Long Phlegm Poems

I always wanted to be a medieval jester,
the one who sneaks up behind the queen
and makes her guess who caressed her.
I always wanted to be the Lord of Misrule,
King Lear's sad fool,
and the one who...

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They were gambling in front of the house.
Manservants and pages bustled about
Serving Suitors who just curse and carouse.
Few mix wine with water. I heard one shout,
"Clean down the tables with wet sponges! Rouse
Yourselves! And when...

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Pagans Protest the Intolerance of Christianity
by Michael R. Burch

“We have a common sky.” — Quintus Aurelius Symmachus

We had a common sky
before the Christians came.

We thought there might be gods
but did not know their names.

The common...

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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.

This poem has also been titled "Epitaph for a Child of...

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Here We Shall Remain
by Tawfiq Zayyad
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Like twenty impossibilities
in Lydda, Ramla and Galilee ...
here we shall remain.

Like brick walls braced against your chests;
lodged in your throats
like shards of glass
or prickly cactus...

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Cleansings
by Michael R. Burch

Walk here among the walking specters. Learn
inhuman patience. Flesh can only cleave
to bone this tightly if their hearts believe
that God is good, and never mind the Urn.

A lentil and a bean might...

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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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January 13th 2024 - Happy Lxv-th birthday Matthew Scott Harris

date of conception:?  ~ Late March – mid April 1958.
date of parturition: January xiii, mcmlix.
date of expiration:? January i, eminem, 
where earth, wind, and fire...

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Happy Lxiv birthday Matthew Scott Harris

date of conception:?  ~ Late March – mid April 1958.
date of parturition: January xiii, mcmlix.
date of expiration:? January i, eminem.

A gangly, measly, and scraggly bundle
of lovely bones even as...

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Scrounging for boogers wrought my damn nostrils nearly to bust 

Warning: The following material no worse than getting cooties. I remember them way back in grade school, whereat everyone ran away from me with worse...

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I

 
Take out the caked grimy faucet plug

Let those unseen crawlies dive and duck

                     ...

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Poetic letter Putin the electric kool aid acid test results into action... 

when president elect Donald John Trump
sworn in vowing to accept the following pledge.
"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) 
that I will faithfully 
execute...

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Poetic letter Putin the electric kool aid acid test results into action... 

when president elect Donald John Trump
sworn in vowing to accept the following pledge.
"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) 
that I will faithfully 
execute...

Read More

Poetic letter Putin the electric kool aid acid test results into action... 

when president elect Donald John Trump
sworn in vowing to accept the following pledge.
"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) 
that I will faithfully 
execute...

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It was one solemn, long night,
Tenebrous with the astuteness of perfidy,
And multiple hours before the break of an
Impatient dawn.
Lampposts froze through the pergola of winter.
Limp from exposure to unprintable tales of orgies,
And their lights, hidden...

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What once was a peaceful delightful place 
Joyful and friendly creatures in God’s grace
A stunning morning a soulful sunrise
A village heaven has gifted a prize
The most grandiose of rainbow arches
The villagers spirited because March is
The...

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They said that over the years I've killed ten people, and 
they said that with conviction as if it was a fact
I think in secrecy and with a conviction that it was more than that.

They...

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The following fictitious scenario I evoke

Analogous to fire breathing 
puffed up imaginary dragon
(in a land called Honah Lee)
ye might rightly think
what the deuce
haunting spectre ace of spades 
goodfella aiming to be a poet all about,
meaning...

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Scrounging for boogers wrought my damn nostrils nearly to bust 

My humblest apology if the following account
doth gross thee out forlorn childhood of mine 
found further ostracization of me tantamount
being shipped off to  a...

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Cold turkey never tasted sweet. If you see me smile then I am probably lying to you. 

I am so used to that mask it looks natural. I hide because I don't trust you. You...

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A couple of twisted shacks composed in Card Board City in Everywhere 

County the nameless man or woman spits out another tooth with 
           ...

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              The Night Soil Man

			I

		Nothing sticks to-get-her like turds
             ...

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Yours truly (me) just got acclimated to writing 2024...
whenever I needed to append the date to a document

Though the situation infrequently arose
for me to incorporate the year (2024 in this case)
or listen to a well...

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Night Labor
by Michael R. Burch

for Rachel Corrie

Tonight we keep the flame alive;
we keep the candle lit.
We burn bright incense in your name
and swear we’ll not forget—
your innocence, your courage,
your commitment—till bleak night
surrenders to irrevocable dawn
and...

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tweaked to pass inspection broadcast on the double
(alternately titled snafu: ma bell heave hubble
vehicular repairs (prohibitive)
finds me bleary eyed stupefied
and countenance grizzled with prickly stubble
collapsed amidst virtual rubble).

Best sung courtesy rotten dull liver:red worst
after words...

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