Long Lichen Poems

"The Payload" 

The payload 
came crashing down
like rain expelled
from the fat belly 
of a ruinous pregnant cloud 
bilious with buxom promise

it came crashing down 
like school fish released 
from the tight confines
of a course rope...

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Poems about Poems V

Distances
by Michael R. Burch

There is a small cleanness about her,
as though she has always just been washed,
and there is a dull obedience to convention
in her accommodating slenderness
as she feints at her salad.

She...

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I
It all began so many years ago,
his journey down the narrow winding path,
and where it was to lead just fate could know
as it would take him through life’s aftermath.

The journey long and hard that he...

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Please help yarn hexed door neighbor...

Yours truly pinned down by invisible 
vestiges of coronavirus and
getting attacked from angry plague 
of buttons, plus huge spools of yarn
grossly mistook me for human sock 
to seal and line...

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thermometer reads zero, a chilly breeze blows
  apple cores thrown, the blackbirds feed
  my multi-layered partner dons her wooly hat
  impatiently, she waits for me
  securing covid masks amidst my overcoat
...

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Tardigrades aka Water Bears, Moss Piglets

Before T-Rex appeared and the Dodo bird disappeared,
Leading to modern-day scientific knowledge increasement,
Creatures of infinitesimal size called ‘Tardigrades’ endure,
Were and are living and thriving, just about anywhere on earth.

From mountain...

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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Northward! He frowned into the storm
The wind ever stirring, the snow swirling 'round
Ahead lay destiny, a lone dying form
He felt a stirring, as if homeward bound
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Trudging carefully through the heavy snow he watched as Sprinteren...

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LETTER TO A SOLDIER
A Trilogy


I.  SONGS OF LOVE

Love walked with me
In the crisp fall air
In a shower of gold and red.
Love showed me the print
Of a doe’s foot
And where she made her bed.

Love sat...

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Sonnets V-IX



Afterglow
by Michael R. Burch

The night is full of stars. Which still exist?
Before time ends, perhaps one day we’ll know.
For now I hold your fingers to my lips
and feel their pulse... warm, palpable and slow...

once...

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The year has finally yawned and turned       
Upon a half-revealed shoulder.
A vibrancy, intrinsic to a reemerging 
Enforcement of the strengthening light, 
In its deliberate and unconcerned   ...

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My ebbing physical prowess and strength

noticeably decreases in one direction.

I take lock, stock and barrel 
to revisit good ole days of yore
quite conscious undeclared state of war
prevails within body electric of troubadour
now seated at his...

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Creative cerebral craftiness coaxes...

Childhood campy chimera curtain call
subsequently hinting (based on accuweather)
the approach of blizzard squall
so burrow under quilted cover y'all
until warm temperatures arrive when springtime
ushers social media platforms 
buzzfeeding earthlinked instant karma 
jump/kickstarting linkedin...

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A meadow for Autumn

Forest, I lay me down to rest
upon bed of moss.
 
Eternal sleep immediately overtakes me 
lichen kenning myself 
as Rip Van Winkle 
except being repurposed
as  oldest living species. 

With an estimated...

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Cypress trees like evergreen steeples
rise above rows of gravestone woes,
their shadows lie side by side like railroad ties 
across writhing paths banded like snakes;
the gravel birth cords sinuous 
sensing the ground   seeking the...

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Mother Goose would find her tail feathers ruffled 

Hey diddle diddle 
the cat and the fiddle
when off to see 
a crooked man and woman,
whilst cowards jumped 
over moo ving little
pair of mismatched muggles,
who both walked...

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Marching out of the cloaked shires
Of landowners, stockbrokers, 
Hereditary Peers, and ruddy faced 
Squires:
A vast multitude of many varied 
Tribes.
Amassing in the great cities, where,
Inhabiting shadowy chambers, 
Behind nodding sighs and hushed 
Whispers, 
The Masonic...

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(1.)

The Truth Of Dearest Love Sworn, I Ask God How

Over the grit-stained shoulders of ancient marble
Rests a million vagaries of humanity's million sins
Just as earth's flocks of beautiful songbirds warble
So goes the evils engaged in...

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***** NONPARTISAN SHAM (BULL SH*T)...
SPECIAL NEWS BULLETIN updated *****

Innocuous, yet unhealthy threat looms across
(air/radio) telecommunications devices
where smart electronic devices enthrall
and decree they co-opt role bing boss
linkedin with plenti networks that criss cross
even primitive computers utilizing...

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I know of a river of more than average 
Sorts...
Meandering, when not dallying to maunder,
Between many differing contours 
And unruly contorts;
Where a privileged youth once
Happily sought -
Pursuing about his passions
In the traditional methods 
By which...

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"Forbidden"

the knowledge 
acquired 
from the story
I’ve lived 
is forbidden
to be written

I listen to 
their voices
carried in the 
rustling leaves 
the whispering 
of ghosts behind me

hushing me
I haunt them

the rain transports
me as if it is music
I...

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I take stock and revisit good ole days of yore
quite conscious undeclared state of war
prevails within body electric of troubadour
now seated at his Macbook Pro
today February 20, 2021.

Since January thirteenth of this year
(two thousand and...

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1. My sins may be an alarmist
hitting me hard with heavy fist
Your glory, I want to be near
my soul to you, I feel no pier
a flowerless life like lichen
you stop my spirit from itching
thank you...

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Pointed Art
Michael R. Burch

The point of art is that
there is no point.
A grinning, quick-dissolving cat
from Cheshire
must have told you that.

The point of art is this—
the hiss
of Cupid’s bright bolt, should it miss,
is bliss
compared to Truth’s...

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A Healthy Relationship Betwixt Yourself And Only Heir

A hint of helping this wholesome Harris son 
cane across thru the air
Hence this poetic expression 
of gratitude Matthew Scott wants to blare
And communicate my genuine 
appreciation crystal...

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Odyssey from Africa, Chapter 12 (d) The fireflower (cont.)

Dominated by one hilltop 
Round in form, it’s summit hidden
In the whiteness of a cloud base
There they saw their destination 

Now they climbed by steepening gradient
Through a...

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