Long Parody Poems

Limericks
by Michael R. Burch



Clyde Lied!
by Michael R. Burch

There once was a mockingbird, Clyde,
who bragged of his prowess, but lied.
To his new wife he sighed,
"When again, gentle bride?"
"Nevermore!" bright-eyed Raven replied.



The Platypus
by Michael R. Burch

The platypus,...

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(based on Aldous Huxley's book "Brave New World")

Human hatchery

Clink clink clink clink...
Test tubes prattling past
along the chrome plated production line.
Glistening under fake fluorescence
humming in harmony
with the magnetic motors
of conveyors, centrifuges and camshafts.
Biological blobs of gamete...

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 After graduating from UF, in the early '80s I wrote the book, lyrics and score for a musical adaptation of Moliere's farce Le Malade Imaginaire ("The Imaginary Invalid") and have decided to post five...

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,It's like some long lost fairy tale 
That's handed down through time
But couldn't be, as you will see
For this strange tale is mine.

I chose to take a country road 
I do from time to time
To...

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On the night before Christmas, alone in my house, 
Sorrow gnawed at my soul, like a ravenous mouse.
Entombed in my blankets, I struggled to sleep,
Ready to snap if I counted more sheep.

I rose at the...

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Swept up into piles; everywhere 
Abouts; in collected heaps all 
Around.               
It is almost as if the drab 
Streets were strewn...

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The Lay of The Best Man - Part Five


Have you heard about the bespectacled man who wore his glasses to bed?
Because when he awoke mornings his dreams were all blurry in his head.
And what about...

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    ...

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T'were the night after Christmas, 'n' the house was all dark.
Not much money for 'lectric in the ol' trailer park.
Ma waitin' tables at the club on the base,
jist me and my sisters alone in the...

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2017 - year zero

They loaned to the poor, who cannot repay.
They stole from the old, who cannot recover.
They sold our future, for better or worse
and made our children pay.
They schooled arithmetic to be feared.
They tutored...

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I know what it costs
to parent a tyrant
24/7
52 weeks/year
and yet avoid judging,
feeling guilty,
self-blaming shame
for all I am not sufficient,
yet.

I remember learning curious distinctions
between genuine remorse
given, when LeftBrain verbally requested,
yet without RightBrain capacity
to feel even the...

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I hope it would not be a parody of Michael Morrell’s political scientific position
to suggest all relationships are political
and all political relationships fall somewhere on a spectrum
between perfect co-empathic trust,
nutritionally and regeneratively favored by creolizing...

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About Bill Posters and Bill Greenwell

Words not to use in poems

In 1993, I (Bill Greenwell) went on a three-day workshop with the poet Peter Sansom, who co-edits The North, and runs the Smith/Doorstop imprint. He’s...

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THE INCUMBENT
by
JOHN M. ARRIBAS

I am sick and tired of hearing the same old line
My elected representative says every things fine
He just does not represent the people I know
He’s been there forever its time for him...

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Moe
Larry
Curly

Shep 
Joe

This Three-Fifth Stooges moron quartet
are brain-slow slugs you don’t wanna IQ know

Just sitting on a milk crate,
waiting outside of the MGM studio gate
Moe, Larry and Curly passed my way

They were yukking it up,
talking clown...

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*LETTER TO  MAMA*

Iye omo to r'ewa 
Iya ni iya mi owon
I know you wonder if your  prayers don't ascend to heavens
You keep asking if the promises won't come true
You're beginning to doubt the...

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“The songs are casual and careless in a satisfying way, like the used condom your latest lover left lying on your bedroom floor, a souvenir you’re not yet ready to dispose of.” Candy Cotton, Modern...

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Sung to, You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch, (extended version).
KP

You’re a monster, Donny Dump.
Some biiig-time twiiisted clooown.
To no end, I could deride you,
are no depths you didn’t fall to,
no ineptness could elude you,
the bottom-feeders they...

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I Love Cotton Candy,
Flowers Still In The Ground,
A Cricket That Makes No Sound,

I Love Clouds That Draw Pictures For Me,
Winds That Blow My Wishes,
A Hand That Holds Hope,

I Love Music To My Ears,
The Way Salt...

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Light da Roman candles
for da coming Chariots of Pharaoh holiday
Dem New Publicans
be back in pyramid power
Give a Caesar Palace casino hip, hip-hooray

Happy daze are here again!
Dem New Publicans bray 
dey be da common people’s friend

But...

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“Die Another Day”


“Your mission, should you so deem it,
Is to infiltrate ALL Fluff Clusters in K.A.O.S. Headquarters
And bloody well steam it!”


“The Place is a hazardous mess of a trap
Over run with Double Agents, ulterior motives
Amorous...

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In U.S. municipalities
we have Survivalists
and Thrivalists,
Revivalists
and Liberated Rapturists,
AggressiveRisk Addicts
and MultiCultural WinWin Escapists
into monoculturing WinLose Cocoon Closets.

Survivalist addicts
often show up at Town Council
and School Board meetings
fueled by alcohol
speaking Either This Yang Wins!
or that alien green ecofeminist...

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A fragile but tough 
Creature,a woman,an 
Embodiment of glory and 
Honour wit heart deeper 
Than the deepest sea;ful 
Of mysteries.
The mother of all humans
A mystery herself that 
Emanates power and 
confidence-alas!the 
Egocentric man has for...

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Soon you'll be out of my life,
and I'll be better.
You thought that I'd be weak,
but I'm stronger
You thought that you'd break me, 
but I'll never surrender.
You thought that I'd be sad,
but I laugh harder.
You thought...

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Fragile but tough 
Creature,a woman,an 
Embodiment of glory and 
Honor with heart deeper 
Than deepest sea;full 
Of mysteries.
 Mother of all humans.
Mystery herself,emanates 
power and 
confidence-alas!the 
Egocentric man has 
Centuries tried to strip 
Her of...

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