Long Out of commission Poems

“Son”...”say goodnight to grandpa”

Spurred by mother dearest 
as well as other politesse
drummed into her second born
fobbing blandishments as incentive
tumbled off fingers of prodigal son
tripped wordsmith to splutter forth
forthwith the following lines.

Back in the day 
quaint...

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World War II Poems and Holocaust Poems - VI - Chaim Nachman Bialik, Erich Fried

After My Death
by Chaim Nachman Bialik
translation by Michael R. Burch

Say this when you eulogize me: 
Here was a man—now, poof, he's...

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With my Uyghur poetry translations I am trying to build awareness of the plight of Uyghur poets who are being sent to Chinese "reeducation" concentration camps.

Elegy
by Perhat Tursun
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Asylum seekers, will...

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NAME: Phil Latio.

QUALIFICATIONS: LLB (Law) PhD (Medicine) & FSC (Federation Starfleet    
                    ...

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In the dark of night a wind took hold,
With powers charged to shake the sky,
By moody swings of gods up high,
Their breath alone enraged and bold.

In the dark of night history spoke,
Of a world alive...

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“The Splice of Life”



When colour 
was to be 
washed out
of the world 

the evil ones 
didn’t care

the Actor led 
with his 
Dementors 
either side of him

Laundry, 

they resolved 
to be the best 
pristine method 
for...

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“He fought often and once bled in the cause of freedom, but his habits of War did not lessen in him the peaceful virtues which adorn his private life.”  Doctor Benjamin Rush, signer of...

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It's weird
and sometimes wild
living with a non-LeftBrain verbal dominant
aspiring child,
now young adult

I find myself waiting for him
to nonverbally connect
and correct me
about my patriarchal domineering
economic and political ableist sins
of felt omission from commercial value
and, perhaps worse,
my...

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MORNING DEVOTION

Heavenly Father:

I lift up travelers to You. 

I pray for peace for Jerusalem and safety for Israel. I pray that between one and all of Her children would come to a saving knowledge of...

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I stumbled over Paul Tillich's translation
of the MessiahMentor's Other Great Commission.

The Great Commission we learned in Sunday School
was to go out and convert the barbarians
and savages to Christianity.

Yet this Other Great Commission feels like a...

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I was skimming Friday's paper as I waited for my barber to put the finishing touches on a customer he he was pruning,
Glancing up occasionally at the Mohawk-headed dropout who'd wandered in from off the...

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When asked
by my nephew
for an essential reading list
for PermaCultural Therapeutic Design,
my Taoist thoughts went back
to Unitarian-Universalist
Yin/Yang pre-history,
when Earth produced a theologian,
Dr. Thomas Starr King (1824-1864)
reaching out for non-violent dialogue
across all global healing cultures.

This 1800s Dr....

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The Square Root of Beiruit 
 
Ten men bending while theyre pretending to be near the ending
A capitalist nightmare glares like rotten fruit
The squate root of Beiruit
No it isn’t fair, so they’ll start to loot
 
The soldiers are...

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Landlord-Tenant Relationship Protection: Available Help Hot-Lines!

Greetings everyone and I pray that each of you will overcome this coronavirus pandemic, which has impacted many communities in various ways. The Census Bureau assessment paints an image that's...

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The crime is snowed over, Translation of Pierre Emmanuel’s  Il neige sur le crime

Are we buried under snow holding our silence
in what immense Cimmerian (collision) of terror ?
The mouth kept open in the shriek...

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today i will wander to the brothel
those divine friends of Jesus
where i will intercourse
with the ladies in my growing Spanish
write some lines to ponder
while they wash clothes and bathe
i the balneologist with the brandy
we watch...

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Ever wonder where big ideas come from?

Memories of FDR
from newsreel clips -
a lion-headed striking man
with rakish grin,
jaw jutting proudly, 
signature cigarette holder
clenched in his teeth
tilted ever upward...
soaring to the heavens
as he cruises by
waving to admirers
in...

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We turned off before reaching Kings Lynn and headed down a road that would take us to Henderson Aerodrome a local flying school, we were waved through the main gate and headed onto the main...

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"Exegesis"



At 7 he was 
thrown to the wolves

Bede marked his territory
hidden secrets 
kept in the abbey

he escaped
went to war
where the unwanted trod

First regiment,
Vietnam
he took with him
like a comfort blanket
his Nicene creed and God

and on returning...

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The finis sing touches touché

Knead dull brows knitted; 
belief system I cogitate 
gearing thee ordinary bipedal hominid 
acquiesces to deck the halls 
of the mountain (dew) king with boughs 
of sister golden haired 
sprinkling angel...

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Passion in waves, intense they pummel

Rolling me over & over & over.

Crushed. Help me grow; 

Go on, depart, now - a head start

With all this crap stuck in these spokes

Might slow me down, but watch...

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Your voice kisses the breath of the morning wind
Snapping in the solemnity that bears a cry unto God.
Angels have come to earth; that in slumber seemed,
Like the wind creaking among the faith we once had.

Life...

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Simulations and Symphonies

Discussing life inside a simulation
Amalgamating strife with signs of humiliation
Confronting life with positive configurations
An enchanting wife that doesn’t need invitations

Caring for what others naturally overlook
A watchful parent, a well written book 
Beauty that...

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Mama – Translation of Kevin Gilbert’s « Mum » by T. Wignesan

Kevin Gilbert (July 10, 1933 – April 1, 1993) - father of Irish-English ancestry, mother an aboriginal from New South Wales - was orphaned...

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Dear SafeLink Customer,
(one of the many recipients includes me).

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced that the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) is ending, and April 2024 will be the last fully funded month for your benefits...

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