Long Labored Poems

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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Premise
The great poem by the italian poet Dante is the DIVINA COMMEDIA
I have tried to translate in english verses of INFERNO (HELL).
It was a very difficult task. 
I expect criticism.

When just the midway of my...

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“I thought about the former days, the years of long ago.” * 

If you saw something beautiful in a people, a place, a thing;
If you heard about something captivating and fantastic;
If you felt something soothing...

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Death Watch

It was early morning.
The sun was barely above the high hills on the other side of the lake.
I was at the end of the dock slowly reeling in my line.
I could see fish jumping...

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“I thought about the former days, the years of long ago.” Psalms 77:5 NIV

If you saw something beautiful in a people, a place, a thing;
If you heard about something captivating and fantastic;
If you felt something...

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I don't recall whose inspired idea it wasn't
to invite the math professor
into our Therapeutic Collaborative Laboratory.

I do recall when I first heard her speak
of cooperative polynomial qualities
for improving ego/eco-therapeutic communications.

She was, of course,
in the back...

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,It's like some long lost fairy tale 
That's handed down through time
But couldn't be, as you will see
For this strange tale is mine.

I chose to take a country road 
I do from time to time
To...

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Jefferson’s Reply to Rev. Jonah Stoughton


					Monticello
					July 1, 1826

Sir, I have before me your letter of 
the second of June, and I thank you warmly
for having taken the time to write me. 
I have read it...

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Mary was a virgin girl:
With big dreams and aspirations!
An angel came to visit her:
With honor and salutations!
Troubled by his sayings:
She did not know what to think!
The angel said to Mary:
My dear, no need to shrink!

Mary...

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The Story of History  

Beyond those beaten days’ depleted daylight
Beyond the bathos of a pandemic bondage
With  the resurrected  sashay’s charmed night
Down in the dumps   at the pretentious  proscenium
A ...

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Here's why this was necessary...

   This is, as indicated, the 1st THIRD of a lengthy 3-part poem. The 2nd and 3rd THIRDS had to be posted separately due to Poetry Soup's file-size limitations....

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I’m lunching with my bestie Mylie
She’s upset and no longer smiley
I ask her what’s wrong
She said in my thong
My bottom is no match for Kylie!

I giggled and said stop your moans
You're perfect not like Bridget...

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This is based on a true story -


The wind was soft and swishy as the sun was drifting down, 
As most the town were mingling at the annual county fair,
When loud across the speakers by...

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POETIC PREFACE:

An inner conflict dust brew
within this scribe, who offers ye to chew
(like sweet treats metaphorically) thee do
tee incumbent, when Doomsday clock
counts down minutes few
according Al Gore rhythm
unstoppably ticking,
when life gets turned to global goo
tenderized...

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I inherited a restaurant, from my parents who had retired.
It was a classy one, and only the best of staff were hired.

Overseeing its operation, was genuinely a labor of love,
As the noon warming sunshine, oversees...

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They say the one you think of last before sleep,
Is the one you care for the most— the one you wish to hold, admire, love…

The two of us…beings of bravery,
Had labored all the night, 
In...

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JOE VERSUS THE RACCOON 
By Kate H. Stark


Each night ‘twas the same old proverbial shout. 
“Hey Joe, will you please take the garbage bags out?”

Joe sighed, rolled his eyes as he walked toward the door....

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My Mother taught me
how to see through language, 
paper was rare, iron ink wasn't free
so she sold some jewelry for porcelain lettering, 
and we clapped and sang the alphabet into life
our life, our joy, our...

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Gateway town, Mississippi and Missouri river flooding confluence,
with its celebration of manifest destiny, its looming, iconic archway.
Stainless westward marker, its culture flowed southward for influence
within the lawn-jockey, pink flamingo neighborhoods of moral decay. 

T.S, Eliot,...

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Don’t know when it started….freshman year?
I look in the mirror
	See….fat
		Hanging
			Bulges
				UGLY 
UGLY UGLY UGLY UGLY UGLY UGLY UGLY 
		UGLY
Remembering the food….calories….sugar….fat 
Passing my lips….
		Leading down my throat
			Into my stomach….onto my hips….my face…my stomach…my arms…my legs
			UGLY
Next day,...

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My mother's name was Seraphine
A sadder child was never seen 
Her duty was to serve the table
Of newly widowed Mrs. Grable

Her husband Mr. Grable died
To keep the British gratified
For which the lady, born and bred
Was...

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"He made a difference."

Gramps, my mother's father, 
Dave Luke -- my grandfather, 
a tall unlettered white (decidedly white) 
Louisiana man -- was born August 1888.  
He lived 87 years.  He grew under 
the...

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When the American flag waved bravely, for women it did not FURL.
However, many bold and determined women have changed the WORLD.

I am a proud bother of 8 sisters;
Two of whom are older and 6 are...

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When I think of India, I think of dark eyed beauties,
their foreheads painted with decorative red dots,
and I see them moving deliciously in beautiful bright costumes
 as bangles dangle from their slender wrists.

When I think...

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I sit here and I ponder will I be one of yours? A deathbed confession that you have to relieve yourself of before exiting this world
A regret, a mistake, a lonely night without her there,...

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