Long Onyx Poems

Lady’s Favor
by Michael R. Burch

May
spring
fling
her riotous petals
devil-
may-care
into the air,
ignoring the lethal
nettles
and may
May
cry gleeful-
ly Hooray!
as the abundance
settles,
till a sudden June
swoon
leave us out of tune,
torn,
when the last rose is left
inconsolably bereft,
rudely shorn
of every device but her thorn.


The...

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Winter
by Michael R. Burch

The rose of love's bright promise
lies torn by her own thorn;
her scent was sweet
but at her feet
the pallid aphids mourn.

The lilac of devotion
has felt the winter hoar
and shed her dress;
companionless,
she shivers—nude, forlorn.

Published...

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These are translations of some of the oldest Japanese waka, which evolved into tanka, renga and haiku. 

While you decline to cry,
high on the mountainside
a single stalk of plumegrass wilts.
—O no Yasumaro (circa 711), translation...

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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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LOVE POEMS V

These are love poems by Michael R. Burch, about life, the dream of love, virtue, a first kiss, a first crush, the birth of a first relationship, the joy of a first love...

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Dream-worker 
delves deeply into my dream;

vibrations fondle anticipation
foreplay wakes wide-eyed 
swells of liquid libido quake the rendezvous edge -
a primordial being in his prime
a masculine ego quest for affaire d’amour;
her night-loving body 
c h a...

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Twice the night had fallen upon a sleepless slumber,
Yet again awoken by winter when the third was three in number.

I sense that a silence doth sneak ‘tween cracks of weathered wood,
Conniving with that which shadows...

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"Heart"  

Deep fissures formed
in the cracks of 
the nowhere place
where time leeched
bleeding claret 
through the green 
veined blues

protean bit by bit
the flesh disappears
prematurely 6ft under
mulch for rebirth
the subcontinent
conscientious conscience 
inward reaching

the divine central tableau...

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Forever is only a moment lost without champion the cause Anderson mister burnette blossom barachatta Barbara Streisand globally Hussein ghost minnows shady lane candles blue stay real vanderbuilts vaults of favored few points topless blunt...

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(oh, mercy ... )

amazing eye whites,
perfect and pure as glacial ice -
they draw me in,
like diving into a clear Caribbean lagoon,
fluid and cool ...
brown iris so dark in contrast,
that they're lost in the inky black...

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"The Monochrome Echo Chamber"




How many Roads
to "IT"
Black 
as Black & White? 
or Unicorns and Rainbows?

Unitarian 1 and only 1 
Trinitarian 3 exist in 1 
An answer 
arrives 
unheralded 

Reversed in Time
Something 
has lit the fuse
Something...

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Beneath the pall of an eldritch moon, 
                           ...

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There was once a widow who had nothing but her beloved twin babies, Rosemary, and Ethan. The Widow loved her twins more than the Earth loved the Sun, and vowed to give them anything they...

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Your time worn hand rests on my shoulder
A gentle firm touch
Ancient fingers stretching awake
And for that moment in time, I receive you
My body marinates in your history,
Delicacies, trauma, and wisdom

I sense you riding within my...

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The heavens shimmer 
as billowy linen-white gossamer clouds slip away, as soft blossoms open for the sun.

Mystical wings of Eden brush sunset colors; 
caress the rose petal; touch the lustrous cream bisque glossed onto an...

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I lived on a rolling green farm, and I had a love of astronomy;
And peered at skies of sleepless nighttime, so vast and starry.

It had for long been my hobby, and I had a powerful...

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I believed in fitness and healthy living, including obtaining sufficient sleep,
To revel for years in buttery sunshine, which makes emerald willows weep.

I consumed only healthier foods, including plenty of fruits and vegetables,
As the glassy, black...

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It was jazzy June and green butterflies, filled the air with magic.
Then butterscotch days were long, until the purple sunset panic.

Sunny June, when music festivals, were staged in shady parks;
While in treetops purple martins, warbled...

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*** How Lady Learned at Last ***

For decades, Lady daydreamed, wanting a full closet,
A packed, complete fashionable style:
Shoes to hats, to crown the French Bob
Of shinny, brunnette tresses above her hazel eyes.

There’d be gauzy blouses...

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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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When silver waves of crystalline crescent
     emanate rhapsodies glazed in
        Jupiter light.. reflections
       of bejeweled June comes 
...

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I'm the roving reporter on the move again
(despite having a cold I had to take the children to gymnastics and because I'm disorganised I'm crossing several lanes of traffic on foot whilst they are in...

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To my life that betrayed the butterflies~
          within my chrysalis mind, 
forgive my flawed dialect, 
I no longer look upon sakura skies,
awaiting a ray of fluffy...

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I dwelt on a forest green, productive farm, in fruitfulness of golden autumn,
Where ragged scarecrows waved gladly, beneath turquoise skies, and plum.

Ours was the latest generation of farmers, like hued skies of late afternoon,
In their...

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Eroticism -
             a supple spine in a wanting curve
       and a foolish fever simmers a scarlet heartbeat...

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