Long Patron Poems

Charles d'Orleans: a Medieval Marvel


Spring
by Charles d’Orleans (c. 1394-1465)
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Young lovers,
greeting the spring
fling themselves downhill,
making cobblestones ring
with their wild leaps and arcs,
like ecstatic sparks
struck from coal.

What is their brazen goal?

They grab...

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Kerris  spoke to Damian the junior 
Bartender on the phone.  "Yeah, it's 
8 o'clock now.  I'll be there  at 9 to
Open.  Meet me there at that time."
He smiled happily thinking...

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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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This whip is a relic of war
an instrument of severe education, 
come now Avia, look how lovely and vulgar,
it is essential for you to appreciate it's intention,
feel it's supple weight, the simple fright,
I use jasmine...

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I inherited a restaurant, from my parents who had retired.
It was a classy one, and only the best of staff were hired.

Overseeing its operation, was genuinely a labor of love,
As the noon warming sunshine, oversees...

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Oh stone of death, I beg thee, now…relinquish me thy guest. 
Release unto this specter but the soul beneath thy breast 
What waits but to be wakened, and then taken now, to rest.

Mine is thine...

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It was late in gorgeous springtime, and I was teaching my class,
A lesson in African history, and the events of time's hourglass.

My fourth graders were very attentive, as I recounted the glory,
Of tales such as...

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There once was a southern lass 
Who was looking for a good-looking guy to make a pass,
She thought fast and decided to sell them gas. 

Now here comes Marty 
And he was a dude who...

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Vexation at self - regarding avoidable altercation...

Today May 12th, 2021
at Royersford (Pennsylvania) LIDL,
when spouse stepped into checkout line
(minus her horse drawn grocery cart -
pushed courtesy yours truly).

While passively standing stock still
I (think Stonewall Jackson)
let scenario...

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Yolotli, the beauty of Tenochitlan,
She was a tender, loving woman.
Every day she was catered to.
That is, until she was stolen.

Men, Warriors big and strong came from an opposing tribe.
They saw her glamour even from a...

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Here's the 2nd HALF of this interesting 2-part piece - thanks for reading the entire poem. :)


Aware that he was gambling with the lives of all on board by sticking with his strategy to run...

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They crept upon our shores eating away the inner core
They crept upon our shore knocking on our barricade doors
Tall stout men with peevish eyes and strange looks on their white faces
Invade our quarters looking for...

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Me un Finn came  'round

In what did we found

The Pub, wid a very large lock

Aye keep the key where no one cann see

Said our find mate, Erik McJock

So, let us awl in, out spurted...

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Brody McGregor, who’d all of us fig’red fer single, come struttin’ into the pub, 
all slickered up like a man fit to bury…an’ fairly well knowed fer ‘is smile -
Strolled to the bar like a...

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Courtesy Google, I learned Dynata...mite!

Constitutes the world’s largest
first-party data platform
for insights, activation and measurement

Earlier today August 28th, 2022,
a representative from aforementioned
market research company
fielded political questions to yours truly.

The young lady at other end of telephone
(little...

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It was somewhere in Cambridge, when the amalgam of substances 
began to cloud our judgment. 
The changes were between vague and blatantly obvious, but 
we were masters at this terrifying craft. 
A small dose of...

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The Pied Piper from New York City – Part Two

This is quite despicable and very inappropriate for someone holding the 
“Highest Office in Our Land.” The Pied Piper hides his treachery by
Wrapping himself in the...

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Bartender Oh Bartender
(a stout rendition of O Captain! My Captain!
Perfect rhythmic rhyme with tonic 
when the doth ale).

Mine eyes espy the glory per the ending 
of another work day beckon Baileys Irish Creme
with Absolut certainty...

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A little girl approached her mother and said to her one day
"Santa Claus is not real, that's what all my friends say"
 Her tears began to well up and she started to cry
And said "Mommy,...

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In Elysian Heights, Room 8 stands strong, 
as a blessed place for a furlong purrloin whisk-along a ride-along comforting face,
where memories of childhood days belong,
a classmate, a friend, roommate_in our youthful race, ("Room 8") was...

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Grab Bag Poems and Epigrams

POEMS

Less Heroic Couplets: Dark Cloud, Silver Lining, Dupes
from “Love in the Time of the Coronavirus”
by Michael R. Burch

Every corona has a silver lining:
I’m too far away to hear your whining,
and despite...

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Tumbleweed Billy And One Eyed Sam

Banked off jagged hills, pushed on by memory
Cause and effect took turns churning the sidewinders
Tumbleweed Billy and One Eyed Sam (The patron Saint of snake eyes)
Dragged down from on high...

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DLCW Dont Let China Win 

For the badminton pundits in this country, there are a great many of them...
In their eyes, the greatest badminton player is Lee Chong Wei , a true Malaysian...
If you are...

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Alms Inn, there is the place again, and here
I, far away, muse in the house I grew
O this village of my love, has grown too
The golden hills with lilacs filled, the sweet
Soft of morning dew,...

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"No Money Found"

I woke to feeling ill so I called out sick
The frig was bare with nothing but a fish stick
Looking to my purse for cash
I knew I had no stash
To the bank I go...

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