense and sensibility 
after scrambling to stand upright
with all my might.

Otherwise titled 
recalling taking a fall
about five years ago
ala Humpty Dumpty impersonation
(and nearly...

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NDIDI (PATIENCE IS GOLDEN)

Patience said:
"Whatever my old man says."
So,
I saw the wise, bald, old man
In his thatched mud hut
Loin cloth knotted 
Around his shoulders 
The whiff of (snuff)
Saturating the atmosphere

He googled me
Between the rims 
Of...

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Deep within the bowels of the Earth
(dark visceral centre)
immensely distant from the sheltering sky
amidst a thick fog enveloped landscape
with here and there a projected
craggy, derelict chasm
precipitously crooked 
rocky claws pointing toward

an infinitely wide yawning abyss
dwelt...

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The bases needed sweeping 
As the end was drawing near
Buns and weenies waving
As Fans swilled down their beer

The crowd jumped to their feet
As Macy went to bat 
And while walking to the plate
To everyone he...

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Todd was riding in the desert,
through Arizona’s red-brown waste,
out chasing down word of silver,
it was 1878.

He had nothing to go back to,
never had fit in well back east,
he’d left for Denver eight years back,
found nothing...

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No winter postcards of deep snow and bliss
No winter postcards of mistletoe kiss
Winter was cold, winter was tough
Winter was long and we all had it rough
No Father Christmas, no presents for us
No wide eyed kitten...

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Staring down at the pavement beneath my feet, 
shoelace has loosen from the knot on my left shoe; 
draping close to my ankle, as it pauses on the floor. 
Gritty, re-cemented road, older than the...

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There’s a person who’s been in the news of late,
and he’s been causing great controversy,
goes by the name of Robert Abermarle,
who of late some people line up to see.

But others claim we should all ignore...

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I awoke to find 
that Jack Frost had paid a visit 
to my bedroom windows
for the very first time 
this Winter.

If only I had seen him at work
I would have thanked him
for decorating 
my otherwise...

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