Long Molted Poems

Sappho Translations II

That country wench bewitches your heart?
Hell, her most beguiling art’s
hiking her dress
to seduce you with her ankles' nakedness!
Sappho, fragment 57, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Sappho, fragment 138, loose translations/interpretations by Michael R....

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A fine mist of rain falls silent 
on his thin, sharp-angled face. 
He picks up the pace and tilts 
his head to the wind. He walks 
through the plundered slumber  
of crumbled poverty, abandoned,...

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A light mist of ethereous rain falls 
silent on his thin, sharp-angled
face. He lengthens his stride and 
leans toward the wind. He walks 
through plundered poverty; crumbled
by the weight of exodus. Abandoned
to the blood-rough nails...

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          You wanna know sumpin sumpin?!
   ...

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Yesterday as the sun was rising on our walk…what should catch our eye….but one humongous…elongated white feather…stretching across the sky.

Our weatherman is quick to inform us…that it’s a cirrus cloud and in it we will...

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To dwell among the ruins;
littered with broken bottles and flattened plastic cups,
stamped out cigarette butts
Cast off lottery binges,
crushed ghetto dreams and empty syringes
Poisoned by so many stings of inequality
Flickering opportunities ...
shed your skin, and perhaps...

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On the morning of April 19, 1995, 
Terror was heard through the Oklahoma sky.
 
At 9:02 A.M. the explosion did occur, 
And the blue common day turned into a blur.
 
A memorial was built to...

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I had survived how many summers? Five?
Six? 'til, self-taught, I learned at last
of terror that lurks in situations
which those I trust (myself included)
would swear offer only perfect safety...
My ball rolled under my Grandma's house
and I,...

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here i am in the flesh
no victim levelled in scope
22 catches im cashing
not selling the dope
i watched the sunrise
used to pray sometimes
kids thatd played outside
tho fate did seem unkind
chased a better understanding
even struck with fear
i...

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We scratched and scrapped and piled it together,
thin as cobwebs, like molted bird feathers,
spread out on the frozen lawn,
a gossamer frosting in early dawn,
a meager, stingy December snow,
hardly enough to foster a glow
from the Christmas...

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Waxy fear melting in the dark
drips red
Candlelight vigils in the night
mournfully grow,
as more guns control 
empty barrel trigger fingers

Making it hard to keep count
of the dotted map splatter
Crimson tears shed on the ground
leaves a trail...

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sublime quilt 
of dormant shimmers
in lethargic winter sunshine
stretched on shivering earth
as finger caresses of peace.

turning variegated world
into a room filled
with feathers floating from
bursting womb
of sailing pillows on azure.

pouring wisps of manna
from chalices in heavens,
falling through...

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From diluvial binary code extracted
from white walls lined 
the untouchable monastery, the fraction leaked, drifted like 
a molted feather

one part 
              ...

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Docked your own can it tote-n-land home
Locked unknown antidote to amp the mode 
Clamped-n-sewn your stamp will show 
Plan it slow in a long tramp you know
Boat the load and camp your stow
Go for broke...

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broken spirit and wings,
this bird no longer sings.
forgotten are the days of intoxicating flight,
replaced with fears of another fight.

this was a day much like any other,
but this time the lightening force of his punches created...

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Now, life has almost passed us by,
and peaceful resignation reigns;
the beach, a spawning ground of old,
shrieks mournfully in sea gull tones.

The neap tide’s come to lull the shore;
crab moltings own the water’s edge.
Forewarned, am I,...

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tangerine splashes
scrolls in scarlet,
on shriveled bosoms
of muted flutters
rustling in whispers
of arid harmonies.

molted dreams
of boughs denuded
of verdant skin,
heaped in versicolor
as confetti for
whimsical draught.

jaundiced wasps,
crickets in rapture
lost in sonorous tirade
drown symphonies
from spring's meads,
and silence of fall
echoes in...

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Let clocks unlock unbroken birds they bind:
Too quick in May they peek Azalea’s bloom;
Wide eyes enlightened bound by darkness blind,
And spring reflected bares a thinning plume:
Like pearls of April nestled smooth and deep,
Those dizzy doves...

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How a little ball of molted lead
has changed our nations history
and why they shot him in his head
became a shrouded mystery

Theories popped up everywhere
no suspects were exposed
and every answer that was spoke
more questions they arose

Thirteen...

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Winter's winking wearily in the sun
gracefully giving ground
knowing Spring will never run

Muted, molted, monochromatic colors turn
vibrant, vivacious, victoriously
welcoming the return

Soft, subtle scents in the air
lilacs lovingly linger
in the tresses of my hair

Pink petals purling to...

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The dust stand in devoted pair 
with stare towards the brush and it's fare
devotion despairs
the dust sighs
the brush forfeits
they surrender
Alas all but in an instant
so is no victory reaped
so is earning molted from the tears...

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Tonight, the horizon burns like metal 
Molted and shot from a mouth of fire 
The trees stand scorched, coal-chalked pictures 
In the sky hangs a fleeting smile 
Molted and shot, from a mouth of fire...

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