Long Passerby Poems

Epitaph for a Palestinian Child
by Michael R. Burch

I lived as best I could, and then I died.
Be careful where you step: the grave is wide.



Autumn Conundrum
by Michael R. Burch

It's not that every leaf must finally...

Read More

Athenian Epitaphs

Mariner, do not ask whose tomb this may be,
but go with good fortune: I wish you a kinder sea.
—Michael R. Burch, after Plato

Does my soul abide in heaven, or hell?
Only the sea gulls
in their...

Read More

Having been avid antiques collectors for nearly 4 decades, my wife and I met our share of rascals like this sneaky dealer - 


Damp and chilly winds were blowing, leaves would paint the ground,
As me...

Read More

God's Return Ticket

Did you ever wonder about the Almighty’s criteria or selection process for reincarnation of souls back on Earth? Just think some famous politician, movie star, sports figure,criminal, dictator, and so on could use...

Read More

Book in hand, I strode the path
in awesome Autumn splendor.
The warmth of the sun caressing my cheek,
while the cool breeze gently tickled 
goose bumps across my warm skin.
All around me the crepe paper litter
piled brilliance...

Read More

On my way to work one day I stopped to tie my shoe -
I had no way of knowing they were there -
But when I glanced across the lawn and saw their pretty hue, 
The...

Read More

The blind man waited, 
at the intersection, for someone
to help him cross the busy boulevard...
and he was accustomed to live in twilight,
fumbling for a hand on his right;
and he finally found mine!


Judge humanly...not pettily,
you could...

Read More

On my way to work one day I stopped to tie my shoe -
I had no way of knowing they were there -
But when I glanced across the lawn and saw their pretty hue, 
The...

Read More

If you’ve read any of my delicious, hand-crafted vignettes and listened to us talk, you’ll know that my roommates and I are critical thinking swifties who spend hour after hour talking about anything and everything,...

Read More

Kirby Kirby’s sister’s brother’s cat bit Bill Belushi’s 45 lb. Yorkie on the *** last Tuesday night,
And I’m a real big fan of dogs so…when it comes to felines…bitin’ canines ANYWHERE, well...I don’t think it’s...

Read More

In his wealthy days, he looked down
on homeless people and disgusted by their
stench, he cried out, " Take a warm bath! " 
He kept on walking fixing his black hat
tossed upward by a capricious, wild...

Read More

Harming myself softly by healing you hardly 
Faithless phase I was in, you knew...without a clue...
Waiting for God's healing rain
To make me be as plentiful as grain and make me grow insane

Save your breath

The scent...

Read More

In the evening, the passerby while lonely passing
Heard some noises of an unseen cart on other way
Which he mistook bone breaking, tearing, chopping,
Murmuring, rumbling, trembling sounds all around,
He was confused, fixed, feared and crying uttering
“Is...

Read More

 
 


The suicide

His question
The night wraps itself around him
Like a comforting blanket of stars
And for a moment there is silence
No questions roaming in his head 
He thinks of her with joy
Not the terrible sense...

Read More

Strolling down the city sidewalks as
the snow falls in the most charming patterns. 
I try to catch flakes on my tongue/

I put my arm through my lover's arm. 
We laugh and kiss and move closer/

He...

Read More

He was old and haggard, in the year nineteen twenty something
A tall lanky old man, with a worn out hat and a rusty ring
His squint blues eyes pulled together the wrinkles upon his face
With an...

Read More

Slowly, my ferryboat drifted closer to my dear old home. Before me, the stony peaks of familiar mountains arose from the blue hue, and just as cool salty breezes blew across my face, the childhood...

Read More

I walked into new rooms and realised my love for gardens , hiding under verdant bushes and seeking my mates hiding from me and how I always ended up seeking for the right people and...

Read More

I sit there on that wooden bench, simply sitting. I am not waiting for someone, not for anything. Sunlight peeks through the leaves of the two oak trees whose branches are mingling above my head....

Read More

From the heart of green naïve village
surrounded by corps field, mosque, ponds, 
ancestral grave yard, school, college, 
madrasah (islamic school) etc he is

brothers, sisters with parents, a beautiful family 
with relatives, neighbors he had

learned person...

Read More

I'm a simple guy,
I like video games, music and succeeding without trying,
So when a man comes up to me and tell me he can save my life,
Who am I to turn down a free book...

Read More

It’s a quarter after seven, a cloud of silence immerse,
Six frightened souls, the situation a constant curse.
The candle burns dim, it’s almost out,
Dinner was scarce, not enough to go around.

The kids are edgy; the mother’s...

Read More

A Kidney Tale

It is a sorry tale that greeted this writer in his early morning read....
Of a schoolboy and his kidney that had to be separated in earnest..

Headlined Boy Loses kidney After Falling Into Uncovered...

Read More

awake now!
Recite!
Write it down, letter by letter
the house of Holy is being built
brick by brick, letter by letter, gem by gem

my Spirit approached me by night
with a vision of gladness
a triumphant tiding
born on a warm...

Read More

You may think that Alopecia is a very simple disorder.
Your hair falls out, you buy a wig, you're good.
Wrong, in every use of the word.

Going bald means struggling to find yourself beautiful.
It means wanting to...

Read More