Long Oscar Poems

Dad hit me only once, an upper cut to the solar plexus. It nearly lifted me off my feet. I was 17 then and already fairly tall, 6’1.” He was 48 and of medium height,...

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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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Epigrams

Autumn Conundrum
by Michael R. Burch

It’s not that every leaf must finally fall,
it’s just that we can never catch them all.

Piercing the Shell
by Michael R. Burch

If we strip away all the accouterments of war,
perhaps we'll discover...

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Look up in the sky ! It’s a bird ! It’s a plane.
It’s Superman !
More powerful than a locomotive, faster than a speeding bullet, able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. This fearless...

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This situation has no basis in reality; in fact, it is ludicrously unreal. However, the likes and dislikes shown of its author are completely true!

Scene: A comfortable office where Andrea Dietrich is finishing up with...

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The Picture of Dorian Gray: Paint Me As An Event
The Picture of Dorian Gray, a decent fanciful novel by Irish writer Oscar Wilde, published in 1890. The novel, the only one written by Wilde, had...

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The Dance of Salome
Herod bellowed out the night's festive orders..
"Bring the torches, bring the tables..
more wine, that we may rejoice,  
for tonight we revel in kindred friendship."
Herod strolled onto the terrace, nearly stumbled in...

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May 29, 1957: …have to think about getting a thesis director…know no professor yet in the department…someone suggested i get hold of Derek Fogg for an intro to the big guns in the philosophisches Seminar…can't...

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“22½ euros for a Martini,” Peter remarked, when he first scanned the menu.
“It’s not like we aren’t going to get them,” I said, “we’re not going to cheap our way to abstinence." The waiter came...

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(Pentagon E-ring office—executive officer knocks & enters—General motions him in)

XO,
Explain
examinees...

                         ...

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1.    John Desmond Patrick Keegan
2.    Alfred, Lord Tennyson 
3.    Sally Aline Mae Beller
4.    Charles Edward A. Berry
5.    Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce...

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Two old friends
(who haven’t seen each other
in quite some time)
running into each other on the 
corner of Linwood and Clairmount
— A Detroit westside encounter


Man, it’s good seeing you Joe,
how is ...

Aw, Moms doing just fine....

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Everybody got a Hollywood life story
to tell
More meat on the bone
give juicier bites 
to sell
Nobody ever turns in a tarnished silver screenplay
Those warts and mistakes
get Photoshop casting couch edited away
Baby Jane rude attitude don’t make...

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LITTLE. ARIANNA 

                                ...

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THE LEMON TYPE GARDEN

The Players. (in order of appearance) 

Freddie Fastfoot (The Rabbit)
Felicity Flutterby. (The Butterfly)
Joshua Jumpahop (The Grasshopper)
Chloe Crafteneye (The Fox)
Benjamin Buzzenbee (The Bumble Bee)
Oscar Oakenut (The Squirrel) 
Molly Maggenprop (The Magpie)
Christopher Croakalot (The...

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Poems about Poets



Long Division
by Michael R. Burch

for Laura Riding Jackson

All things become one
Through death’s long division
And perfect precision.



Nod to the Master
by Michael R. Burch

If every witty thing that’s said were true,
Oscar Wilde, the world would...

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I placed my head between my knees to have a good look at the trees beneath me; I held it there for some time and found that nature was divine.

I saw the seeds springing from...

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...Give him a handful of seconds
and his turbocharged cyborg mind
could know what a man would do next,
and it happened time after time.

Carson chose to have fun with this,
he signed up to do some boxing,
read their...

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Just now I took a minute to myself
reflecting it's going well
re-step well if I'm a belt
I'm holding up but my former self
in stealth hiding in my shadow so now I'm mystealth
a worn version like an...

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Is there no place for us ? 
In this world of work and fuss ?
We came to fulfil our dreams
Leaving our noble motherland with goodbye tear streams 
We are prisoners of a dark dank cell...

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I can’t count the wrongs I’ve committed
The people I’ve hurt
The friends I’ve lost, but, the hardest part was losing 
You 
The only one I could see myself with
Even now 
Especially since you’re gone

Oscar Wilde once...

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I love the way the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences let Will Smith sit there, for 40 minutes, preening in the front row, in plain sight, after he assaulted a black man at...

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For Jack so loved the whisky
That he spent all his hard earned money
Buzzing like a bee, in a hive full of honey
Painting the town red, every club, pub and bar
Mingling among strangers, feeling like a...

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Joe Cocker: Born: 1944-05-20 - Died: 2014-12-22
A Woodstock discover
While singing a cover
With a Little Help from My Friends
And it was a shocker
To find that Joe Cocker
Gravelly voice finally ends

Ken Weatherwax: Born 1955-9-29Died:2014-12-7
Pugsley Adams was my...

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I am Emmett Till. 
I was beaten to death, so how dare you go through everyday life complaining that it's "pure hell". 
I'd rather be locked up in a jail cell. 
Or sitting in a...

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