Long Pinched Poems

For All That I Remembered
by Michael R. Burch

For all that I remembered, I forgot
her name, her face, the reason that we loved ...
and yet I hold her close within my thought:
I feel the burnished weight...

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Yosa Buson haiku translations

On the temple’s great bronze gong
a butterfly
snoozes.
?Yosa Buson, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Hard to describe:
this light sensation of being pinched
by a butterfly!
?Yosa Buson, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Not to worry...

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At Tintagel
by Michael R. Burch

That night, 
at Tintagel, 
there was darkness such as man had never seen...
darkness and treachery, 
and the unholy thundering of the sea...

In his arms, 
who is to say how much she...

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Part 1: FORE SIBERIAN FATE

silk wings wet -
angel on the lake.
starlight glitter
separates from

the golden wheat.
her docile hair,
prophecy of ice.

winter pink,
pinched cheeks.
ice skate scrapes -
flecks of flakes.

the snow queen
before her relentless
reign, a pretty thing.

her smile warms
the...

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Self destructive wickedness arrested, convicted, and gaoled...

with kidnapping little boy 
ordered to suffer
life sentence without parole.

The deadly scourge of  
one obsessive/compulsive disorder
nearly left me starving to death.

Anorexia nervosa absent bulimia 
nadir of onset 
diagnoses...

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Poems about Flight, Flying, and Birds (I)



Flight
by Michael R. Burch

It is the nature of loveliness to vanish
as hummingbird wings, batting against nothingness
seek transcendence...



Southern Icarus
by Michael R. Burch

Windborne, lover of heights,
unspooled from the truck’s wildly lurching...

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He just appeared to me, like wispily curling 
Chimney smoke, 
One grim and early morning in the very midst of 
Decembers briefest days, on the highest slope,
Toiling through my daily round; where, slowly 
Driving up...

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Date August  10,  2040
Damian roused Molly from her
Pleasant dream just because 
He wanted to make love. She
Drowsyly responded to his 
Belly caressing, "Yes, Damian 
I'm sleeping, soo... tired." 
He said, "ooh, that's alright."
He...

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Juvenilia: Early Poems XII

Because You Came to Me
by Michael R. Burch

for Beth

Because you came to me with sweet compassion
and kissed my furrowed brow and smoothed my hair,
I do not love you after any fashion,
but wildly,...

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Date:   October  2045

Desharah was 16 years old today
October 5,  twenty- fourty five. She
Felt grown up  and alive. As she
Discussed with Amadeus her mother 
And Father. Amadeus Gave her an
Affectionate sloppy...

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An Excelente Balade of Charitie (“An Excellent Ballad of Charity”)
by Thomas Chatterton, age 17
modernization/translation by Michael R. Burch

As wroten bie the goode Prieste
Thomas Rowley 1464

In Virgynë the swelt'ring sun grew keen,
Then hot upon the meadows...

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Date:  March  2051

3 days until April:
Flight time 3:05 afternoon--  IN flight 
"Dolly and Molly fumbled in their
Seat to achieve comfort. "Ooo does
This flight have to be this long!" 
Dolly was frustrated. Holly...

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Inferiority complex as a kid, adolescent and emerging adult

Yours truly (an amazingly,
gracefully, and markedly modest
passively aging baby boomer -
formerly introverted long haired
pencil necked geek),
prattling wordsmith doth behold
nostalgic memories regarding father
(Boyce Brandon Harris)
long ago lapsed decades

during...

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The half elf watched as Lumi spoke with Chroí; then, in the center of the circle the soil began to move and from it appeared the Garden Elf.  He said nothing, he never spoke....

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Twice told toilet tale – a cheeky execrable gross fable

which poetic product best be affixed 
with hashtag STINKY label.

As a young whippersnapper
and one precocious lad to boot,
I discovered common combustible materials
found in the bathroom.

At opportune...

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'Twas the night before Christmas and I still had gifts to buy.
I procrastinated getting it done; a terrible fault I can't deny.
As I juggled bags of presents that cost far too much money,
A sidewalk Santa...

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July first two thousand and twenty five...
signals the eighth year we lived
at our present location,
where fringe benefits (a plug) for perks
living at 2 highland manor drive.

Expanse of green acres draped
like a petticoat when ye arrive
birds...

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On a never lonely street was  where I grew up
There  we played from morning  till dusk
 Then we woke up neat and  free, but back home laced with dust
Slightly dirtier than...

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A Dream That Came True.

In my mind's eye I had seen her undress a thousand times
 sending hot flashes that exploded with her moaning
 Months before ever summoning the courage to speak to her
 I...

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Fringe benefits (a plug) for perks (yo man) living at 2 highland manor drive

Expanse of green acres draped
like a petticoat when ye arrive
birds of a feather flock together
and bees gather collect nectar,
pollen, and water to...

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I tore the page from its binder and ripped it to pieces, not wanting to be associated with the scribbles I had left on the sheet. To call that abomination 
'art' would be an insult...

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We brought a puzzle to the cabin,
rented on a Friday-front holiday.
Our tween was bored before we passed the first exit.
We needed the escape—
a break from where we'd been and where we were
(or thought we were,...

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I (Samson wannabe) feel aghast at latest turn of events regarding Gaza

Omnipresent grief and horror
abounds toward ceaseless killing fields
impossible mission for me
to summon forth fading magic powers
since Delilah imposter hashtagged,
(and subsequently outed) 
as a mortal...

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February 13th, 2023 - old man winter gave a one...two punch

Overladen snow covered crackle and crunch
though, this skeptic owned a doubtful hunch
that such 24/7 round the clock whether coverage
would make laughingstock of forecasting
how Jack Frost...

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Cooper was a large and curious tiger, the bright star of a motley circus,
Always out of step with others; like erring moon, of dawn skies, citrus.

He was well fed and got lots of attention, like...

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