Long Kettle Poems

I see people moving, but going nowhere
I see people moving with their hands thrown in the air
I see people moving but they have nothing to share
Bags and pans, old kettle, and old man
The scavenger, the...

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Poems about Poems (II)

Kin
by Michael R. Burch

for Richard Moore

1.
Shrill gulls,
how like my thoughts
you, struggling, rise
to distant bliss?
the weightless blue of skies
that are not blue
in any atmosphere,
but closest here...

2.
You seek an air
so clear,
so rarified
the effort leaves...

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Sonnets XXXIII-XLI

The Folly of Wisdom
by Michael R. Burch

She is wise in the way that children are wise,
looking at me with such knowing, grave eyes
I must bend down to her to understand.
But she only smiles, and...

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State of the Art (II)

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



What the Poet Sees
by Michael R. Burch

What the poet sees,
he sees as a swimmer 
~~~~underwater~~~~
watching the shoreline...

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Poems about Poets I


The Wonder Boys
by Michael R. Burch

for Leslie Mellichamp

The stars were always there, too-bright cliches:
scintillant truths the jaded world outgrew
as baffled poets winged keyed kites—amazed,
in dream of shocks that suddenly came true ...

but...

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FIRST MOVEMENT (Minor Key)

Times such as these test body soul and mind
So should our thoughts be pain and dark confined
Or loosed to concentrate on brighter things
Like furry puppies, flowers and girls on swings

In this bright...

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A little girl lost her home this year, for her, Christmas wouldn't be there.
Her family was angry from all the troubles, they simply couldn't repair.
Don’t bother us about presents her parents said, they were depressed...

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Nylon waste is often akin to a brushed out stable, manger, or stall. But brushing the carpet is often a resemblance of a swirling cloud of dust and tobacco shards and tobacco shards are not...

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~writer's notes~

i think out loud
from my fingers to a keyboard 
so forgive me if my speak
is somewhat long winded
if it has swirls and curls
this is me
hopefully you want to hear
my voice in its totality

~the prologue~

just...

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It's styles of a nameless brand pristine day
an exclusive star-sheathed shadow after 
overwhelming luminous glare fainted
a somewhat true-to-life footpath in
a back of structured quaintness

Encountering myself at a passionate spring
oozing its life gliding o'er its rocky...

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You are now about to witness my lack of street knowledge
Straight outta lockdown,
lazy brother named THE DUDE
Formed a gang called diggers With Altitudes
Work is called off, I got a paid off
Strains getting quicker, and bodies...

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I've never seen a baby so merry as Martha...
They say March newborns are bellwethers for blissful Springs Mary...
Hannah, Haverhill has been a hard place to call home
I'm sorry about Elizabeth's hanging, 
Thomas has honored you...

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The crinkle in her hair
The bends of her waste
The fullness of her lips
I recognize as she sits under  the shade of that tree

The dip in his step
Wave breaks of his hair 
And the dialect...

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~~~
Dappled grey horses
sweat crusted and weary
hooves drifting dust
lift a day
passing dreary
The harness bells faded
reigned in at the rill
a cool running brook
near the base of our hill
~
My eyes
I'm a lad
scant older than four
brought visions to mind
full...

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Shadows laid along the path
casting gloomy scarey shapes
tempting the unwary traveler
showing glimpses of the past

Towering roofs d waft the lanes
lone people scurry on their ways
icicles snapping off and dropping
lethal darts one has to avoid

Ahead a...

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A kettle can never call a pot black 
Are they not from the same world of pain?
I swing my Ego in one last time of my life
And i was caught in the absence of hundred...

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Her Story 

Her story 
What lies behind the smile 
Whew, Chile.....
Are you ready? This may take a while 
Her story doesn't get told 
As much as it should 
You see, people remember the bad 
And...

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Pig plop at eighty degrees is a synonym of doubt but double octave sploosh is a great interjection into the bowl. Wow. Flush flashing fakery freely framing frogs fingerspelling forged formats. And a deliberate rake...

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What is the difference between a digger, a forklift truck, a spoon, and a toaster? None. Bread slices can be carried by forklifts and bread can be dug by a digger particularly if ground. The...

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One Step from the Fire

Martha lounges in her rocking chair book in knotted hand in her studio

On the wall a poster of Chipperfield Circus whom she had wanted to join

Just above a small marble statue...

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She crossed a wide ocean, during war times, in danger
A life of adventure, of courage, of fear
Yet, nothing reveals the hint of the years
that have chiseled her wrinkles, but not dampened her cheer

She pours me...

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It appears that I was both half asleep and awake.  For all intents and purposes, let's just call it a dream. There was a zoo and everything about it seemed normal. That is, if...

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Strange this all falls on deaf ears 
a mockery of justice twist whichever way you wish 
people killed in a hospital act of terror yes or no 

Where those blind cannot ever see 
the gospel...

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Both of my daughters 
have married and moved on
both now have lives 
and homes of their own 

both their “old” bedrooms
now empty of them
their laughter 
and music  

still harbour their presence
their energy and love
and...

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At twilight’s ease of dusk the autumn leaves do flutter in the
Evening breeze, trickling downwards across inspirations canvas,
Creating a multicolored cascade at sunset, a leafy rainbow clasping
From the tree tops heights, than blowing wildly astray...

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