Long Leaven Poems

The First Valentine Poem

Charles d’Orleans (1394-1465) has been credited with writing the first Valentine poem for his wife in 1415. Charles wrote the first Valentine poem in the first year of his captivity while being...

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To a Daughter More Precious than Gems
by Otomo no Sakanoue no Iratsume
loose translation by Michael R. Burch

Heaven's cold dew has fallen—
and thus another season arrives.
Oh, my child living so far away,
do you pine for me...

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For Pharaoh still exalts himself and thinks he’s in control,
But if he won’t release my folk, he’ll pay a heavy toll.
Tomorrow I will bring down hail like Egypt’s never seen,
On plants and trees and man...

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LOVE POEMS II

These are love poems by Michael R. Burch: original poems and translations about passion, desire, lust, sex, dating and marriage. On an amusing note, my steamy Baudelaire translations have become popular with the...

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New Year Poetry

Auld Lange Syne
by Robert Burns
translation by Michael R. Burch 

Should old acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to mind?
Should old acquaintance be forgot,
And days for which we pine?

For times we shared, my darling,
Days passed,...

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New Year's Eve 2022

Yours truly riddled with social anxiety,
hence (billy me) he will idle away
December 31st, 2022 
sequestered (with the missus) 
hunkered down in his mancave
while madding crowd  
entertains reckons partition of time 
into...

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New Year's Eve 2021

December thirty first
two thousand twenty one countdown
will transparently and seamlessly stream into
simultaneously linkedin January first
two thousand and twenty two,
whereby the Ball a geodesic sphere,
12 feet in diameter,
and weighing 11,875 pounds.

The aforementioned Ball...

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It was a foregone conclusion before finishing high school and leaving home.                       ...

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Schvitzing for more'n sixty hours without electricity
(visit https://www.aol.com/?ncid=
crosssellusaolc00000003 - for further details)

Courtesy rare derecho
killed four people
nearly forty eight hours ago
power outage affected more than
half a million people
in mid-Atlantic states.

Residents in Schwenksville, Pennsylvania
(the poet's hometown)
smack dab...

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Enigma
by Michael R. Burch
 
for Beth
 
O, terrible angel,
bright lover and avenger,
full of whimsical light
and vile anger;
wild stranger,
seeking the solace of night,
or the danger;
pale foreigner,
alien to man, or savior.
 
Who are you,
seeking consolation and passion
in...

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Early in the morn, just before the sun would rise
The scent of bacon, thick enough to burn my eyes
Crept under my door, across the sheets and into my nose
The aroma I smelt every morning before...

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Death by deception as in in Eve                            ...

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He plays the chords with his blue depression
          still searching for true loves heart expression
Though there is praise for this worlds celebrity
    ...

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Life does not necessarily mature into timeless love,
just as yeast is not the entire evolutionary journey for bread,
and the Way may be part of, but not the entirety of,
the Beloved Community.

It is so interesting, for...

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I had seen - her calm, cool, composed - like a soft soothing breeze,
Though she could turn tempest or tornado or weakly wheeze;
Like a formless cherub in an endless garden of love,
She covered the earth...

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Our Lovely Dog Snickers

I was directed today,
To a brand new web site.
It’s all about pets,
And some of their plights.

It got me to thinking,
Of a dog we once had.
She was part of the family;
I felt more...

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October 3 Scripture Meditations Based on Luke 12-13

Key Verse – Luke 12:1 In the mean time, when there were gathered together an innumerable multitude of people, insomuch that they trode one upon another, he (Jesus...

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Serving the Lord demands complete trust in the Saviour, 
… testing total obedience
What matters most is our faith, coupled with patience and resilience.
We must seek His presence, not just stirred in our own confidence
Let’s abound...

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New year's day 2021

Disinclination regarding tradition
to make resolutions stance
adopted courtesy yours truly.

Though such proclamation
may smack of high treason
no matter convenience to season
and ideal time to leaven existence,
I discern no rhyme nor reason

to make a promise...

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May I share from inside,
My vision of truth that will not hid,
From my inside?
To help you along the way,
To end strife’s play,
For strife’s play will pay,
In the usual way!

My Love say, to my love
Hey!
You are...

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I held my arms out to her.    
Waiting for her to hug me.    
I miss you today. I whisper.    
Such a moment of jubilee.  ...

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I say unto you, when the olive branch is brought to the tax collector, let not those who are without mercy be sent forth from the well to offer comfort to the thirst of the...

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Written: October 27, 2023 For Ink Empress Contest
              _____________________________________________

Under the diaphanous glow of the moon.
They rise sequentially to a delightful boon.
They have...

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A Kiss Outside of Time
By Rick Rucker

I see you, walking over to me,
My Heart skips a beat, how lucky can I be?

To have the Love of a woman, so Divine,
To have given your Heart to...

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A gut full of grease is a glutton for greed
A swirling cesspool of sinful man's seed
These men of corruption, a pitiful breed
They trust their own hearts, which deceives them indeed
Prey for the fallen and wicked...

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