Long Midsummer Poems

- 2016 -

- JANUARY -

A freezing cold evening

Where the stars shining bright

With frost blade flanks

From mouth and nose steam

In the clear silence

White untrodden snows

Nature's frozen pulse

Sleep like a little baby

One gracious moon

After the night the...

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At Tintagel
by Michael R. Burch

That night, 
at Tintagel, 
there was darkness such as man had never seen...
darkness and treachery, 
and the unholy thundering of the sea...

In his arms, 
who is to say how much she...

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The Pictish Faeries
by Michael R. Burch

Smaller and darker
than their closest kin,
the faeries learned only too well
never to dwell
close to the villages of larger men. 

Only to dance in the starlight
when the moon was full
and men...

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How could this possibly be a anything fake 
For that would be true if you were Rod 
Or Todd 
Or Harry 
Or drake ...
But no, you seem to arrive at just the right pace
Perhaps anyone...

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Excerpt from “fake” encomium given years ago... 
at Lake Wobegone High School (my alma mater), 

and recently discovered ridiculous rough draft
amidst plethora of junk emails
while practice reading some lines 
regarding Midsummer Night's Dream 
upcoming performance.

Arch...

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“Blue Angels, Black Sheep, Monitors and The House of Random Penguins” 

The womb
is scooped like 
an over ripe melon
Time is the incorrigible felon,
the forgotten lost garden explored 
overturned and raked, 
neatly messed, 
in more ways...

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I was rehearsing for an upcoming play, but it wasn't going well,
For I somehow lacked inspiration, and my delivery did not excel.

If only I could read more feelingly, I uttered with a sad sigh,
I would...

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Green light means go ahead
Make your choice
Here’s a list of the Green light or free, fruits go, go, go and eat them up

Apples, dried: Dried apples make a great snack food and are easy to...

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"Play the audio is in accord with the dramatic monologue," ... by the Poet

                     ...

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When I was a girl, still on the island
I’d sit in the sand
and brood
and revel
in what I thought was utter enlightenment
a teenage rebel
with dime-store refinement
We were all this way, and there is no shame
In the...

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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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A colourful array of falsehoods
Intricately designed disguises 
Fools, fortunes, phantoms
Masks clinging on their faces
 Lives hidden away by an illusory veils
Veils that cannot be removed
Cannot be seen
Secrets tucked away in their eyes
Each a pair of...

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Continued from Part 2
Ah Consuela! I’m watching as lightning at midnight in green Spanish eyes
kindles cracks within crystals like flashes from pistols
                 residing inside of the gloom
as it hovers above us betraying a dove as
                ...

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CHILDREN OF THE SUMMER GARDEN

In the lazy days of summer
 When heat streams up in afternoons
Come into the season’s garden –
 Nature’s outdoor living room.

Early riser, blue Morning Glory vine
 Opens at dawn and sometimes...

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Fukuda Chiyo-ni Haiku

Fukuda Chiyo-ni was a Japanese poet and painter of the Edo period, also known as Kaga no Chiyo.

Having seen the moon
I can bid this planet
farewell.
—Chiyo-ni, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

The moon settled
in...

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A diverse array of flora and fauna reign majestic 
in vivid tawny imagery of shifting sand dunes 
and barren rocks-- sixteen miles
from the golden rays of western tomorrow.

Time is played out in crucial moments of...

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I could not hold on to you
But oh...how hard I tried
Excavated each forgotten chamber
Of my heart
To find some charm
Some talisman
To cast a spell
And make you mine
Some magic potion
That would make your every night
A “midsummer night’s...

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Across the land this morn, a roll of light 
Gave birth to shadows, cast from chalky hills
The larks ascended, sang away the night
Vibrated sky to waking with their trills
‘Tis Summer; round the circle swirls the...

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I wrote the Invisible man poems many years ago. These poems, and I have not submitted them all, was for a little girl who died in a road accident. They are a tribute to her...

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GONE with the JACKASS
SOMETHING JACKASS this WAY COMES
Of MICE AND JACKASSES
The GRAPES of JACKASS
MOBY JACKASS
JACKASS in the RYE
I KNOW WHY the JACKASS SINGS
The GREAT JACKASS
JACKASS of the FLYS
MEIN JACKASS
BRAVE NEW JACKASS
PORTRAIT of the ARTIST as...

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Far off the beaten track and trail
        on quest for music’s Holy Grail
led pilgrims on biblical scale 
         more than...

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Im half awake, and glaring at the sunrise
distant brilliance slowly eating at my dry eyes
squinted to best witness the aureate Apollo
refract off blades soaked through with dew
heaven's first blush, midsummer quiet, and coffee scent
cast clarity,...

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An oversized vintage T-shirt is 
My weekend attire or 
More like my mainichi attire
My face bare
Exposing an unnamed galaxy of freckles
The bottle of
Cheap combini
Apple sparkling wine
Feelin like a millionaire
A neon highlighter between my lips
A novel...

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An evening stroll, on Midsummer Night's Eve ,
under the silver light of the horizon moon.

Life that burst among a small acreage,
of old-growth forests, flourished.

A delightful flurry of fireflies, drifting,
twinkle among the foliage, an amazing sight.

Echoing...

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i love the early morning rasp of his voice
the birthmarks and burn scars
midsummer skin
i love the sticky rash of lust
the way a heart ticks until it implodes
the sugar soaked kisses

i do not love the way...

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