Long Oversight 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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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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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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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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I know I promised
 no more ‘Make you Cry Poems’
I said I'd never write another 
‘Wipe your eye poem’

 And for three years 
I tried not to retract, 
but after so many tears 
I have...

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Continued from
‘CATONITA STRIKES - PART ONE’
A Freezer Mice adventure


When no-one was around they did the finger-clicking thing
And grew to human size in time for what the day might bring
Their guns were charged and ready and...

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Feminist ecotherapists,
deeply immersed in polycultural ecology,
a systematic teleology of cooperative nutrition economics,
remain rarely flushed out from their safe spots.

A self-isolating,
often eremitic,
subspecies,
with shamanic nature-as-spirit tendencies,
our most articulate mentors often wander off
to pray for,
breathe and suffer and...

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This is my translation of Rainer Maria Rilke's second elegy from his Duino Elegies, which he began composing at Duino Castle in 1912. 

Second Elegy
by Rainer Maria Rilke
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch 

Every angel...

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Hannah, could never remember a time when she wasn’t ill. The doctors had tried all sorts of stuff, and at times she had rallied. She was optimistic to begin with, but now she was just...

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“Are you ready, DynDoeth,” the half elf asked?
     “As ready as I can be,” was his response. “It is in your hands now.”
They walked across the vestibule and started to enter...

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Inextricably rooted with hair fixation

As a lad in grade school,
yours truly, (a diminutive, intuitive,
oversensitive, and vegetative potato head kid,
whose voice exhibited
a severe nasal twang)
felt envious at other boys,
especially those young bucks
who sported budding antlers
plus thick...

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To this day, the breath labours on still 
Marrow birthing blood same as ever 
to keep this battered carriage oiled
The soul wills the flesh to hobble on 
and prays the spirit keeps aflame 
The game...

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Ink roached infestation didst derive within mice elf

Minor emendations to following
just posted verse
oversight to correct dissatisfaction,
yours truly I do curse
ah... methinks if hands of time 
can be made to go in reverse
a more exemplary version
to...

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The Rulers wield their silver shields,
             wear golden coronets
while warders guard the prison yard,
         ...

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Where have you been?
We stopped taxing investments in worker-owned cooperatives
decades ago.
They all have missions to do one or two of two possible things,
To recycle matter to highest use
with least carbon-based effort/loss of reinvestment values,
And to...

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"How many people are praying for love?" ("Don't Save It All For Christmas Day" by Avalon)


There are countless people in this world who have no one that loves them ... NO ONE! Why is that...

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"How many people are praying for love?"

There are countless people in this world who have no one that loves them ... NO ONE!

Why is that not the most critical concern for all of us who...

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Aha - argh... oh my dog...
don't mind me muttering, eh?

Earlier today (May 5th, 2020),
I forget thee exact hour
found me utterly beside mice elf,
matter of fact even at this moment,
yours truly doth feel mad at himself
cuz...

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Encounter with guardian angel January 20th, 2022

We (myself and thee missus)
experienced shell shock
analogous to war weary soldiers
back home from the western front
experiencing battlefield flashback
analogous to awakening dormant
post traumatic stress disorder.

Mental health challenged renter
twice threatened us
(think...

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These are poems about sinking, poems about drowning, poems about loss, and poems about new discoveries we sometimes make while feeling lost...



Sinking
by Michael R. Burch

for Virginia Woolf

Weigh me down with stones…
fill all the pockets of...

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GOOD OLE NUMBER 659 UNION MEMBERSHIP DRIVE
HELD IT'S ANNAUL " LOVERS COUPLING SOCAIL EVENT"
IT'S MEMBERSHIP BRAGGS OF HAVING 620 MALE MEMBERS
AND 666 FEMALE MEMBERS. DURING THE "PLEDGE DRIVE":
46 FEMALE MEMBERS, WITHDREW FROM THE UNION, SITING...

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It felt heavier than he anticipated.
It was cold and clumsy in the sweaty palm of his hand.
He stared at the hard black object 
Somewhat amazed at how easily he was able to acquire it.

Unsure how...

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(alternately titled no particular reason:
bring unto “fake” trumpeting Caesar
seven salad dressings from deep freezer
and lettuce deign at your plea azure.)

Graced with boyish good looks,
innocence and naiveté to boot,
an especial loathing toward me
chicken legs re: spindleshanks

(which...

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key players started pursuing new
and more qualified persons to become partners
they sought better public relations persons
they needed better communication relations
and found that creating a new system from
what they already had would suit better those
who they...

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He is a member of the
" Intr Affilia " a non
ranking position that
Gives voice to grapples
Position. It's unofficial
Title in the game as known
Across this
 whole wide world as
" The Peoples Championship"
Well we've always known
That these...

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