Long Mightier Poems

The Original Sin: Rhyming Haiku!
 
Haiku
should never rhyme:
it’s a crime!
-Michael R. Burch
 
The herons stand,
sentry-like, at attention ...
rigid observers of some unknown command.
-Michael R. Burch
 
Late
fall;
all
the golden leaves turn black underfoot:
soot
-Michael R. Burch
 
Dry leaf...

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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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Zen Death Haiku

Brittle cicada shell,
little did I know
you were my life!
—Shuho, translation by Michael R. Burch

Returning
as it came,
this naked worm.
—Shidoken, translation by Michael R. Burch

As dew glistens
on a lotus leaf,
so too I soon must vanish.
—Shinsui,...

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Poems about Mothers


Mother's Smile
by Michael R. Burch

There never was a fonder smile
than mother's smile, no softer touch
than mother's touch. So sleep awhile
and know she loves you more than "much."

So more than "much, " much more...

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Epigrams

Autumn Conundrum
by Michael R. Burch

It’s not that every leaf must finally fall,
it’s just that we can never catch them all.

Piercing the Shell
by Michael R. Burch

If we strip away all the accouterments of war,
perhaps we'll discover...

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Poems about the Coronavirus II


This World's Joy
(anonymous Middle English lyric, circa early 14th century AD)
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Winter awakens all my care
as leafless trees grow bare.
For now my sighs are fraught
whenever it enters...

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Sandy Hook Call to Love
by Michael R. Burch
 
Our hearts are broken today
for our children's small bodies lie broken;
let us gather them up, as we may,
that the truth of our Love may be spoken;
then, when...

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a mere fledgling of twelve, with dreamy eyes,                                                   ...

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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 this poem after having...

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THE PERSPECTIVE OF ALABASTER SCROOGE

In modern English people time, when the world was full of eminent joy, there lived a man of prestige who was totally the opposite of anyone who strives to form the...

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A Simple Pen

                                Ever...

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Do you remember stories about the incensed 60s?

The smoke-filled Beatles,
and acrid flowering Hippies,
and Aquarian Age of Free Love.

It fizzled out.
It wasn't such a Great Transition
as we had hoped.
Exhausted by Foreign and Civil Rights v Wrongs...

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I still feel under the weather today April 2nd, 2023

Unseen enemy invades my body 
with platoon of green berets air
rating, and enfilading immune system viz 
Hib bully knock and sock kin me 
courtesy roebuck seers...

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Poet's Notes 1:
My poet's notes must precede the next Echo Poem as well because the poet 
has not given me permission to publish her poems on my site. I can, of course, 
reference her poems...

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We're now in the year 6555, and I am feeling happy and so alive,
Above, sunshine pours like honey, as along the oceanside I drive.

Wind whips my hair around, beneath skies a deep sparkling blue,
Like the...

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I conversed with the lone demon,
Who had asked for redemption on an earlier day
On this day her voice was mightier,
More brave, and powerful
She dared not sing in the presence of the Dark Prince,
But spoke freely...

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I loathe feeling under the weather...,

especially when nasty elephant 
(named Thomas the pachyderm)
stomping to break loose courtesy tether,
where antibodies of mine 
struggle to band together
loosely analogous to voters
standing in a queue
waiting to cast their vote
(while...

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There was a man from the town of Shimoda who lived a simple and contented life.
A stonecutter by trade, he would go to the mountain and look at the type of stone that people will...

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Could this be, that this is of no common concern to our Creator, as to just what we all use that moves us? 

Just as long as we ask this "Power" to help us never...

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Kind, like the time hope
Filled me with light,
Sunrise showing up in the dawn,
Silencing the dark and gentling
A calm breathed through the oaks,
Compassionate, dreamy 
Feelings bleeding through the mists,
Erasing the bitterness, the tears
Embracing the miracle of...

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(FOR MA'ARUUFAH ODETUNDUN)
Today I was but walking on my path, full of self-confidence,

heading towards a purpose I had set from my residence.

My humble head bowed very low, I pressed forward in haste,

yet I was mindful...

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Epigrams/Epitaphs

Childless
by Michael R. Burch

How can she bear her grief?
Mightier than Atlas, she shoulders the weight
of one fallen star.

***

Laughter’s Cry
by Michael R. Burch 

Because life is a mystery, we laugh
and do not know the half.
Because death...

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These are modern English translations of haiku and tanka by Takaha Shugyo...

ochitsubaki ware naraba kyuryu e otsu

Oh, fallen camellias,
if I were you,
I'd leap into the torrent!
—Takaha Shugyo, loose translation by Michael R. Burch

dôkefuku nugazu tentômushi...

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These are poems for the victims of the Nashville Covenant School shootings.


Nashville Covenant Call to Love
by Michael R. Burch

Our hearts are broken today
for our children's small bodies lie broken;
let us gather them up, as we...

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~The Untold Fatal Attraction Poem~

Mid-morning she sees the sun ahead
Her death flowed in a messaged bottle
Gazing into her brown eyes upon all open sores,
Her conscience dark and gray a never-ending war!
A giant cyclone of a...

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