Long Proffer Poems

Enough!
by Michael R. Burch

It’s not that I don’t want to die;
I shall be glad to go.
Enough of diabetes pie,
and eating sickly crow!
Enough of win and place and show.
Enough of endless woe!

Enough of suffering and vice!
I’ve...

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Enheduanna is the first writer we know by name. She created the first poetry anthology and hymnal, circa 2250 BC, in ancient Sumer. She was the daughter of King Saragon the Great. 

Lament to the...

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World War II Poems and Holocaust Poems - IV - Primo Levi

Shema
by Primo Levi
translation by Michael R. Burch

You who live secure
in your comfortable houses, 
who return each evening to find
warm food, 
welcoming faces...

consider whether this...

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Translation of the Elegy: On Marceline Desbordes-Valmore - À L'amour - Poem by Marcel Moreau Translated by T. Wignesan

Reprends de ce bouquet les trompeuses couleurs,      (Take back the dubious colours...

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The Exaltation of Inanna: Opening Lines and Excerpts 
by Enheduanna, daughter of Sargon I of Akkad and high priestess of Inanna
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Lady of all divine powers!
Lady of the resplendent light!
Righteous Lady...

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Lament to the Spirit of War
by Enheduanna (circa 2285-2250 BCE)
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

You hack down everything you see, War God!

Rising on fearsome wings
you rush to destroy the land:
raging like thunderstorms,
howling like hurricanes,
screaming like...

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Poetic Encryption Like Ancient Egyptian

This terror and threat to poetic clarity,
Becomes a pet rock for some poets.

Words do count for sure, but so does
Clarity unless poets put a mask on.

Encryption can be used to mask...

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Designed Evolution?
 
As Blue Sky’s dreams take root in fields like Daffodils
That blossom knowledge Love does serve all human souls,
Their truth grows wild across our lands! Oh, every crevice touches strands
Where Evolution has a chance...

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Spring equinox arrives March 20th, 2023 at 5:24 PM

Despite what outside temperature registers
(even absolute zero), the official arrival
of spring occurs, when thee eel hip tic
of coe phish hunt holy Mackerel
becomes tangential to barenaked ladies 
barren...

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I used to be obsessed with fashion, caring far too much about clothes,
Like the sun whenever he's coming and going, is striking vanity's pose.

I lavished absurdly upon my wardrobe, in excess of what was practical,
Like...

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I am ill eke quipped to dusk hoover dawn ting task of badinage

Indentured gumption forsaken 
courtesy each pulled wisdom-tooth
this hug gust aspiring writer..., albeit youth
fool looking imp posse Hubble wordsmith,
(i.e. the babbling dad) coon sitters...

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Harriet Harris circa November 13th, 1935 - ~ May 4th, 2005

untimely death sentence ordained 
approximately six months prior 
to mother dearest celebrating 
her seventieth birthday,
though the last three years of her life
impacted courtesy hysterectomy
to remove...

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Harriet Harris née Kuritsky circa November 13th, 
1935 - ~ May 4th, 2005
(untimely death sentence ordained ~ early February 1935)

I trot out a poem acknowledging birthday
of dear ole mom, who succumbed, 
lost lease on life
nearly...

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"The Name and Blue Sky on a Sunlit Friday Morning"




“There is something missing,” he announced.
“Oh,” She said, “in what way?”
“Well, “Love”? I wonder where it is, in all of this?”

A breeze moved hauntingly through the...

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How quick capitalone two-step flickr ring imperceptibly, 
   kneaded asper byte
sized LivingSocial ties, linkedin and massaged viz MineCraft flight
of fancy outlook with plenti full confidence, faith, 
   and inherent lettered oblations...

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Harriet Harris circa November 13th, 1935 - ~ May 4th, 2005
(untimely death sentence ordained ~ early February 1935)

Test teasing prophylactics embarrassing
purchase never made at local drugstore
unsurprisingly, obviously, invariably...
birth control taboo subject, best to ignore
subsequently intercourse...

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How, I wonder, do present people not
realize that what they do has been done?
That all their new fads, their new ideas,
have all had their day under the sun.
That we have lived without religions,
that gay unions...

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Rosh Hashshana 2023

Began at sunset 
on Friday, Sept. 15, 
and ends at sunset 
on Sunday, Sept. 17.

No matter yours truly an atheist, 
I consider myself 
fascinated with my Semitic ancestry
(maybe unwittingly genealogically 
linkedin with unsuspecting...

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We conclude" The Trimming of the Christian Tree 

Times a wasting
Thanksgiving’s growing near.
We’ll soon drag out the plastic tree.
The family will trim it here. 

Strips of Cloth
Clean swaddling cloths. And what of these?
To wrap the...

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The Atlantic ocean...,an unrelenting mistress

More'n ten thousand leagues under the sea
next to an octopus's garden in the shade.

OceanGate manufacturer
of the Titan Submersible,
which vessel that set out to reach
Titanic shipwreck with five passengers
officials believe the suffered
a...

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like shadows they follow us
they tell their stories 
on pages 
that may or may not 
be seen, or read,
we a'muse them -

"we", of course, are truly inconsequential
in the greater scheme of things;

they are like ghosts
echoing...

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Part Three

Whether or not relations with the uncultured enamour
Do not seek to succour what should sour

What does it matter if you gain or lose inferiors
Who feather their own nests and leave you in a mess

Those...

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Growing up in a middle class suburb of Chicago, is it any wonder that Polly learned the art of political malarkey.  Watching the City Council was probably the
place where she learned to see women...

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Podcast lesson (re)learned today...

(May 6,2020) for umpteenth time,
no deliberate attempt to rhyme
rather to express satisfying reason
incalculable absolute value prime
mate (me) derived bliss oh so divine.

Fresh animal tracks thru equa door
gave urge right of way
plethora experiencing...

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My House is For Sale

By Elton Camp

I put a sign into the yard.
It shouldn’t be very hard.
My house is just the best,
It is far above all the rest.

For sale by owner sounds so easy
Though strangers...

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