Long Lengthening Poems

Sonnets LII-LX

The Endeavors of Lips
by Michael R. Burch

How sweet the endeavors of lips: to speak
of the heights of those pleasures which left us weak
in love’s strangely lit beds, where the cold springs creak:
for there is...

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LOVE POEMS V

These are love poems by Michael R. Burch, about life, the dream of love, virtue, a first kiss, a first crush, the birth of a first relationship, the joy of a first love...

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Poems about Children II



On Looking into Curious George’s Mirrors
by Michael R. Burch

for Maya McManmon, granddaughter of the poet Jim McManmon

Maya was made in the image of God;
may the reflections she sees in those curious mirrors
always...

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“Up men to your posts! Don’t forget today that you are from old Virginia.” 
– General George Pickett

Beneath Gettysburg's sun a merciless blaze
Stood Pickett with his face etched with war's haunting gaze.
A mind torn asunder...

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Science can’t save you, neither can religion,
at least Popper and Niebuhr, philosophers and poets,
are entertainers, which is why actors and athletes
are paid so much. Thanks for the summaries.
I was teaching Shakespeare’s 92nd ridiculous sonnet
to my...

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It was late in gorgeous springtime, and I was teaching my class,
A lesson in African history, and the events of time's hourglass.

My fourth graders were very attentive, as I recounted the glory,
Of tales such as...

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VIII

In the minds fixed eye I see five newly discovered graves,              
Headless lions sat atop an impregnable "Triumphal Gate";   ...

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Those rarer men I once fondly 
knew...                            ...

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First version 



As Midnight Moon Shines Upon Her Eyes 


In a dream world where fantasies abound 
shall be where my princess is found
Wrapped in her vision an angelic choir
cherubs singing her heart's desire
Her voice soothes...

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It is my intimate physicality,
genderality,
sexual identity,
hormonality,
juiciality of love

Yang-fused Eros, 
rather than a less intensely sensational 
Yin-Agape,
troubling me

dissonantly aching
through aging body bones

Agape's passionate Theorem
longing for Eros's pleasure Proof
despite lengthening despair 
of insufficient time and place 
for...

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The Tapestry of Leaves
Michael R. Burch

Leaves unfold
as life is sold
or bartered, for a moment in the sun.

The interchange
of lives is strange:
what reason—life—when death leaves all undone?

O, earthly son
when rest is won
and wrested from this ground,...

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French poems by Charles d’Orleans in modern English translations by Michael R. Burch



Traitorous Eye
by Charles d’Orleans
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Traitorous eye, what’s new?
What lewd pranks do you have in view?
Without civil warning, you spy,
And...

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POEMS ABOUT POOL SHARKS

Fair Game
by Michael R. Burch

At the Tennessee State Fair,
the largest stuffed animals hang tilt-a-whirl over the pool tables
with mocking button eyes,
knowing the playing field is unlevel,
that the rails slant, ever so slightly,...

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POEMS ABOUT POOL SHARKS

Shark
by Michael R. Burch

They are all unknowable,
these rough pale men—
haunting dim pool rooms like shadows,
propped up on bar stools like scarecrows,
nodding and sagging in the fraying light...

I am not of them,
as I...

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There is a girl a now
shes almost gotten away
played the game 
jumped through the hoops
told me some secrets
while she was there she was sexually assaulted
hey i don't pay taxes 
so i don't get to choose...

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If two heads are better than one
How much better is three.
For the time has come 
When Translators cannot agree.

Nigel wrote the words in Latin script
And much time has passed 
With many Learned Ones pen’s dipt
In...

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NOT   JUST   ANY   SUNSET

This lunar sunset was what he’d most miss  -
They always said death was like this : 
Slo-mo and black-and-white
Like an old movie trite.
It had happened...

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Walk your Line 

A word to the blind:
From the day your first mount and ride
Till the moment you die
Walk your line
Walk proud and high
Through each and every wreck your stride unwinds
Walk your whole heart
spine upright
till...

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My heart is inditing a poetic matter
My tongue is the workmanship of a divine potter
My glossa is the verbal-scripter of a meditative writer
These words are the instinctive outburst of my soul
Liken to the boiling fountains...

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June 22 Relationship to God Bible Meditations Based on Proverbs 1-4

Key Verse – Proverbs 1:7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.

LORD GOD, YOU ARE MY...

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A thousand bees never settling down,
buzzed within his head.
Their confused drone, into a ruffled rumble grew, 
lengthening into frenzied drumbeats,
taking the might of roaring waves
or gaining the momentum 
of a plane, prior to take off.

Mind...

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An inarticulate artist, 
I wanted to paint 
the lone life’s landscape,
            effervescent,
the construed course
of a river called desire
      ...

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The long, long night
Is winding down
From distant rooms
I hear the sound
Of fine old friends
As they take their leave
The evening ends
And I believe
The time to follow draws ever near
My heart is tired, my mind is clear.

The...

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Memories linger melancholy
as I approach the bridge 
to the Gardens de Sol.

                       ...

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Tupac was a young revolutionary
Don't try to understand him
The visionary and child
Ahead of the game, while the game
Was making him into a paradox.
Do not put him in the collar
Of pop culture
To corner him in a...

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