Long Impaled Poems

Where Does the Butterfly Go?
by Michael R. Burch

for the children of the Holocaust and the Nakba

Where does the butterfly go
when lightning rails,
when thunder howls,
when hailstones scream,
when winter scowls,
when nights compound dark frosts with snow ...
Where...

Read More

Nemesis, Confrontation And The Rejoined Battle,
Now Completed


(Nemesis) - Part One

O'lord of blight dare thee to now abide
Leaving thy abode to earthen realm ride
As punisher with dark universal might
As grief bearer, humanity to smite!

Dar'est thee enter,...

Read More

No Mark
by Michael R. Burch

A wave implodes, 
impaled upon
impassive rocks...

this evening
the thunder of the sea
is a wild music filling my ear...

you are leaving
and the ungrieving
winds demur...

telling me
that nothing returns
as it was before...

here where you have...

Read More

Juvenilia: Early Poems IX

These are early poems of mine, written in my teens as a high school student and during my first two years of college.

Shock
by Michael R. Burch

It was early in the morning of...

Read More

Grey Bane and the Dark Lord


Perched on a stalagmite jutting up from the floor
Hugo was staring at length across the cave
My eyes accustomed to the glow followed his gaze
Frozen in ice was my Love whom...

Read More

Of Ghosts and fiends in Twilight, Cont.


A thought flashed in my mind from the old tales told
The lore of the beast and I had felt his foul breath
I had seconds to act or be devoured...

Read More

Pay heed to those deeds from whence the heart must confess...
You're far from Rome Proconsul Caesar...
As they say, "All roads lead to Rome" Ariovistus
and all tresspasses are treated as threats of war...
My recent conquest of...

Read More

I once spent a week in the drunk tank
couldn't handle the spirits that I drank
the cuisine wasn't half bad
we even had a few laughs
but I had to guard my butt with a shank


……………………………………………………………………….


It used to...

Read More

Lord Of Long Shadows, Master Poe And I 

Lord of long shadows had invaded hearth and home
sauntered in amidst cracklings of hot fireplace flames
Saying, " I like this sad place, may I freely roam
you know...

Read More

:) now this is what Im talking bout .... nothin iz 2 uncommon when all you got 2 eat iz Ramen 
noodles 4 all y'all poodles
 seahorse sonar struggle with senses 
far beyond the realm...

Read More

You Know Who You Are! 

I know that you probably know who you are...
Abusers who prey on women (or men) .
Your aberrance mostly extends to the weak, 
Your generosity just serves other's pain
And, of course,...

Read More

I know that you probably know who you are...
Abusers who prey on women (or men) .
Your aberrance mostly extends to the weak, 
Your generosity just serves other's pain
And, of course, their misery's your only gain.
Do...

Read More

Halloween Tale, Poetic Dream Of Raven, Poe And I
(Not a contest entry)

When into an unearthed slumber I fell
An accursed storm came with its black tail
Within isles of swirling doom and gloom
I woke, a prisoner in...

Read More

T Salamander enjoyed local fame
down by the creek, there with her daughter.
Prided herself on her inky black frame,
bathing each day in the cool, brackish water.
She set amphibious cold-blooded hearts
on fire, exploding, through black magic arts.
All...

Read More

Forever, our love lingers in the air all around -
The smell of fresh paint lingers in my nose, in the air.
Crisp sheets lay smooth untouched with hospital corners.
I dreamt I held you in our bed.
A...

Read More

It caters to an arrogance of hate
when war becomes a method of despite.
Through vile contempt, he seeks to cultivate
a dogma that defines inhuman blight.
The devil’s plan has given due consent
to let annihilation be the goal.
Let...

Read More

And all the world would change forevermore,
for solitude’s content has come undone.
Its island bliss could harbor it no more  
as destiny unleased the rising Sun.
The sleeping giant woke to see its rays
unfurl their wrath...

Read More

As swift assaults endeavored to prevail,
the magnitude of death was asinine.
‘Twas such a toll above a measured scale
that no explicit value could define.
As battles raged, no exploit could surmount
the endless waves that fell within the...

Read More

The barrister had always been a liberal thinker

An uprising star with roaming genes of a tinker

In the court-room she never took of her guard

But in real life she had become a nude poet and bard


When...

Read More

A heedless world implodes beneath the weight
and all the West lies smoldering in flames.
And nay a soul finds shelter from the hate
as dire evil seeks intended aims.
The despot waves of fire and iron roll
upon whomever...

Read More

The US Marshall is a tedious branch, that can be manipulated over a process of a deadly undergoing investigation. The perpetrator was very elusive from the get-go. He boards a US Marshall plane rigged to...

Read More

The return to youth was what he brought me back to, but this was the issue. I've attempted leaps and extensions far away from my youth. From its eternal beauty and ego-driven agility and the...

Read More

 Continued from Part 1 

The forgery of Multitudes between the Silhouettes
(and discarded cigarettes,
neath the haunted parapets)
mock my lonely echoed steps
         – mock my lonely echoed steps...

Read More

Flower over stone

Excuse me while I lose my mind.
I've fallen through a rent in time.
Some great tragedy theirs' was
Details won't distinguish fuzz.
Mistakes were made as
Ever they will.
Were we witness of side effects,
Akin to a pill?
There...

Read More

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...

Read More