Long Iambs Poems

Currents
by Michael R. Burch

How can I write and not be true
to the rhythm that wells within?
How can the ocean not be blue,
not buck with the clapboard slap of tide,
the clockwork shock of wave on rock,
the...

Read More

Vacuum
by Michael R. Burch

Over hushed quadrants
forever landlocked in snow,
time’s senseless winds blow...

leaving odd relics of lives half-revealed,
if still mostly concealed...
such are the things we are unable to know

that once intrigued us so.

Come then, let us...

Read More

State of the Art (IV)

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



Hearthside
by Michael R. Burch

“When you are old and grey and full of sleep...”  — W. ...

Read More

Southern Icarus
by Michael R. Burch

Windborne, lover of heights,
unspooled from the truck’s wildly lurching embrace,
you climb, skittish kite...

What do you know of the world’s despair,
gliding in vast solitariness there,
so that all that remains is to
fall?

Only a...

Read More

"The discrepancies are many, the dalliances are few,
both pitched against one dynamic, lifelong achievement"

Poking through the woods of the Mill Grove Audubon Estate,
suddenly came upon an ivy-covered studio shed
tucked away amongst foliage near Perkiomen Creek,
apparently...

Read More

Finally to Burn: Icarus, Resurrected
by Michael R. Burch

Athena takes me
sometimes by the hand

and we go levitating
through strange Dreamlands

where Apollo sleeps
in his dark forgetting

and Passion seems
like a wise bloodletting

and all I remember
upon awaking

is: to Love sometimes
is...

Read More

Southern Icarus
by Michael R. Burch

Windborne, lover of heights,
unspooled from the truck’s wildly lurching embrace
you climb, skittish kite ...

What do you know of the world’s despair,
gliding in vast solitariness there
so that all that remains is to

fall?

Only...

Read More

Intro: La... la... la... la... La...

I.
I tripped from letters A to Z
Composing pretty little psalms
For the whole wide world to see
I traveled more from site to site
Swirling sure into my insights
Happy, enjoying every flight


Chorus:
I am...

Read More

Poetic neophytes are not necessarily young.  I am 65 and have only been writing in abundance since age 62. A door opened and feelings came attached to words that made a painful past real...

Read More

Today I’d like to talk to you about how meter plays a part in
how we write a poem and sometimes in how we speak

The above lines, which are not at all poetic, are written in...

Read More

Athena takes me
sometimes by both hands

and we go levitating
through strange Dreamlands

where Apollo sleeps
in his dark forgetting

and Passion seems
like a wise bloodletting

and all I remember
,upon awaking,

is: to Love sometimes
is like forsaking

one’s Being—to drift
far beyond any thought,

forsaking...

Read More

ABC of Poetry 

A is for Abcedarian which is what is this poem’s aim 
B is for  Blank Verse which is metered rhyme with scheme

C is for Chant Royal with six stanzas, same refrain
D...

Read More

Tell me truth today, I won't flinch.

I've noticed your smile with a wink;
Yes, your gesture made me to think;
Should I not take it as infringe?

I don't know, if I'm little slow.
Is it an emotional binge?
Can't...

Read More

Since morning pondering how to write a good poem for you
wrote several but what comes out is story
of my failure, a story of disappointment, feeling blue;
no that's not poem, it’s saga of worry.

Yes, reluctant to...

Read More

Full All Dressed Up and Going Nowhere!

"Approximately 10 quintillion insects reside on Earth --
in addition to billions of squirming humans."  
-- a stink bug by any other name  
   
* ...

Read More

The Demonic Prince

Demons
The legion of demons
They dwell
In the cold place of hell
Tempt thee
The depth of hell's empty
They're here
For it's time to spread fear
Black crows
Come out of the shadows
They mean
They mean to ruin thee
But who
The demon...

Read More

Such wondrous beauty held in eyes divine, 
I wish this lovely night would stay, be kind, 
So blissful are her eyes...I need no wine, 
Nothing to match her beauty can I find. 

The morning sun...

Read More

"Imagination works; Fancy plays."
-- a poet of Fancy
(in addition to Imagination)

*   *   *

The pretty purple picotees and johnny-jump-ups sweet
around the shady trees at Pheasant Farm enjoy a waltz
on leasing summer fair...

Read More

or

Such Stuff As John-a-dreams Is Made On 

"Reason sole sobers up booze artists."
-- a poet of penetration 

*   *   *

Upon the tide of midnight 'neath the moon,    ...

Read More

Too much worry with one's undesired fear
are destructive mental habits, it's sure
to deplete energy; what thought to do
just do, shouldn't panic, stay away from fear.

Don't allow mind to think negative view;
Some manage to stay happy,...

Read More

Do footles ever fournicate?
From two come more, and soon there’s eight
The image conjured up ain’t great
Them spondees, trochees on a date

Gosh, aren’t they cute? They’re all the rage
right there in strands across the page
Cuz less...

Read More

~The Quatern~ 
 (Quatern)


 Quatern is fine French form to write 
 Do it in 4 lines, total of 16
 Similar to the Kyrielle
 And the French Retourne forms you see.

 It has refrain,in each...

Read More

The Composition of Shadows
by Michael R. Burch

“I made it out of a mouthful of air.”—W. B. Yeats

We breathe and so we write; the night
hums softly its accompaniment.
Pale phosphors burn; the page we turn
leads onward, and...

Read More

The mind picturesque each stroked thought
A heart integrates rough to savvy touch 
Soft lips whispers to form lines of words

Tamed fingers fondle and tip  pen and pad
Feet and fingers dictate iambs and rhyme
Expertise experience...

Read More

I am firmly convinced the sonnet is the goddess
Or, perhaps, the queen of verse in perfect timing,
Fourteen exquisite lines of flowing metered stress
Frequently in quatrains with alternate rhyming,
The iambs march like rigid soldiers across the...

Read More