Long Levee Poems

Poems about Poems IV

The Toast
by Michael R. Burch

For longings warmed by tepid suns
(brief lusts that animated clay),
for passions wilted at the bud
and skies grown desolate and gray,
for stars that fell from tinseled heights
and mountains bleak...

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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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Hey bruh, 
haven’t you heard,
ain’t you read the news?
The White House is gonna eradicate 
the fear infested inner city blues
That Trump fella says,
he’s got his poison pen ready to use
He says black folks got nothing...

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I am a singular event 
Occupying a particular span of time. 
I am a concrete mystic 
And an incurable skeptic 
Seeking an approximation 
Of peace and domestic tranquility. 
I am a Slavic soul brother 
Living...

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Mitchell: Good sirs, my word was fair. No discrepancy stains the pages of my ledger. The fifth tier is a sub-basement beneath the cellar floor of the temple’s vestibule. Any woman who is not tagged...

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Consonant Like A Vow (el)

Now ma nada twirly (to early) twittering 
condolences to the esprit de corps, qua 
(just recently) late John McCain, and his 
surviving family suddenly damning original 
way word odd did see,...

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Mitchell: At this level, as with the rest, one might also find those who have stumbled down from a higher step on the crystal staircase from dancing too many tangos in their Manolo Blahniks, as...

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John: Sounds like I might like to straddle her equator with my meridian and throw down with a hula hoop on each arm. How soon can I execute my commission?

Mitchell: Do you like to eat...

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Increasing my laughter eyes full of tears invisibly 
Heart shouting help 
Limiting at my ears
Can't be spoken out loud

Faded destiny 
My quest fades in the deep of away
Embellishing my pain with smile
Held contempt of my...

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The curtain rises on Bumblebee Babineaux walking self-confidently along Chartres Street.

Bumblebee [singing]: Ain’t nothin’ gonna break my stride, nobody’s gonna slow me down. Oh, no, I got to keep on movin’… 

Tom Sickley, a disingenuous...

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Steve: This sounds like the traditional Hindu caste system. I get it; all that Kama Sutra stuff.

John: You mean Kama Sutra IPA? It’s a local brew. Not bad.

Steve: Douche bag say wha?

John: Wha?

Steve: Please continue,...

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Mitchell: The most expensive working girls employed by this establishment are what I call shielas. Class A shielas include all specimens of female physicality who were blessed to have inherited near perfect DNA, have taken...

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Tom: Well, do tell? But like I said, I’m not a stranger. I’m a businessman; and more than that. Why, I could be just like a brother to you if you’d let me. Besides, I...

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“Be still sad heart and cease repining;
Behind the clouds the sun is shining,
Thy fate is the common fate of all,
Into each life a little rain must fall,
Some days must be dark and dreary.”- - Longfellow

Charleston,...

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Continued from Part 1

Hungary hounds harangue the highlands,
howl at skies and desert islands…
Below, unfettered carbon crows conceal the parting path she chose

Lighthouse lamps and lanterns lolling…
Mute abandoned fleets are calling…
The shallow shadowed portholes vaunt dim...

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Derek and Eric said I'm Generic, 
a weird name but I'll wear it,
I'm cool, it's epic, Generic's so original 
like the South Park ginger kid,
"gingers have souls bluur".
 
MC Generic the genius generates 
with DJ...

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...Ideally Primed To Write...

Fallow wing on figurative
     awk kill lees heal
of: "My on call (Uncle)
     Muse Never Sleeps"-
     which hoop fully

  ...

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Every other Friday afternoon before Bumblebee would leave on her special errand, her mother would open the old cedar trunk at the foot of her bed and give Bumblebee three things to carry with her...

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My sister Mary younger by two years came with computer disc in hand to share what she had amassed concerning family history.We looked at photos of our parents before we had done the old number...

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~Life Support~

Welcome New Poet To Poetry Soup, 
I offer you a warm smile, in hopes you come back another day.
From the moment I spot your name on the new poet list,
I roll out the welcome...

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Living in dark days 
of the last generation of Noah
Evil beast animals now rule the Earth
Peaceful human beings
are perpetual moving ark targets
In constant danger from the archers’ grip,
the meek souls pray always to God
that the...

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in a morning swim the beaver made his route
out early and then had a breakfast to boot
after which he worked on his abode 
by floating logs to help ease the load

tree by tree he fell...

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In the cages at the zoo they crowded around each other
A million milling from father to brother
All speaking in a babel a million languages
From clicks and keyboard clacks  to switches and bandages
A group is...

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I didn’t answer, I didn’t need to

How did this happen,
amidst words, phrases,
stones skipped on poetic ponds
Not looking for or expecting
a touch to the heart, a caress,
yet it came

I fell, head first into a joy,
a blissful...

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Next day no water supply

Child looks up to me with searchin eyes

"Daddy I'm thirsty" in a weak voice

To a papa I don't have no choice

The Good Ol Boy can't hear her voice

 

And now I'm...

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