Long Novelties Poems

Epigrams by Michael R. Burch

If brevity is the soul of wit
then brevity and levity 
are the whole of it.
—Michael R. Burch

To write an epigram, cram.
If you lack wit, scram!
—Michael R. Burch

Conformists of a feather
flock together.
—Michael...

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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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Such Tenderness
by Michael R. Burch

for the mothers of Gaza

There was, in your touch, such tenderness—as
only the dove on her mildest day has,
when she shelters downed fledglings beneath a warm wing
and coos to them softly, unable...

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Mahmoud Darwish English Translations of Arabic Poems



Palestine
by Mahmoud Darwish
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

This land gives us
all that makes life worthwhile:
April's blushing advances,
the aroma of bread warming at dawn,
a woman haranguing men,
the poetry of Aeschylus,
love's...

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Every year someone is always expressing
that Christmas is imperialist, and oppressing
people not of the Christian faith,
That it’s unfairly taken Soltice’s place,
that the historical Jesus was not born
in the last months per Holiday norms,
say ‘Merry Christmas,’...

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Eleven – “Novelism: The-Newness-of-the-Old”
(for: Deborah Guzzi, my poetess-commentator)
… & the argument continues
… That nothing new exists of itself in Nature is now a widely reputed view. Nothing is new
but for the very thought of its...

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1/16/21


Pure silence or the sound of wind chimes
Willing to do anything to save their own hides
People still committing horrific crimes
During low and high tide
It's been one hell of a roller coaster ride
A whirlwind inside my...

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Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear.
By Stanley Russell Harris
The new mad author

Ho, ho, ho, the Christmas vandals have struck.
Where you might well ask?
Felixstowe,at the beach huts.
Three times now, those blinking vandals.
Have struck at my beach...

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I dwell on virgin moments lightly spent
beyond the lips of verdant fairy glens
A grand invincibility was mine
and life, ah life, the sweetest purest wine.

I danced on dainty rings of dryad saddles,
I fought and died in...

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N O T   F O R   C O N T E S T   -   G I S T   V E R I F I E...

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NOVELTIES
by Thomas Campion
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Booksellers laud authors for novel editions
as pimps praise their whores for exotic positions.

This is my translation of a Latin epigram by the English poet Thomas Campion. In Campion’s...

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One of my relatives, at my mom’s funeral viewing, I can’t remember who
Told me, in a feeble yet vivid voice, how my life will be much easier
Now that my mom is gone and that I...

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"Life is an expedition to unknown territories. Adverse winds may veer round and the calm may be disrupted any time, but don't lose hope and pull on" ~ By Poet

Leaving the sheltered confines of the...

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Memories of the past still remind me so far,
especially those days when I was in college;
my membership in a number of organizations,
a learning experience, filled with laughter.
Each year to celebrate our college fair,
different motifs, booths,...

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When the mama doesn't cry
She smiles and kisses her child goodbye,
I see the tears behind her  eyes,
Sparkling like sunshine:
"Baby..come back soon"
She says,
But her baby was gone.

Baby Jane had left the world
Hung like the mobile...

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sporting a colorful chemise
a camera and a valise
temptations so easily tease
roaming as free as honeybees
tourists hear beckonings as pleas
and capture beauty with much ease

tiny things no bigger than peas
or vast expanse of deep blue seas
weeping...

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So many years ago but some memories just don't fade.
This wondrous island I lived on is an adventure I'd not trade.
To see things now like I did then through wide and awe-swept eyes
would make me...

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It is written in the Constitution,
to even qualify as a small town,
you need to have a drive-in ice cream place,
you can trust me, Madison wrote that down!

They become our favorite gathering spots
when the snow melts...

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I’ve always wondered why people enjoy sunsets more than sunrises, I thinks it’s the same way people prefer the novelties of life, I reference myself to sunsets, I’m beautiful when gone and I shine the...

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narrative

Precious novelties, rare and unimpaired
reminder of events I'd love to share.
Recalling special trinkets in a hutch
for display only, labeled "Do Not Touch".

Awaiting finding of a misplaced key,
a new piece tempted curiosity.
Too precious to ignore, my...

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Time’s masters, tamers of Nature;
Hunters upon deserts and rocky plains;
Enemies of failure and all the detractors of human stature;

United States; a united people;
Novelties of age but veterans of success,
Inclined to abolish depravities that cripple
The sons...

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Bury my heart in trivia. 
Keep my mind stuck in minutia.
The dam internet's a sham, 
designed to drive man, 
off the road into distraction. 

Keep me from knowing what is right, 
directed by detours to...

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Alas poor consciousness, I knew thee well.
You of a wonderful nature-
Of passion and fury,
You of desperate desires-
Of anguish and ecstasy.
What has become of you?
Have you lost your fire-
That incarnadine glow from within?
Though it was certain...

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Oh Moonbeam
As your diaphanous folds  envelop my  face …


A singing wind heralds your arrival
Trees swaying in time with her tempo
Leaves the instruments of natures symphony
Rustle in time with earths choir …


My Grey negative...

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Two societies, two cultures, two ways, two worlds, 
But the same mechanisms, glares, shuns and goals; 
No-one knew the other, but the church had words, 
For the special disabled school to adjust their bowls. 

No...

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