Long Lonelier Poems

On an early morning just before school
My tummy is churning my head hurts too
My feet are cold my forehead is hot
I have a runny nose and a tongue with blue dots

“Mom come quick!” I helplessly...

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Poems about the Coronavirus I


yet another iffy coronavirus haiku #1
by michael r. burch

plagued by the Plague
i plague the goldfish
with my verse



yet another iffy coronavirus haiku #2
by michael r. burch

sunflowers
hang their heads
embarrassed by their coronas

I wrote...

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The first soft snow: 
leaves of the awed jonquil 
bow low
—Matsuo Basho translation by Michael R. Burch

Come, investigate loneliness! 
a solitary leaf
clings to the Kiri tree
—Matsuo Basho translation by Michael R. Burch

The cheerful-chirping cricket
contends gray...

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Dusk-gliding swallow, 
please spare my small friends
flitting among the flowers! 
—Matsuo Basho translation by Michael R. Burch

A bee emerging
from deep within the peony's hairy recesses
flies off, sated
—Matsuo Basho translation by Michael R. Burch

That dying cricket,...

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Yosa Buson haiku translations

On the temple’s great bronze gong
a butterfly
snoozes.
?Yosa Buson, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Hard to describe:
this light sensation of being pinched
by a butterfly!
?Yosa Buson, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Not to worry...

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Slowly creeping out of winter 
Would it ever be the same 
If I showed up at your door 
Out of breath, out of line 
With a million excuses behind my manic behavior?
A video diary full...

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I remember…

The little girl words falling from my lips,
In whispers and whimpers, coloring
Light in misty feelings, flowing like the gentle
Music, rhythmic, pulsing – revealing
Where sincerity shakes the hand of serenity,
Bringing dreams to the heart of...

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He was there in the beginning
and through the eternal ending.

He'd scattered his seed 'cross numerous worlds.
They flourished.
They perished.
Flora, fauna, innumerable forms,
aeons of evolutionary warfare.
Extermination of the unfit
without the mercy of design.
Quadrillions of cadavers
paving a road...

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Oh God, you must know what I’m missing out on
Though at times I am not really sure,
If it’s possibly not inconvenient “in Truth”
Might You help me discover the cure?

My loneliness never does leave me alone,
Though...

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I'm the roving reporter on the move again
(despite having a cold I had to take the children to gymnastics and because I'm disorganised I'm crossing several lanes of traffic on foot whilst they are in...

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I never knew a love before


Of you my proudest moments stand
For only I can see
This life was once a jumbled mess
Much more than it should be

I gaze upon the history 
Of what has come and...

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Dear Diary,                                 ...

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“on an as is where is basis we choose
descent of consciousness into the gross
then we rise again following heart’s muse
higher than where stood, bearing love’s cross”

When I see others getting much ahead of me,
And ascending...

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No chatter patter, I'm alone in a lonely house as winter arrives
My thoughts fly to you as you travel afar in distant regions
You still write me letters, though with fewer lines
Yet, they are filled with...

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In the labyrinth of warmth, I sought refuge in the cold room of frozen memories,
From the cold room, I fled to the coffin of unspoken promises,
And from the coffin? Only the bare hands of time...

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At 76 I’m walking a shorter path and I’m not sure how I feel
However, I think an additional 100 years of life would be ideal
It would give me time and chances to take a shot...

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His makeup is pasted on him as though a ghost

The makeup was taken from my very last breath

The lack of blood in my veins caused it to be white

As the mime prepares for his reenactment...

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I build a HOME in you,
And decorated it with care and affection,
That's what I can call it though,

I didn't love myself enough, doesn't mean I couldn't..
It's that I loved you too much and I only...

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Jack was sitting poker faced 
With bullets backed by bitches.
Neal hunched at the wheel 
Puttin everyone in stitches.
He was braggin 'bout 
This nurse he'd screwed, 
While drivin through Nebraska. 
Said that when she came,
She honked...

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Hmmm...
I am alone again today.
Lately those days have become more and more gathered into weeks.

But...
I mustn't fear the creep of the still air upon my flattened seat.
Sooner or later, he comes a tired mess and...

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In the span of a moment
A word of caution
Destiny alters
Those fragile components

In a moment a seed 
Comes forth to fruition
Or it dies with no one to grieve
No pause nor slight intermission

In the span of a...

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What happened to the man I loved? Why did he lose himself?
The strong hold his demons had over him was tearing us apart   
Dilated pupils, slurred words, stupid grin worn when drinking,
a fool...

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       As I am growing older and life becoming lonelier,
       The past beckons, and though I had almost tossed it out,
  ...

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She was looking into her album.

Perhaps, She would write a story for herself. 
A moment for a little adventure.
Reality is a platform to live and breathe. 
And imagination is a doorway to relief.
She needed relief,...

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I saw him as he grew up; I watched him as he aged. As he changed and shifted, being molded by the hands of time. At the start he was alone, he would remain that...

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