Long Orchard Poems

Fahr an' Ice
by Michael R. Burch

From what I know of death, I'll side with those
who'd like to have a say in how it goes:
just make mine cool, cool rocks (twice drowned in likker),
and real fahr...

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Lozenge
by Michael R. Burch

When I was closest to love, it did not seem
real at all, but a thing of such tenuous sweetness
it might dissolve in my mouth
like a lozenge of sugar.

When I held you in...

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There was a little wind fairy who lived in a meadow near a small town, her name was Estella. Estella had beautiful blue hair like the sky, so her friends called her the little blue...

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Young Timmy saw Jim walking down the street.  Timmy considered a quick retreat, but steadied himself with a shrug.  Timmy dreaded the sight of Jim, a teenage bully and wanna be thug, who...

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The Call

For as long as I can remember, I have been phoning my mom. Even before leaving home when I was a teenager. Whenever I had good or bad news, it was just natural for...

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“Upon Waking”


Slumber has its upsides 
while the outside runs around
like a split fowlyard, 
cacophonous 
pecking at each other 
and at the ground…

Elsewhere, 

like dull background noise
through the fog of dream 
the sound of the gamble...

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The ride to the country is uneventful
Except that I feel a little like
A man riding inside a cannon ball.
Yuliya's father Igor drives
I'm also up front (the honored guest)       ...

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We came not for conquest,
but for containment—
though conquest is what happens
when containment itches beneath the skin
like sulfur spores in a sealed lung.

They had the secret.
Not gold, not weapons, not prophecy—
but language that healed.
Real language—
not poetry,...

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Last night,
when laid i my head to rest,
dreamt i a dream
dreadful;
I wept,though i was a deep in sleep,
I saw a baobab tree with three branches,
on it lays the colony of three birds of the 
air,
of...

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Sweet Centerless Sixteen
by Michael R. Burch

Inconsolable as “love” had left your heart,
you woke this morning eager to pursue
warm lips again, or something “really cool”
on which to press your lips and leave their mark.

As breath upon...

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Well, it all started when
Jim Beam bet Jack Daniels
that Captain Morgan
couldn't go out
and get himself
some Wild Turkey.
Old Fashioned, like Old Granddad,
Captain Morgan like some of you,
really enjoys his Southern Comfort.
But mostly in the form of...

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Welcome to Bridal Veil.
The beauty is beyond compare.
As you walk down the peaceful trail, 
Strange whispers might fill the air,
of Maswein, the magician forgotten tale.
O' the lore and truths, it begs to share.
May this humble...

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seasons keep m o v i n g 
 and s w i r l i n g
memories keep f l o w i n g 
and s h i f t i n g
through...

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(Lemuria: A hypothetical "lost land" variously located in the Indian and Pacific Oceans.)
***********************************

The Tale Of Lemuria, Master Poe, Pen And I

Its birth a shake of Neptune's golden trident
Its glow a diamond glitter on the moon
As...

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Dear Mother, 

Happy Birthday, Mom. 
All your children are here today..
to celebrate your exemplary life! 
What a turbulent but amazing journey it was, Mommy! 

You grew up in a beautiful lush tea-garden,
entwined by luxuriant greenery, foliage and flowers, 
on top of...

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"Painting is silent poetry and poetry is painting that speaks" _ Greek philosopher, Plutarch

O hearts  that breathe with nature breath! 
O eyes that dipped in heaven's wine! 
O souls in world of pain who...

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Becoming, a translation from Rabindranath Tagore,
Still, halfhearted I see, for a blossoming may
I am an audacity, yet underneath in serenity, oddity
I shall be someday, grandiose, someone
I shall be, some day, like my father
My sibling, if...

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A LETTER TO MOM 1918
by
JOHN M. ARRIBAS


At Last Dear Mother, this Nightmare Will Cease
In a Few Short Hours There Will Be Lasting Peace
A  Full Armistice Will Go into Effect at Eleven
I Loathe These Soiled...

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The old rusty gate opens to 
                            ...

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Last night I had a dream, 
                            ...

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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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  On white lines on valiant wheels
I head north leaving behind the City of Sails
       with its humourless streets,
    its casino steel and glass Sky...

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Judy Leigh was addicted with a food fixation.
Gorging on fruit, veggies, and any crustacean.
She wanted to stop and yelled, "Damnation!
My overeating is causing me such frustration!"

While grudgingly doing her morning chores,
Judy acquired the bad habit...

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I was an experienced interior designer, whose specialty was outer doors,
Ever opening to amber sunshine, as petals open, when vivid beams pour.

Functionality and beauty were very vital, so I helped customers each day,
To choose materials,...

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“The teacher who is indeed wise does not bid you to enter the house of his wisdom but rather leads you to the threshold of your mind” Kahlil Gibran.  

I remember being lost, 
...

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