Long Opted 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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Juvenilia: Early Poems VI



An Illusion
by Michael R. Burch

The sky was as hushed as the breath of a bee
and the world was bathed in shades of palest gold
when I awoke.

She came to me with the sound...

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Back Door Side Door Front Door : Which door might a Confucian take
 
..................for René ETIEMBLE (Jan. 26, 1909 – Jan. 7, 2002)*

In homage - dedicated to the Chair Professor of Comparative Literature
.................at the prestigious...

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I stood at the top of our dirt driveway looking back at our two-story house. It's kind of a long house where, from our second-floor windows, you can see cars driving on the lane road...

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June 12th 2017 TRANSITION revisited and revised today 4/2/2021

While scrolling over outdated docs
(i.e. namely OpenOffice documents)
derrière seated upon hard backed chair,
yours truly came upon following poem
to share with anonymous readers,
whereby slight modifications 
got made to...

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Unquotable quotes: Paris, the last week of the August reprieve – XXXV Part Two
                 II

The first signs reek tell-tale
Buffer-to-buffer...

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Invisibly tortured courtesy existential nihilism

Psyche wracked with agony
impossible mission to extricate lovely bones
they wanna remain permanently abed.

I chiefly function to amass knowledge
courtesy assiduously, habitually,
and judiciously reading
an eclectic assortment of written material.

Yours truly woke
with ambition, disposition,
inclination,...

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Did I hear that wrong?

On my way for another appointment
with the vampire bleeding Quest,
big stage conversations on the radio
travel way too fast
for me to stay tuned in
to our nesty mess
at my normal liberal-conserving pace.

A single...

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Groundhog day 2024 or Forty one days since 2023 Winter Solstice

Rather than be a day late
and dollar short, I opted   
to post poem acknowledging
the second of February,
where eponymous groundhog
gets his (most often male)
foretelling...

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RESURRECTION OF A HEROE:
This is ANDERSON WALKINGSHOES... 
CHORUS:
Far from comparison, far from fear.
Failure part of the journey; shed no tears.
Man...do... the best you can do.
Talents in your hand's only for you. 
No body cares...what you...

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Chief garbage taster as fifth grade Halloween gag
at Henry Kline Boyer Elementary School
interestingly enough landed me a grubhub grab bag.

I rooted thru poetry anthology of mine,
and came across an unpublished poem
by one obscure poet (me),...

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A trunkful of recyclables patiently awaits,

(and cries out long day's journey into night,
no...not for Eugene O'Neill),
but rather being distributed
in their respective bins at Wegmans
Under the Elms

Dressed up in our Sunday finery,
(which attire frankly looks no...

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Sipping cherry limeade, driving in the car parade, 
we're cruising in the Lone Star state.
Didn't want a bucket seat; the thing it couldn't beat, 
was sitting up close to your date.
One hand on the wheel...

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INSPIRED BY CHARACTER OF CLARISSA DALLAOWAY IN VIRGINIA WOOLFE'S STREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESS NOVEL "MRS. DALLAOWAY"



                    ...

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                Interview with an Angel

After a long surgery brewed in urgency,
I lie supine with the body pining with fury
With eyelids...

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Darius was the Medo-Persian king,
Which means he was in charge of everything.
One hundred twenty satraps gave account,
So he would have an up-to-date amount;
All this so that he might not suffer loss.

‘Since that’s a lot of...

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HER ULTERIOR MOTIVE :
This Is ANDERSON WALKINGSHOES.... 
VERSE 1:
This is ANDERSON WALKINGSHOES... 
"Raise your head up to the sky...
Something is coming from high",
She said that as she sighed.
Of course, I didn't oppose as I did.
Unfortunately...

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“There is no loyalty greater than the love of a loyal dog.” By Author
**************************************************************

                     ...

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You showed shock and dismay when I said....maybe my 50th is when it would happen. I couldn't deal with aging. I couldn't deal with death, yet again. I said how I would plan it...not to...

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• By daniel miltz •


You're not born with cool, you've got to find it. A leather jacket that fits like a glove knows it. Cool is an act. Cool is by learning to stand out...

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Ambiguity and Ambivalence in the THIRUKKURAL: Canto 4, K35, a random example

alukkaa ravaavekuli yinnaacchon naangku
milukkaa viyanra tharam (unrefined, given in the original state of  
         ...

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Our bank accounts nearly emptied so we could afford a vacation; two young working girls who'd never been far from home. We were looking forward to finding love on a romantic tropical island. Maybe someone...

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July first 2023 will celebrate...
our sixth anniversary at Highland Manor Apartments
	
Subtitled: The perspective of one festive folky fellow
friendliness ofttimes prompts me 
when crossing paths with another to say “hello,”
whose demeanor trends toward being mellow
courtesy about...

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Many passions I have had
and many I have practiced long and hard.,
but it was not until mid-life, I opted for a hobby more artistic.
I got myself a new guitar with books to teach myself the...

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Innocent Love
The 10th grade-I was hurt, had a lot of pain I wore, thought that everyone could see it on my shirt, I felt incomplete, tried to be neat and do all the things I...

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