Long Ignites Poems

Winter
by Michael R. Burch

The rose of love's bright promise
lies torn by her own thorn;
her scent was sweet
but at her feet
the pallid aphids mourn.

The lilac of devotion
has felt the winter hoar
and shed her dress;
companionless,
she shivers—nude, forlorn.

Published...

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"Salvage"


Salvage the fixating salvation 
unfurling from the wreckage
of a numb world twisted inside
treasure climbs swimming 
the ladder from the deep of all things 
reaching upwards travelling in a new time
of melting morpheme moments overlapping 
dissolved...

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(In a Lush Garden Somewhere Out There)

The student stands where shifting sands of thought,
Once firm with reason, now elusive truths are sought.
Its splendor wanes, a threadbare, fading strand,
A quest for wisdom, in this digital land.

Sage:...

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A Night On A Wharf

The couple decide to walk. The boardwalk still lit at this late hour guides them. They walk hand in hand,..whispering softly with small talk...solemn.,. lonely , yet together. The walk is...

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Imitation! Creative Compliment, Lacking in Originality, or Plagiarism? 

This week takes me back to college days. I was taking a graduate course (as a Physics major)   in 'Modern Poets' at the University of...

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Toddlers' Exploration: 

Cardboard drum, a thunderous beast,
Playful roars in tiny fists and feasts.
Fleeting wings glide, dreams just out of reach,
Soaring through tales of barnyard Waddles and Squeaks,
Moo! Quack! Giggles tumble and bump.
Flaps flapping, bright colors...

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   Symbols cry in dry ice theater -
the expanse of aesthetic visa-
drawn-
from the romance of the silvery eye -
as it golden advances the lid of covenance 
in dynamic enzyme.
Open faced type interpreted-
interpreter-embossed embol-
in...

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These are poems about starlight and moonlight, moons and stars, dreams and visions, illuminations and intimations …



Will There Be Starlight
by Michael R. Burch 

Will there be starlight
tonight
while she gathers
damask
and lilac
and sweet-scented heathers?

And will she find...

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A Dark Identity

Days into nights... time without time
Normalities of everyday life beckons to remain
Shadows with lights.... to find to define
I am he who goes by without a name

The world is only up to date
And I’ve...

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To my Valentine

                              As the full...

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I believe in You, despite the tough twists and turns…
But, this heart of mine – it burns…it churns…it learns…
To heal on its own through time, space and Your everything
Free verse helps me to let it...

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Written 3 September 2023 For
With Each Morning Poetry Contest
Sponsored by Martin Bram


                       ...

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Part I:  My mother’s Voice. 
  
“There’s something not quite right.” 
My mother’s doctor said.
The murmur in your heart.
I think we’ll  make a start, 
to take a look, and book a bed...

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Hidden beauty resides not in the grace like charms
Of coy smiles 
Painted across a gentle Madonnas face.
Nor is she vested within the chastened vows
Of saintly knights; encased Great-Helm:
Thus maketh the pale maidens meek pulse
To so...

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"Inside the Winter Wild"

Inside the Wild, 

Winter races 
towards Time 
like a runnaway train

it’s shadowy 
and dark,
yet, inside Winter, 

the wild keeps
without fail
its burning light, 

a passion play

for everything 
and all, 
along the way

discovered 
in...

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“Let my heart be still a moment and let this mystery explore”  
                     ...

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It was the summer of my 16th year. Mother encouraged me to spend part of my summer vacation with Granddad, a self-professed stoic. I reluctantly agreed, for he was a peculiar man. I couldn’t imagine...

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I know you are there
On the other side
Waiting anxiously for me
There at Dreamland’s Gate
So I close my eyes tight
To hurry myself to you
Hoping sleep comes quickly
To carry me to your arms
Which are reaching through the...

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Note: If you haven’t please check out part one before reading this. 
It will make more sense that way Thanks.


Time moves slower than a rusted windmill on a still day 
as I am unable to...

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--------------------
How do I find myself here again
On a couch one more time
Another call that I should make
An irony sublime

We split a few weeks ago
A party I've been having
But She just called me so I'd know
What...

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My love for you
is beyond prophecy or endowment
and lay before you a love letter from the heart
beneath the moonlight's glow
where our eyes find a silent understanding
that embraces each passionate emotion
swirling and entwined in the depth...

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Time moves slower than a rusted windmill on a still day 
as I am unable to avert my stare, frozen in this spot,  
captivated by an intoxicating charm smoother than Tennessee whiskey 
that hasn’t...

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In borrowed plumes, a masquerade we stage,
Thoughts echo doctrines, passions preordained.
From broken families, where fractured spirits weep,
Mothers of sorrow, 
With eyes that never sleep.

We inherit canvases, pre-primed with societal skews,
But the brush trembles in our...

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Another body dropped as the evil ran through the night 
He was on a spree to start a war 
The screams blistered the silence 
As the metal hit the floor, 
As the metal hit the...

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Have I told you lately of a woman with no soul?
Have I made mention of her flaws, her regrets
Do you know of the secrets that she keeps?
Secrets, which question, her mentality
There is a war raging...

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