Long Prom Poems

"Go on forth young graduates,

And show us who you are

You're now our future leaders

We know you will go far"

And so commencement ended

Pictures done and people changed

Now, off to private parties

All orderly pre-arranged

But four young girls...

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The language and images of Mario Vitale's poetry are so closely bound to the natural cycles of seasons, of generations, of the body's functioning, that is surprising to realize how many of his poems deal...

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Frankly bewildered…
I find life so absurd
Your serenity shines on
God, I want to be like your son

Why was I pushed in the margins?
Is it because of my abominable sins?
I threw them all away long ago…
Into garbage...

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ME dear FATHER you already know,
But you need to be briefed,
On a tragedy I believe you must not know.
There’s a deadly dance with violence killing teens in America’s Black Communities.
Use to be, 
Good Christian mothers,...

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Ginny didn’t know if it was a large pond or a small lake in the middle of the beautiful park where she had been hired right after high school to help with maintenance of the...

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It was 3AM.
I had too many cups of rum and I wanted to hear your voice
before I fell into a drunken stupor. 
You didn't answer my two FaceTime calls or texts so
it got my mind...

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My parents had both passed and I felt orphaned, alone --
Although I was married and lived hours away with a family of my own.
And today was a day I had dreaded for months
Silently traveling the...

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So it begins anew
a day to dread, a day to wake up to
I'd say all I want to do is sleep, if sleep didn't terrify me
so I stay up till I faint
an opaque way to...

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Deciphering crossword puzzles, cryptograms and scrabblegrams once favorite pastimes

Livingsocial at 324 Level Road
circa post high school graduation
found yours truly voluntarily holed up
for an inordinate amount of time
within familiar four walls of his bedroom.

He preferred solitude versus
interacting...

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Ramapo, New York, a small town
Was rural ... to say the least
Where simple folks lived a simple life
And most residents could rest in peace 

But, tonight was prom night and
The summer evening was unusually cool
As...

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STAND

(17 pieces in honor of the "March For Your Life" youth)

                        ...

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“Unicorns are Us” 

You can only imagine
the furore 
when magick
hit the score
the Party, not impressed,
was not for witches
too big for their
britches on brooms,
said all the high-brow
cultural dignitories
and low-strung 
toad hall politicians
pacing around the room;
so all...

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"House of lies, pride and bone, 
The gauzy instability in my augmentation, I feel the hostility commence deep into my lanes. I prom in the masquerade of the mirror and cannot identify myself as an...

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EFFUSED ENCOUNTER


Neither a dream nor a trick, I beguiled--
I reach the sky enameled with golden smile.
To hurdle bumps and curves, I continue to pedal
this steadfast being yearn to step on a pedestal,
I found at the...

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There was a time as a child when I knew I was different. I felt lost and enjoyed thing other girls may not have. I hated dresses, loved wearing ball caps and watched football at...

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None of us live forever were the words I'd often hear.
Words softly spoken from a man I held so dear.

He taught me to be brave and stand for what is right.
He said don't ever give...

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That furniture at Grandma’s house has never had a;
Behind, sit down directly on it-
The plastic had duct tape overtop
Where something sharp had pierced a hole
This sofa, that had lasted 30 years… unscathed.
The sofa also had...

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Life is a beauty
From the day a baby starts
Everyone who knows about them 
Keeps them in their hearts
And when a baby’s born
There are tears of joy,
From the mother and the father,
And their little girls and...

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Step 1: 
Inhale an envious mask upon your castrated 
skull, 
and prompt this necessary illusion to commence.
Bathe yourself in ego-filled waters till you feel superior
to the gavel, and exit without caution from this perfect 
prison...

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Temptation
Verse 1:
Satan, the world’s best liar and ultimate deceiver
He poisons the minds of all mankind and all of us fellow believers
His words are sharp like knives and dangerous as the sharpest cleaver
We try to run...

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Father Daughter Dance

He told her “don't you worry”, but he'd be a little late.
He promised when he made it home he would take her on a date.
She squealed in her excitement, soon they would be...

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These are the best sports poems by Michael R. Burch, Part V

Just Smile
by Michael R. Burch

We'd like to think some angel smiling down
will watch him as his arm bleeds in the yard, 
ripped off by...

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This storys old but I will tell it anyways 
What’s brewing is the same speech I gave myself yesterday
I'm using old material
And it's not even feasible!
And clearly not working 
You can find those words between...

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It was a dark, foggy, rainy night and I was driving alone.  It was several hours before 
dawn.  I had "no service" on my cell phone.  Out here driving in the middle...

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You wear sandals
And I wear tennis shoes
We hate one another
Occasionally
We tolerate one another
Occasionally
We are always on different wave lengths
You’re on A.M
And I’m on F.M
Because you wear sandals
And I wear tennis shoes
I told you once before...

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