Long Pensive Poems

There's consequences in all we say and do 
Go forward and walk your walk and I'll go ahead and talk my talk 
Quite distraught due to the fact that you're too good to be true
I...

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Various Heresies 3

Breakings
by Michael R. Burch

I did it out of pity.
I did it out of love.
I did it not to break the heart of a tender, wounded dove.

But gods without compassion
ordained: Frail things must break!
Now...

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To a Daughter More Precious than Gems
by Otomo no Sakanoue no Iratsume
loose translation by Michael R. Burch

Heaven's cold dew has fallen—
and thus another season arrives.
Oh, my child living so far away,
do you pine for me...

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Near Sainthood
by Mirza Ghalib
translation by Kanu V. Prajapati and Michael R. Burch

On the subject of mystic philosophy, Ghalib,
your words might have seemed deeply profound
and we might have pronounced you a saint...
if only we hadn't found
you...

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Damian Stood in the morning sun.
The sun felt good on his face.
Delilah was still sleeping. He
Kissed her face and caressed 
Her belly until she awoke.
Hey my Mrs. Me. Come on babe.
We will be leaving today...

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FORTUNES READ the sign displayed
TRINKETS, CHARMS AND SPELLS
The store had not been here yesterday
shades of candles, books and bell
Drapes were hung from side to side
The windows all were dark
Where was this place a day ago?
Just...

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I.	  The Settlement

          Hickory bark bluffs
          at the blend of two 
    ...

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Poems about Things that Break I
 
These are poems about things that break and/or shatter: a bubble, glass, a mirror, a twig or tree limb, a thunderstorm, cities and towers in times of war, old...

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Various Heresies 6

Altared Spots
by Michael R. Burch

The mother leopard buries her cub,
then cries three nights for his bones to rise
clad in new flesh, to celebrate the sunrise.

Good mother leopard, pensive thought
and fiercest love’s wild insurrection
yield...

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Close your eyes
Explicit shame sheds rage in my eyes
I’ll be alright in the morning light and the night’s so bright
Open up your eyes
Sharpen me like your pensive pencil……
Begin with me, thinking I’m not thin
Paper thin,...

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I promise…I promise I won’t desert you
This hardship you’re facing at the moment is temporary
Tonight…tonight, I will show you love so true
By wiping your tears of sorrow and showing you tomorrow happily

I wake up to...

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Old Glory has Something He Wants to Say  
By – Roger White
The dawn’s first sunlight crests over the eastern horizon.  A midnight dark sky leisurely changes tinctures: blue becomes purple, bright azure and...

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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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Last Night 
by Faiz Ahmed Faiz
translation by Michael R. Burch

Last night, your memory stole into my heart
as spring sweeps uninvited through barren gardens
as morning breezes revive dormant deserts
as a patient suddenly feels better for no...

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I    V    I      
                    ...

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Date:  April 2041

It's been one week now. There
Was no sign of the Black China 
Men. The other Hakim family 
Members decided to take residence 
Closer to the foundational family.
Which was Greatgrand and 
Carter Hakim...

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My dreams were of the dire Queen
I had allowed her reign over me, callousing my heart,
She was inside me, laughing
Having crawled in
My walls closing, as she filled my soul
We were one, yes for a time,...

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I    V    I
                          ...

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*warning: sexual theme*

My mind and heart of gold...
Never once...growing mold as we both grow old 
Nervana sells out
I'm without a doubt
That I will love you till I die
That I will love you as long as...

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INSPIRED BY CHARACTER OF CLARISSA DALLAOWAY IN VIRGINIA WOOLFE'S STREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESS NOVEL "MRS. DALLAOWAY"



                    ...

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...the village shivers   a hive of restless souls
skin pricklin' with anticipation
as costumed runners fixin' to gather — hearts a-thrummin'
              ...

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“Nuns Fret Not at Their Convent's Narrow Room”
by William Wordsworth

Nuns fret not at their convent’s narrow room;
And hermits are contented with their cells;
And students with their pensive citadels;
Maids at the wheel, the weaver at his...

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It must have been the darkest, deepest fate time create,
People saw and forgot the impact when history intervened. 
We forgive and endure, but our minds will not forget
The Bizarre world trying to suppress our African...

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Save me from becoming numb
I'm aware that you don't care
Be my best friend unlike some 
All these scars I, alone, bear 
Beware of my blessed breeze as it slips out of my finger tips 
I...

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Placed 8th in :
No. 1264 New Poem Only Poetry Contest
Sponsored by Brian Strand

                   The Light Of Nativity

...

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