Long Limned Poems

“Son”...”say goodnight to grandpa”

Spurred by mother dearest 
as well as other politesse
drummed into her second born
fobbing blandishments as incentive
tumbled off fingers of prodigal son
tripped wordsmith to splutter forth
forthwith the following lines.

Back in the day 
quaint...

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Lady’s Favor
by Michael R. Burch

May
spring
fling
her riotous petals
devil-
may-care
into the air,
ignoring the lethal
nettles
and may
May
cry gleeful-
ly Hooray!
as the abundance
settles,
till a sudden June
swoon
leave us out of tune,
torn,
when the last rose is left
inconsolably bereft,
rudely shorn
of every device but her thorn.


The...

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Winter
by Michael R. Burch

The rose of love's bright promise
lies torn by her own thorn;
her scent was sweet
but at her feet
the pallid aphids mourn.

The lilac of devotion
has felt the winter hoar
and shed her dress;
companionless,
she shivers—nude, forlorn.

Published...

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It had been a hellish week.

On Monday
my lonely and tired AfricanAmerican husband
told me, as gently as possible,
that what I had hoped was a temporary separation
is to be extended into perpetuity.

This separation had been scheduled to...

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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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Increase In Head Size

impossible mission to encapsulate notion 
flitting hither and yon, to and fro
within cranium attached to mine body,
whereby irrefutable proof prevails
predicated when yours truly
scrutinizes other people visibly aware,
I a modest married male 
blessed,...

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World War II Poems and Holocaust Poems II - Bertolt Brecht



The Burning of the Books
by Bertolt Brecht
loose translation by Michael R. Burch

When the Regime
commanded the unlawful books to be burned, 
teams of dull oxen hauled...

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Old Man Winter now flagging, and slip sliding along...

as his stronghold diminishes.

Signals, triggers, and ushers kickstarting debut
of demure "Flora" who slowly but surely attempts
to reveal her true colors in fits and starts,
nevertheless, she displays skittishness,
when...

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Sometimes pandemic people share
pieces of our unspeakable personal story

That no health care worker,
sex therapist player,
or green resonant systems organizer
wants to hear,
much less smell,
or touch,
or deeply feel...

I flinch, sometimes.

Wince.

Maybe flirt with longer-term
dissociation,
to protect myself
from suicide
to protect...

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Cybersurfing netizen flounders...
analogous to a fish out of water

Ever since being a little gull hubble buoy,
I bobbed (while donning square pants)
like spongy flotsam and jetsam at sea.

Now as one decrepit
humble lumpenproletariat neopoet,
I experienced existence
with pronounced...

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A Vain Word
by Michael R. Burch
 
Oleanders at dawn preen extravagant whorls
as I read in leaves’ Sanskrit brief moments remaining
till sunset implodes, till the moon strands grey pearls
under moss-stubbled oaks, full of whispers, complaining
to the...

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At the mercy of interminable anticipatory anxiety, hence...

viz hitted courtesy debilitating 
one after another panic attack
analogous being bombarded with flak
worse fate then death
or being tortured on the rack,
no mortal experience compares 
regarding psychological paralysis
just ask...

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Daily at the mercy of anticipatory anxiety, hence...

illogical and irrational obsessive compulsive
exhausting rituals linkedin
with cognitive dissonance
(essentially unfounded worry
birthed courtesy far fetched circumstances)
exacts significant mental expense,
which logically and rationally
makes perfect figurative cents
nevertheless offers assigned therapist
Renee Cardone...

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A wave across a smoky bar
That was my impulsive bid
I thought, “Damn, that was stupid”
You frowned like I was bizzare
“Too late, go with it!” I did.

The wave I had to do
To get your attention
I was...

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THE POET’S PANEGYRIC

“There’s someone I knew with talent unleashed
and a heart that had for so many relentlessly reached
This poet sought inspiration from the living and the dead
But I can tell you this about the poet...

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noah wide dee ya when,
where, why or how then
thine ark of in sight fullness, pen
(viz uber taurus), men
sans quirky physiological ken
focus a ford did afore hen
chosen poetic themed word den.

this tire less un escort head
eureka...

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I dance with the dreams of FatherSun;
I dream to the dance of EarthMothers.

Spiritual practice shapes natural rites and flow of day,
Creative listening intent shapes liturgical flow and function of night,
invested with Elders emerging 
from DNA's...

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Collisions between yours truly and the missus

Space at a premium
in our apartment
lettered and numbered b44
at Highland Manor,
cuz the spouse
heavily trends toward disorderliness.

She readily admits her predilection
to disavow being a neatnik,
yet owns the capacity
getting down to...

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At the mercy of anticipatory anxiety, hence...
viz hitted courtesy debilitating panic attacks

Upon waiting for vehicular repair 
today November 19th, 2019 at:
CJ'S TIRE & AUTOMOTIVE SERVICES
(1405 S Township Line Rd,
Royersford, PA 19468),
yours truly, i.e. mister re:...

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Thine distorted reflection rippled 
within rain maker's pool 
   upon a midnight clear
full moonlight sonata 
   flooded shallow abyss, 
cleaved fractal structures of silence 
reverberating deathly hallow from 'ere
to infinity, whence...

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Professed paean pronounced
and adroitly produced
upon spirit of deceased
named Boyce Brandon Harris.

First year anniversary since
cremains distributed across four winds
his soul remains alive within me.

Impressed upon mine consciousness
birthdate announcing home birth
April 9th 1929, my father
gasped his first...

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I finished reading Sharon Blackie's Enchanted Life yesterday.

Kind of a How To Do It,
a how to fix BusinessAsUsual textbook
organically rooted in animism,
I suppose a theologist
and maybe an enchanted ecologist,
might duly note

Although animists are not distracted,...

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OKAY? WHAT FIEND STOLE THY BODY ELECTRIC!?

thine distorted reflection rippled 
within rain maker's pool upon a midnight clear
full moonlight flooded shallow abyss, 
cleaved fractal structures of silence 
reverberating deathly hallow from 'ere
to infinity, whence magic...

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Red hot chili pepper poker face...

Born that way angry antithetical 
mailer daemon when...
all of Christendom bows their collective 
talking heads in supplication,
a temporary truce and reprieve 
against bigotry, deviltry, idolatry (nah),  
et cetera across...

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