Long Odors Poems

I love you only because I love you
by Pablo Neruda
loose translation by Michael R. Burch

I love you only because I love you;
I am torn between loving and not loving you,
Between apathy and desire.
My heart vacillates...

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Sonnet LXXXI-LXXXIX

Day, and Night
by Michael R. Burch

The moon exposes pockmarked scars of craters;
her visage, veiled by willows, palely looms.
And we who rise each day to grind a living,
dream each scented night of such perfumes
as drew...

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Every Day You Play
by Pablo Neruda
loose translation by Michael R. Burch

Every day you play with Infinity’s rays.
Exquisite visitor, you arrive with the flowers and the water.
You are vastly more than this immaculate head I clasp...

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I heard two distinct voices in the night,
Conversing amongst themselves most eagerly
They whispered like children in excitement
Their sardonic mouths sung many savvy tunes
It was Death I could perceive, defending me,
And he, a strange, distant friend
Seemed...

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There "he" stood in front of me, the deep forest behind him framing
His ancient face like an emerald halo, the growing dark of dusk getting
Deeper by the moment. He was no more than two-and-a-half feet...

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??Isaiah 63:11-12 KJVAAE??
[11] Then he remembered the days of old, Moses, and his people, saying, Where is he that brought them up out of the sea with the shepherd of his flock? where is he...

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My parenting totem
was the Hawk
of bicamerally perfect egocentric vision
usually greeted by a loud Yang squawk
and vigorous walk
in the other wrong direction.

My WiseElder totem
is the Turkey,
CoMessiah of CoRedemptive Dying
as notnot loving EarthTribe's future lives.

At eight,
my totem...

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The structure is imposing, massive and fearful.  Built in 1862 as a jail and
gallows for the worst of humanity.  "Living"  conditions were sickening and
appalling.  The top floor was reserved for death-row...

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Death Comes

All arguments and denials were fruitless;
The deceased fell prey to the Master Thief.

The “One” whose icy-cold touch is . . .
Just Too Cold to Resist! . . . They Say!

No worries though . ....

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Inside A ‘72 Econoline

This old green van has a musty smell to it,
Like a pair of sweaty rancid socks
Mixed with half-empty beer cans.
It’s a banged up thing, this ’72 Econoline.
Scratches and mysterious dents 
Cover its...

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""AH, but their anger is not a small thing
Where their fury demands its own fullness
They stink of pain and death, long blacken wings"
Their tormenting stings pure hell nothing less."" -- RJL  quote-1973


See all
In Greek...

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1. Ripples in warm sunbeams dwell.
From a sandy cocoon I wake and stir.
A floater in the blue does knell,
A dot, a stain, a blackened blur.
Am I the only one who sees?
No, the beach is afoot...

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My uncle's farm lay nestled in the central Wisconsin hills
A beautiful location sure to cure this city boy's ills
So imagine my delight when invited to stay a week
During summer vacation, this was certain to be...

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A quarter, a dime, a nickel or the lowly penny once dropped from a careless hand was never safe from the prying eyes of the Miser. The wig-tips shoes in “Old Man “ style with...

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Only a moment had passed as he stood in the street before a familiar head appeared through the doorway, Lumi, called softly to him,
     “Come inside, quickly,” he said.
The Man’s stone...

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Texture is nature's and life's universal adornment.
Texture titillates and tantalises the senses,
adorning the smooth, flat and boring
with bumps, context, meaning, dimensions and grip.

See me, hear me, touch me, smell me, taste me -
all get embellished...

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FIRST, THERE'S A NEED 
“We have a lot of dust in the house. Where does it come from?
How do we prevent that?”

THE IDEA OR THOUGHT OR REMEDY
The idea or thought or remedy was seen or...

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Cursed With These Black Midnights And That Sinister Call

Past midnight, gloomy sky and red flailing moon begged to fall
A dark figure stared upward chanting curses at my home
No sleep tonight for great evil sought my...

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Start
The other day I heard my friend was sad.
I met him to ask him about the reason
but, he was upset and his mood was very bad.
So I had to confine my conversation to the season
and...

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Words and words and more words.
Talking and talking, all talking,
to be convinced for the untrue. 
Air blown by people, 
creating breezes and winds, 
social winds that is, even storms,
but you have a life to live,...

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It's being used here for emphasis
denaturing and altering
the structure of germy surfaces.
Anti bacterium was created from
the need to both
clean and eliminate funk
and bacteria.
Vegetative Forms of bacteria can be
cleaned with alcohols. But have no affect on...

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My suffering knows no measure
                   My brother pained me from the start.
     ...

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Georgie

His was a pudgy boyish countenance,
With rounded river eyes and an Alfalfa smile.
He wheezed like a sick tern with repeated asthma attacks, 
Playing hard at the various outdoor games and chases,
Of our fleeting childhood years...

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My heart will always be expecting good times 
many hearts expect good times
their future lies in expectation of positive futures
there is no substance to save the soul when expectation dies
There are reasons for the break...

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You know not why you're now here, 
just that you are bound by fear- 
(and a couple incised wires) 
watching me, enticed with pliers. 
Naked, cold, taught, and crying, 
you can't move, although you're trying. 
All stretched out, upon your stomach, 
odors...

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