Long Perplexing Poems

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...

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Prose Poems

Something
by Michael R. Burch

Something inescapable is lost?lost like a pale vapor curling up into shafts of moonlight, vanishing in a gust of wind toward an expanse of stars immeasurable and void. Something uncapturable is...

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On this day 40 years ago in 1978 my mother, Jacqueline Anne Trestrail, left this world after a relatively short battle with cancer - she was 46. Jimmy Carter was President and Annie Hall won...

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The Story so far continued from 'Visitor'…
An attractive extra-terrestrial female researcher sent to a remote island to observe earth and beam back her findings is struggling with unfamiliar, alien romantic emotions. Even though she is...

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C:
  I journeyed long upon the way, e-mailed through your router
  hello "Henry", good to greet, I am in your computer
  I am between him and her, so I am gender neuter

...

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Excuse me operator, 

I think I’ve been disconnected,

To a neurotic world that's seemed to lose its senses,

A ceaseless quest of life questions,

Where are all of these transcending fairytales and esoteric answers?

I am feeling like it’s...

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*

  Up until the summer of 1999, I only knew of the words "Jesus."
  I knew what was being taught in church.
  As I sat in the pew, I heard the Bible...

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Two weeks passed before 
Dolly called Her twin. "Hey 
Girl I'm  coming to see you in a 
Little while."  "Ok, sis at about
What time?" Molly inquired.
"About an hour and a half 
Actually it's...

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Here I am sitting in the chair
Staring at the ceiling above my head
Contemplating life's meaning  and testing my deep feelings
If a pin drops I can hear the sound
If a dog  moans I can...

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~~~Here's another verse written by me! I hope you cherish my 500th poem I've written on this WONDERFUL poetry site!!~~~
*dances merrily and goes to Disneyland*

I wish the sun can keep on shining like candlelight reflection…...

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In my heart, there's a tune dying to come out 
The solitude makes me feel so carefree and you don't talk trash about me like some
I feel like I've been taken advantage of...what's that all...

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My twilight Dream Catcher.

Sweet melodies tug at my heart strings.
The waves roll in as the blue whale sings.
As empty moonbeams fade,
In the cosmos evenly laid.
Layers of complexity.
Clouds meandering are a formality.
A tonic of love, a...

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The scarlet sky is bleeding with benevolence
Peace is overruled by vain, dreadful violence
Horrendous volcanoes erupt the moment you kiss me goodbye
gods of gold and gods of silver fill your eyes…that’s no lie
Upgrading unlimited contentment on...

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What I'm Gobsmacks, Bamboozles and All This Confuses Me
 

       What I'm Gobsmacks, Bamboozles and All This Confuses Me
          ...

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“Her Ever Changing Moods, the Rapture Reprising”

Lavender seduces symmetry  
in her ever changing moods
slips into something more comfortable

a swollen tangerine sky 
moves its tongue over 
the blues of her violet harbour 

calling the siren...

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I was an experienced astronomer, with bright eyes ever turned to the stars,
As the mysterious, intelligent aliens, might in their turn, be looking to ours.

Space had always held fascination for me, with wonders of worlds...

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How many people with foreboding palpitations
have I seen slip from middle age and slide into old age?
They slither into their last refuge, the dirt hole,
and ignorantly nestle into the forever unknown life stream

The ones who...

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trapped within the very impulse of our loved beneath the perplexing ambush
we close the door of brevity with a slight adjustment of the hand when will we understand
caught betwen the world I know then onto...

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What mountain’s top holds truth’s last stand,
 its vista viewed as life’s specific grandeur;
 promised above earth’s horizon,
 soon home to you, this present era’s raconteur;
 prized perch upon and soon so manned,
 spirits to...

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The boat,
          smooth sea,
                     tight sail,
...

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I once heard of  an old man who lived in a faraway land.He built his castle on a hill so that he could keep still.He had a  great herd of cattle and vast...

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There upon the blasphemous 
grassy knoll, a maiden, 
her lovers' temptations
of the past.  
Amidst a silky
silhouette, a dainty stroll
flaunting a crimson masquerade.

"Your invitations of subtle romance,
be they adventurous, unfulfilled,
shall we not exchange vespers?" 

The...

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My Seasons of Change 

1. All the world’s a sky of faded virtue, 

2. Though major events have shaped my life,  

3. they are constantly replaced with new memories, most soon to be forgotten....

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5/21/11-5/22/11
I rule over the night
undaunted with all my might
I have time to spare all I can bare
Watching the hand chime 
tugging…pushing…shoving
through whirling toil
that feed the spoil
Perplexing strife
refusing to give up 
Power and torment 
 
We...

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I am so mellow and quiet…
As calm as a midnight jet…
I need some sort of outlet…
Give me something more than this...regret

I did not mean to get upset...
I just wanted you to be feeling alright
Remember the...

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