Long Mingled Poems

I have been trying to find the right words to pen this verse, but since I came to this country my words are suppressed and my voice is oppressed. The wind is blowing furiously, and...

Read More

When you came to me...

Not that you wanted me.  Oh, no!  It was I who wanted you,
Your comfort... your caring... your
... compassion, your compassion...
Your body, beautiful and young, perhaps that as well at...

Read More

While family Mingled with one 
Another and strangers the party flowed 
Smoothly. Music was enjoyed.
Everybody indulged. With a little 
Champagne some wine and juice.
The bar also served smoothies.
Adults mingled. Delilah Mallory 
Mother Daughtry and Amaliah...

Read More

The kid who often was lost in 
The sauce Joshua! His 
 birthday was in June. He became
The strong silent youngster with 
The youngest kids. 
 A small Celebration was held in
Josh's honor party at...

Read More

THIS WORLD OF DEW

This world? 
Moonlit dew
flicked from a crane's bill.
—Eihei Dogen Kigen, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Seventy-one?
How long
can a dewdrop last? 
—Eihei Dogen Kigen, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Dewdrops beading grass-blades
die before...

Read More

Do you remember?
We lay in the moonlight, exhausted and content,
Moments from perfection, skin glistening with moisture,
Salty and sweet from love - love so amazing
That it stunned us every time ...
Always better than before, and always...

Read More

Poems about Children III

Miracle
by Michael R. Burch

for Jeremy

The contrails of galaxies mingle, and the dust of that first day still shines.
Before I conceived you, before your heart beat, you were mine,

and I see

infinity leap in...

Read More

So cramped ...
Strain to move,
Flex and budge in tiny increments ...
That's the limit.
Constantly testing, trying,
Pushing, pressing ...
Constrict, exert, constrict, struggle,
Spin slowly, push ...
That's it. That's all.
Nothing more.
But it helps ... relief,
A body sigh ...
But only...

Read More

Date:   June  2048
The grills were set everything was 
In place. CJ informed "More
 than 350 family members 
Are expected to be here within
The hour." Damian said, "with 300 plus
Relatives expected today it...

Read More

MICHELANGELO: Modern English Translations

Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564) is considered by many experts to be the greatest artist and sculptor of all time. These are modern English translations of his poems and epigrams by Michael R. Burch.



SONNET:...

Read More

In the silky night, dotted with mystery,
Where the moon's thread weaves shadows on the paths,
The heart, a thin garment, a flash in the ether,
Listens as the time from the hourglass seeps away,
And its rhythm, a...

Read More

GUNSHOT WOUND TO THE HEART 


From a two-room schoolhouse high on a hill over the Fundy Bay, I sat at an old wooden desk daydreaming. The ink stains and etchings which were dug deep into...

Read More

I took a ride through the park to relax my mind
I stood on top of the hill  observing  the burnt trees 
standing patiently waiting for someone to take them in
The entire place was...

Read More

1)The Awakening 

I know when fantasies became boundless,
it was the first time I sat on the pier;
Bellowing aqua swells rolled in endless
the ocean’s melody hung in my ear; 

Suddenly the size of a grain of...

Read More

It was an early fall day, some decades ago, 
When three of my boys were still young.
Looking forward that year to the Rochester Fair,
An event that was always good fun.

A promise from me I would...

Read More

When the past tears apart the courageous, leaving…
	Bloodstained bodies – trembling tears, silence,
		Nightmares, grief and no reassurance or relief,		
			In the distance, so much disbelief, where honor
				Wore its shimmering veil – stands a mirror,

Haunted by the...

Read More

There stood a castle on the summit of a hill
Now fallen to decay, hidden among bushes wild
It perched like an eagle’s nest on the steep hill
It was owned by a Lord, gentle and mild

Blessed with...

Read More

Date:  October  2049

Desharah's birthday party was a
Brawling success. And a Hakim 
Female no male included anywhere 
On their primesis party. The party included 
Amaliah, Desharah, Saderi, Sedanah,
Myselah, Manisha, Salis, Mama
Lucinda, Mama Daughtry she...

Read More

...and the Demon spoke,
its voice deep and mellow like smooth satiny chocolate,
"There is more, much more than good and evil,"
the words thunderously whispered.
The verdant emerald green of the forest quivering at the sound,
drawing in upon...

Read More

Juvenilia: Early Poems XIII

Davenport Tomorrow
by Michael R. Burch

Davenport tomorrow ...
all the trees stand stark-naked in the sun.

Now it is always summer
and the bees buzz in cesspools,
adapted to a new life.

There are no flowers,
but the weeds,...

Read More

It was on a beautiful Sunday, that I was relaxing in the park,
Obtaining all the bliss I could, before blue skies grew dark.

The air was filled with songs, and bees were bloom to bloom;
And the...

Read More

I had never before glimpsed the sea, and I had often felt the lack,
As rainbows sense the lack of luster, so they keep on coming back.

I dwelled in a pastoral area, quite far from any...

Read More

I came back to you in September
you were quiet then
still,
like you used to be,
when men were men
and I was just a child

When the smell of the fish docks
mingled well with the stench of the slaughter...

Read More

The room is an object in its entirety.
Singular in form and mind,
and multiple in purpose and pleasure.
It is a secret capsule.
Though it was once adorned with bright reds and greens and plated golds
that climbed up...

Read More

Sweet Centerless Sixteen
by Michael R. Burch

Inconsolable as “love” had left your heart,
you woke this morning eager to pursue
warm lips again, or something “really cool”
on which to press your lips and leave their mark.

As breath upon...

Read More