Long Loveliest Poems

Juvenilia: Early Poems V

Poetry
by Michael R. Burch

Poetry, I found you
where at last they chained and bound you;
with devices all around you
to torture and confound you,
I found you—shivering, bare.

They had shorn your raven hair
and taken both...

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The Making of a Poet
by Michael R. Burch

While I don’t consider “Poetry” to be my best poem—I wrote the first version in my teens—it’s a poem that holds special meaning for me; I call it...

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The State of the Art (I)
by Michael R. Burch

Has rhyme lost all its reason
and rhythm, renascence?
Are sonnets out of season
and poems but poor pretense?

Are poets lacking fire,
their words too trite and forced?
What happened to desire?
Has...

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You.
Reading this.
Right now.
Proof you have descended
from an unbroken powerful line 
of politically and economically successful
Elders.

If we define “powerful Elder”
as those who have had political and economic authority over another,
responsibility for at least one or more...

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To receive care
that best meets your needs,
and also,
by the way,
everyone else's too,
we look first
to where and when we have given such care
since our original longest reborn journey
down Mom's birth canal,
prepared just in time for our...

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This is my translation of Rainer Maria Rilke's second elegy from his Duino Elegies, which he began composing at Duino Castle in 1912. 

Second Elegy
by Rainer Maria Rilke
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch 

Every angel...

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Suddenly, I constantly cough, cough, cough
I haven't had enough, for this life's so rough 
My friend is right beside me and he truly understands 
Where I stand and I thoughtfully fiddle with my hands 

Oh,...

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I was in a love affair with art, which had lasted for most of my life,
As beauty graces bush tree and field, whenever hued blossoms are rife.

I started painting at a young age, and had...

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Woven are these pages in poetic verse,
With bare threads of our deepest feelings,
You will find laughter, tears and remorse,
and words of wisdom, prayer and healings. 
Krish Radhakrishna

The words herein form an anthology of love
From the...

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The sound of a piano playing a dirge lies in the air. It was the day before general quarantine measures were implemented by the Austrian government. That same night, for the first time in recent...

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Placed second in:
It Started With a Blank Canvas Poetry Contest:
Sponsored by Silent One


                      ...

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The shepherd stood on the field, frail,
He knew not what to do when and why,
As the wrathful sun did steep down,
The confused chap followed his humble sheep.
Then one man neared and asked his name,
He gasped...

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-Forget naught-

So soon after supper, you’ve forgotten
Those ones you called your alter egos.
Said adieu and you did not stay o!
So soon you forgot those ones?						

The one you met and greeted in clan,
During moon, storm, wind,...

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The travel agent said adventure was calling,
In a lush paradise of beauties enthralling!

No harm would befall us, with a capable guide;
This Amazon tour would be a scenic, easy ride.

We weren't outdoors types, my companion and...

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( Poet Destroyer-our dearest PD)

Loveliest and greatest poet, sis and friend of mine in poetry site,
Loved so much by everybody, I’m shouting this with all my might;
Let’s make October 7 a very special day again...

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I was a successful, scientific explorer, traveling to the remote, distant lands,
Bettering noble lives of many, like budding, green spring which understands.

And every day held fruitful discovery, as when the autumn colors are flying,
Or when...

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Dapper Drac had a panic attack, and topping off the dread
His trendy boots clashed with his suit, plus his white shirt was stained red

Sure his hair was right, and dynamite, as seen in the mirror
Yet...

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I had named my verbose parrot Sunny, as he filled my world with sunshine;
For when someone truly touches the heart, you often must give some sign.

I habitually called him 'Sun' for short, and we had...

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I was an essential nature photographer, very deeply immersed in my work,
Exploring leafy, wild green mansions, in the sunlit halls where beauty lurks.

I had always enjoyed natural pursuits, like minty trees reach for blue skies,
Enjoying...

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Sappho Translations XI by Michael R. Burch


Sappho, fragment 92
translation by Michael R. Burch

“Sappho, if you don’t leave your room,
I swear I’ll never love you again!
Get out of bed, rise and shine on us,
take off your...

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     We are two souls that the crossroads 
rigged to meet.
There is nothing artificial about your intelligence, 
your significance, your female caring brilliance.
:"Smiles*

Like water and earth, "beauty and the beast."
 :"giggles*,...

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I was a productive, proficient painter, long captivated by the manifold colors,
An infinite parade of hues and intensities, like tales of a thousand summers.

I worked daily at this irresistible passion, which made long, golden hours...

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The  sirens are gone now
                             ...

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very short, abridged, edited, small version.

There was a cave, deep within the hills
Of St Francis
A seedling traveled by the black crow
And was dropped on the wings of a dove
Only to tumble tumble, down, earthenly bound
The...

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Long ago, in an estuary formed by the erosion of a fjord,
There sat a piano made of petrified wood with ivy cords.

It was created by a council of beavers, which governed the waters,
Who used local...

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