Long Oleanders Poems

Sonnets LII-LX

The Endeavors of Lips
by Michael R. Burch

How sweet the endeavors of lips: to speak
of the heights of those pleasures which left us weak
in love’s strangely lit beds, where the cold springs creak:
for there is...

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A Vain Word
by Michael R. Burch

Oleanders at dawn preen extravagant whorls
as I read in leaves’ Sanskrit brief moments remaining
till sunset implodes, till the moon strands grey pearls
under moss-stubbled oaks, full of whispers, complaining
to the darkening...

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A Vain Word
by Michael R. Burch
 
Oleanders at dawn preen extravagant whorls
as I read in leaves’ Sanskrit brief moments remaining
till sunset implodes, till the moon strands grey pearls
under moss-stubbled oaks, full of whispers, complaining
to the...

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In A Suburban Paradise

I was to spend hours on my bed 
writing short stories in 1967;
with my left leg dangling over the left side, 
I sat on the right leg,
like I was some nosy bird...

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Did You Learn Anything?

Go ahead.
Put your shoes on.
Walk outside and face the nervous day.
Know that your lungs will not resist you.
Know that your heart will still stir.
Put the key in the ignition.
Now turn the crank.

You...

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1956 Newport to Bermuda Race

In June, 89 sailboats at midday
Left Newport and Narragansett Bay.

We're on the way in a 635 mile race
To Bermuda - a beautiful place.

Light winds on the first day out
Even sighted a...

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Catholic

Stern but saintly Father Meissen 
scolded the parents for not having 
their baby boy baptized sooner. 
It was April, 1952,
inside the stained-glassed catholic church,
ensconced on sun-split Newlin street, 
avenue of pink oleanders and cracking sidewalks.
According...

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Hedwig


Her house, a memory lane of sacred spaces:
the cobwebbed attic travel trunks, 
high heeled shoes, pink taffeta gowns, 
skirts that open into spinning parasols, 
cool musty wine cellars lined with dusty bulbs 
and oak barrels,...

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My Journal ~ September 04 / September 06 ~ 2010


A Trip To Belize 

DAY 1

I travel the winding roads of euphony upon the hummingbird highway 
the ancient forests stand proud pulling every dream from with...

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Hey, I’m Over Here!

Hey!  I’m over here!
‘Case you were wondering if I was okay, I am.
I have no friends now so no one is checking up on me,
And I’m fine with not having friends...

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Closed the door…
locked it tight
For the final time 
and then no more…
Gazed all about
At the yard…
The flowers…
Where I spent 
So many happy hours
and now would spend
no more

The Oleanders 
at driveways end
Lantanas blooming
Now as then
Our yellow...

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The sunniest island,
with its Sea Stacks standing out
of the Tyrrhenian Sea,
shimmers as sailboats glide
in timeless serenity...
Paradise's duplication in man's heart.


Winter brings no drifts of snow,
only mild breezes from Sicily,
and the tourist is always on the...

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The Bermuda Race


Don't sail the Rum Line lads

To that beautiful isle is quite bad.

600 miles heading just South South East

Is not the way to tame the beast.

A straight course sailors say:

"You can't win that way."

Newport...

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on tree limbs jutting out over rivers
sleepy gators bask, absorbing summer’s heat
in fall, the sluggish reptiles do the same
temperatures exceed 100 in the Sunshine State
till November brings a brief reprieve

water lilies, oleanders, daisies
boast vibrant blooms...

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he wants to take it all away,
but how much?
how far away?
he wants to unwind the oleanders in her hair,
to kiss the scratches beauty left behind.
to awaken the baby blues,
from their slumber behind velvet curtains.
and here...

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The maidens face, fair and pure
The Devils will, sinister and obscure

She runs gracefully among the oleanders through the glade
Deep below, evil lurks, above light begins to fade

Darkness stretches across the land, spurring the young lady’s...

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This is for you big guy 
somewhere way up 
in that beautiful sky  
sweet oleanders danced 
the universe collided 
sweeping you throughout 
this grand galaxy soaring 
the wide open granduer
finding me writing 
my muse...

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Eating ice cream outside
on a beautiful spring day
The dog sits at my feet
waiting to lick the bowl
A cat gently washes himself
under a nearby chair
Birds flying above
chirp joyfully to one another
An infant cries
from an apartment across...

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