Long Leveler Poems

Epitaph for a Palestinian Child
by Michael R. Burch

I lived as best I could, and then I died.
Be careful where you step: the grave is wide.



Autumn Conundrum
by Michael R. Burch

It's not that every leaf must finally...

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Juvenilia: Early Poems VII

These are early poems I wrote as a boy and as a teenager.

The Leveler
by Michael R. Burch

The nature of Nature
is bitter survival
from Winter’s bleak fury
till Spring’s brief revival.

The weak implore Fate;
bold men...

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Juvenilia: Early Poems by Michael R. Burch



Smoke
by Michael R. Burch

The hazy, smoke-filled skies of summer I remember well;
farewell was on my mind, and the thoughts that I can't tell
rang bells within (the din was in)...

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(A LIFE TIME IN A DAY)
                      I
So! This is what it’s all about,
to think...

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pandemoniac incredulity sweeps the fat globe

illusion in disguise and sweet dreams of equality 

the grim reaper measures invincible destruction

finally attempts to be fair at least once in a life time

‘fear not for I am a...

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Surrender to sleep at last! What a misery, keeping watch all night, wide awake. Soon you’ll succumb to sleep and escape all your troubles. Sleep. — Homer, translation by Michael R. Burch

Passage home? Impossible! Surely...

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Homer translations

Surrender to sleep at last! What an ordeal, keeping watch all night, wide awake. Soon you’ll succumb to sleep and escape all your troubles. Sleep. — Homer, translation by Michael R. Burch

Passage home? Impossible!...

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With a wag of tail and tongue bedraggled
dogs drag their owners to frolic off-leash
in parks devoted to dog meets dog dalliance and play.

Despite their authority, the owners know each
not by the owner’s names, but by...

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Seed - scattered strewn or downtrodden.
Grain stuck on passive flytrap mucus.
Wild life biomes ripe with  open sesame.
Frantic birth pangs stiffen their gestations as green  leaf ferments bubble underneath.
Mother of all wombs, diva pulse...

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1. We, humans, belong to Earth, rather than earth belongs to us.

2. One handicap we have is our biggest organ (NOT THAT!) but our SKIN:
The skin gives us a false sense that we are separated...

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You pride yourself as the conqueror of humanity
You boast that your power over man is awesome
And strike him numb with fear
You sneak into his life announced
Sometimes you appear unannounced
But always with devastating finality
The rich cannot...

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The Great Levels Of Our Love

It starts with lavender and baby powder
My lover knows the fragrance and scents of love
The ardent aroma, baby soft kisses and caresses
Soft music lingering over our cozy balcony
Overlooking the Champs-Elysee...

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What CHOICE does one have at the crossroads of life
When winter sets in and SUMMER is done,
When the CANDLE does flicker with the roil and the strife,
When life seems to end when barely begun?

When does...

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In the judiciary of high quality
Where the advocacy is Equality:
Ideas that keep clashing with partiality 
And would not condone one more cheap casualty…

Outside the court room stripped of Audacity,
In many regions facing Adversity:
Wherever the target...

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Perfect Truth Perfect Love

The simple facts of life are just that simple
The fabric of our existence becomes sublime
Measure by measure
Love consist of ordinary things 
A hand held in the rain
Commitment, sharing in one’s pain
A measure...

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long hair                 a sign of rebellion
	a leveler  for rich and poor

"no money for a hair cut?"
"no problem -...

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Today
I lost another piece of my flesh
Strangely
I feel no different than I had been
Yesterday
It was only a little portion of it
Tomorrow?
Who knows? It just might be everything

Still
I marvel at the rise and fall of day
Wishing
Time...

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I Walk The Seashore Down

I walk the seashore down
Pillowed by silent calls of night
Land begins
Sea ends
Great leveler of life
I call my own
An echoed noise releases
Crashing wet positioning’s of a tide
Like footstep entries
On sands of time
Filters...

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The cardinal prerequisite for all to happen, 
The trigger of the grand successes of labor and pen; 
The certified mover of mountains, 
And the tested leveler of hillocks! 

The panacea that heals all, 
The esoteric...

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Egg shells litter the nests bottom
forlorn thoughts drift on the summer’s haze
the nest crushed beneath the wheel of the mower
still retained its circular form.

High in the small woods 
I had created in the back yard
bird...

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