Long Modernist Poems

State of the Art (IV)

These are my "ars poetica" poems about the art and craft of writing poetry. 



Hearthside
by Michael R. Burch

“When you are old and grey and full of sleep...”  — W. ...

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Greetings to those who would willingly seek admission to theater of the absurd. Zoltan Goliath and Otis Trench are masters of the avant-garde genre silent musicals for the imaginary stage, an art form sui generis....

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James Joyce:
In winding streets of Dublin, I did dwell,
found Ulyssean tales to weave and tell.
In this modern age, voices rise anew.
What themes thrive, Margaret, in works like you?

Margaret Atwood:
Ah, James, your stream, like a cerebral...

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Finally to Burn: Icarus, Resurrected
by Michael R. Burch

Athena takes me
sometimes by the hand

and we go levitating
through strange Dreamlands

where Apollo sleeps
in his dark forgetting

and Passion seems
like a wise bloodletting

and all I remember
upon awaking

is: to Love sometimes
is...

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Un-revelling Rivalry

Who am I to speak of historical rivalry I cannot contest
all the clever myriad truths conjectures and refutations
about the two masters the two foes with huge presence
when history acclaim appreciation is subjective personal 
up...

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I was an active, prominent architect, like fervent stars which race the sun,
Or exotic, summer flowers that bloom vibrantly, creating rapturous visions.

I'd wrought modernist skyscrapers, as huge trees lean into a bronze glaze, 
On raspberry,...

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Written: April 09, 2025, 

                 *************

I will be faithful and reveal to you the facts,
You are mine in life...

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Rejection Slips 4

Editor's Notes
by Michael R. Burch
 
Eat, drink and be merry
(tomorrow, be contrary).
 
( and complain
in bad refrain,
but please, not till I'm on the plane!)
 
Write no poem before its time
(in your case, this...

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Louise Imogen Guiney – Poetess and Writer

Louise Imogen Guiney sought a certain poetry of 
perfection that rang true with a real radiance in her
poetry, that also bespoke a passion and feeling for
its lyrical nature as...

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“The more you know, the more you know you don't know.”

Said quote attributed to Aristotle,
     stands the test of time,
     and not only did out last
many another...

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The grand, half-ruined Parthenon,
once a sublime, Doric grace,
Even now, in broken, stone blocks,
always takes my breath away.
The rich, classical detail,
fluted columns without plinths,
to imagine what it once was,
the mind can’t even begin…

That towering Coliseum,
the great...

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I really did like you Susan Fewster.
 Even when I said, 'Well I don't like her!'
 When you were absent from school that day 
 And your classmates made me aware
 When they told me...

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I sought a theme but it was in vain . . . 
   so, I let my MUSE take me by the hand to this place
       that...

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Panic or stage fright, oh my,
A crowd awaits, let me sit, oh why?
Better standing, oh the nerves,
Good morning? No, good afternoon it serves.

Oh dear, I don't even know what I'm saying,
How am I feeling? I...

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At my birth, something happened up there...  
into the wondrous constellations,
God Himself made them shine brighter
for this new born trascending life 
into a destiny of greatness;
and my grateful smile deepened His delight!

Astrologers study the...

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rainy season 
	grief, white hydrangeas 
	hungry caterpillar



In part, The Haiku Society of America’s definition of a haiku reads, “Usually a haiku in English is written in three unrhymed lines of seventeen or fewer syllables.” Further,...

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On the Street

“Hey mister, you have something for me”?  
Flat words emerge in the late autumn dusk from the 
hollow where her heart had been before it froze to death.
Face full of life’s dings,...

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I’m an Asian
So, I’m civilized!

-Really?

I’m a European; an American white
I’m an Oceania and I’m civilized!

-Really!?

I’m an African
Victim of apartheid
An oppressed black
But, I’m civilized!

-Really!?

I’m a highly educated
Preacher, saint-type motivator 
First-class nation of the continent
Aristocratic; elite business...

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I am weary of politics,
its plastic people 
and the endless lies,
the glorification 
of the outrageous antics 
of the rich and famous, 
the intolerance 
and exclusivity preached 
by most religions, 
sensationalist media 
who seek to deceive
and...

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The first thing we learned is beauty is in
The eye of the beholder.
Paintings or pictures can be done in
Oils, watercolors, pen,
Charcoal, pencil, marker,
Crayons, and chalk.
The place was so quiet it was like bein
In church. We...

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The canvas is painted in ochres and browns
Suggesting a figure, the staircase coming down
Be it masculine or feminine is for your mind to see
The artist’s title denotes it descends in nudity.

The body parts are not...

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dawn dual duel
two  poets
a face-off  duel joust
free verse  rhyme verse
a modernist  traditionalist
mull and muse   tell it true
prompt a reaction   lay it out there
lover of words, jarring ...

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The boy gets teased for wearing Holy Keds
And never Michael Jordan tennis shoes.
A field trip for a Friday afternoon:
Today, it’s modern art, the locals’ wing.
Head down, he tags along behind his class.
At least he is...

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Till tomorrow The Spectacular
Not a thing about it jocular;
Does keep wasting Nature's Wondrous gift
While rugged terrains giving new lift...

Steely replica of Dynamite:
It has been the same show of might;
The weakest of them all still iron
And...

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SIMPLE AESTHETICS

fused elements
of flat-painted
colour

 tensions
fit neatly
next to each
other
&
balance
atop
a  flat plane

 a modernist
 sensibility
  deceptively
locked
together

NOTE:THIS IS AN OPEN(organic) FORM VERSE   using spaces&breaks without grammatical symbols ,the ' open' relies upon 'the one breath limitation' & so inherently requires the 'reader' (reciter) to input and responds thus making...

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