Long Irish Poems

Dad hit me only once, an upper cut to the solar plexus. It nearly lifted me off my feet. I was 17 then and already fairly tall, 6’1.” He was 48 and of medium height,...

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It may have been the devil himself who prompted the kids in my schoolyard back in 1947 to chant "Patsy Foley's roly-poly from eating too much ravioli."

At first, no one could remember who started the...

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Instruction
by Michael R. Burch

Toss this poem aside
to the filigreed and the wild tide
of sunset.

Strike my name,
and still it is all the same.
The onset

of night is in the despairing skies;
each hut shuts its bright bewildered eyes.
The...

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Erin, for a girl who embodies Ireland
by Michael R. Burch

All that’s left of Ireland is her hair—
bright carrot—and her milkmaid-pallid skin,
her brilliant air of cavalier despair,
her train of children—some conceived in sin,
the others to avoid...

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Medieval Poems



Wulf and Eadwacer
(Old English circa 990 AD)
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

My people pursue him like crippled prey.
They'll rip him apart if he approaches their pack.
We are so different!

Wulf's on one island; I'm on...

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I Have Labored Sore
anonymous medieval lyric (circa the fifteenth century)
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

I have labored sore / and suffered death, 
so now I rest / and catch my breath.
But I shall come /...

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The Song of Amergin: Modern English Translations

The Song of Amergin
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

I am the sea breeze
I am the ocean wave
I am the surf's thunder
I am the stag of the seven tines
I am...

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SINGING IN THE CHIOR OUR LADY OF MOUNT CARMEL ST  PATRICKS CHURCH FINALLY MEETING MY NEW HUSBAND FOR THE FIRST TIME WE WERE ENGAGED 2015 VOLUNTEERING ALL OVER POLK COUNTY IN LAKELAND WITH THE...

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FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION ARLINGTON HEIGHTS ILLINOIS CHICAGO FIELD OFFICE SPECIAL AGENT PAULA BRAND SPECIAL AGENT LEROY HEIMBACH SPECIAL AGENT ALAN KING ARSON MURDER OF 9 PERSONS CIRO GARGANO AND MY ABUSIVE EX HUSBANDS SET...

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Some may say grand dragon others grand wizard either or it began in 60s everything was a bit chaotic the death of John f Kennedy Bobby Kennedy pope John XXlll my birth and Martin Luther...

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Thanksgiving, 1971,
a parachute pilgrim approaches Northwest Flight 305
as Dan Cooper, anonymous businessman,  anarchist airborne, 
black suit, black sunglasses, a black tie
and a black briefcase broaching black motives,
Portland to Seattle, prison or criminal pantheon, 
before...

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The Picture of Dorian Gray: Paint Me As An Event
The Picture of Dorian Gray, a decent fanciful novel by Irish writer Oscar Wilde, published in 1890. The novel, the only one written by Wilde, had...

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I remember my cherished Wolf Cub pack, 
How I loved those Wednesday evenings, 
The games, the pomp and seriousness of the camps, 
The different coloured scarves, sweaters and hair 
During the mass meetings, 
The solemnity...

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Setting aside richly incorporated through homeless economies,
we have three political ways
to compare a population's internal status:
a. Aboriginal populations,
b. Immigrants--sometimes appearing as multiculturing creolic waves,
c. EmPowered Natives.

Natives are aboriginals
unless a more self-centered wave of supremacist immigrants
stake...

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The Pictish Faeries
by Michael R. Burch

Smaller and darker
than their closest kin,
the faeries learned only too well
never to dwell
close to the villages of larger men. 

Only to dance in the starlight
when the moon was full
and men...

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The Spaniel

A Spaniel that uses its head 
Can tell when its owner’s unfed 
So instead of a duck
That is down on its luck 
Will deliver a pizza instead
 
The Afghan Hound

The Afghan’s a dog groomer’s...

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Two new crutches and two double shots of Bushmills Irish Whiskey enabled Joe Faherty to move from the back seat of Moira Murphy's 1976 Buick into Eagan's Funeral Home for Tim McGillicuddy's wake. At 87,...

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Thirty years ago, long before ISIS started executing Kurds, Muslims and Christians, I hired a Pakistani Muslim as an art director in Chicago. I was an Irish Catholic editor putting out a small national magazine....

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“Women Have Loved Before As I Love Now”
by Edna St. Vincent Millay

Women have loved before as I love now;
At least, in lively chronicles of the past-
Of Irish waters by a Cornish prow
Or Trojan waters by...

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Paddy didn't want to go to his wife's family reunion. He told her that in the same nice way he had told her in years past so as to avoid other reunions over the many...

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FATTI GLI AFFRI TUOI THE SIMPLE PLEASURE OF LIFE IS ALL WE REALLY OWN IN THIS LIFE I TRIED TO TELL YOU BUT YOU SURROUNDED YOURSELF WITH A CONVOY OF HATRED TO MURDER ME I...

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Diaspora Dwellings

On my way into our sanctuary
this past Sunday morning
a woman I had met in choir
was strangely inclined
to share her family history.

Her dad came over from Ireland
because he wanted better business opportunities
for his healthy future.

Here...

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GARGANOS MARRIAGE PROPOSAL VERY CLEAR CUT AND DRY EXCEPT FOR HIS 8 DIVORCES FROM 8 WIVES MY TWO DIVORCES FROM EXTREMELY ABUSIVE HUSBANDS WOULDN’T BE ACTUALLY APPROPRIATE FOR A CHURCH WEDDING ANY PRIEST WHO MARRIES...

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I’m not saying my father hated the English, God forbid. If he were still alive, he’d hate to hear me say that. He’d correct me right away and say he didn’t hate the English. Truth...

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III.	Hope is in a New Face
Being in a different light, we often see the life we know and ignore the life outside our circle. We met across the lines through a group of finding friends...

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