Long Quaintly Poems

Epigrams

Autumn Conundrum
by Michael R. Burch

It’s not that every leaf must finally fall,
it’s just that we can never catch them all.

Piercing the Shell
by Michael R. Burch

If we strip away all the accouterments of war,
perhaps we'll discover...

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Poems about Poems (I)



What the Poet Sees
by Michael R. Burch

What the poet sees,
he sees as a swimmer
~~~underwater~~~
watching the shoreline blur
sees through his breath’s weightless bubbles...
Both worlds grow obscure.



Muse/Goddess
by Michael R. Burch

“What will you conceive in...

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State of the Art (II)

These are my "ars poetica" poems about the art and craft of writing poetry. 



What the Poet Sees
by Michael R. Burch

What the poet sees,
he sees as a swimmer 
~~~~underwater~~~~
watching the shoreline...

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Speechless at Auschwitz
by Ko Un
loose translation by Michael R. Burch

At Auschwitz
piles of glasses
mountains of shoes ...
returning, we stared out different windows.

Ko Un speaks for all of us, by not knowing what to say about the...

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POEMS FOR POETS X

US Verse, after Auden
by Michael R. Burch

“Let the living creature lie,
Mortal, guilty, but to me
The entirely beautiful.”

Verse has small value in our Unisphere,
nor is it fit for windy revelation.
It cannot legislate less...

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PROFESSOR POETS

These are poems about professor poets and other “intellectuals” who miss the main point of poetry, which is to connect with readers via pleasing sounds and the communication of emotion as well as meaning.



Professor...

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Flings and wings and rings rejected…
 Cupid’s arrows fly deflected…
“It clearly is too late” she signed, “to love, adore or pay me mind”

Penciled lines drew cruel conclusions
mocking mirror’s cracked illusions…
Sometimes, in time, I hang awhile,...

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Alone these thoughts like annoying buzz,
zealously trample across minds agenda,
beguile what plans I had planned to play.
Yearning for release from ancient scab,
can I not sheath their crashing climax?
Xenon prayers list low and anaemic,
downtrodden by shoe-tied...

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The little pygmy named Pixie Poggly was quirky queenly quaintly and quickly, but rarely ever really did much can't you see.

Until one day, a raunchy rascal quaintly and shrewdly, Skinny and slippery that he was,...

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Poems about Poets

Elemental
by Michael R. Burch

for and after Dylan Thomas

The poet delves earth’s detritus—hard toil—
for raw-edged nouns, barbed verbs, vowels’ lush bouquet;
each syllable his pen excretes—dense soil,
dark images impacted, rooted clay.

The poet sees the sea...

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    "Highlights of New Jersey"



New Jersey is quaintly known as the Garden State for fun
with sandy beaches kissed by ocean waves beneath golden Sun
amusement parks and midway piers stream wooden boardwalk
arcades offer...

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NOTE: Just had to bring ol' Barry T. back. As you may remember, he's deffo not a Poe fan, what with his classic poem The Raven portraying ravendom as nothing but a bunch of dimwits...

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Lovely hate crimes spate – trumpeted violent trend
(posthumous playful note to posterity kith unsealed
courtesy yours truly once deceased and cremated.)

Whew...so glad tubby gratefully dead
butta shaw miss dug hid ole days
when violence highly overrated
unlike current rooted...

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sun sets early in november
while streetlights pepper busy sidewalks
and chilly winds hurl through the streets
 
bundled up, head on we face the gale
always keen for coffeehouse intermissions
where mugs and napkins are exchanged for money
 
a...

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5/10/21
"Strangely"

Withdrawals getting shaky
I can't think or see straightly
I'll stay stuck or I'll break free
They thought I was just being shady
It made me
Or was able to break me
A change in me
Or still the same me
Continued on...

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So we’re going on a picnic with the pygmy, Pixie Poggly, being the quirky queenly 
quaintly quickly person she is and her friend a raunchy rascal reverently named 
Andy Bailey. As you remember he was...

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Romantic plumes trail through shadows and shade
Mountains and deserts sit in solitary splendor
Mighty in their efforts, breathing harsh songs
Quietly, quaintly, like all living things
In a small town in Georgia time forgot
Oil stained dirty concrete, pay...

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Zesty zippy zombie sat checking out the Yummy yuppie Yankee that was wiggly 
wishy washy but wealthy as he could be. And even so vary vainly vaguely unfree. 
Till one day, a Tuesday I believe,...

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She stared out the bleak window,
the countryside boredom engulfs her thoughts.
He stared out the bleak window,
the countryside boredom engulfs his thoughts.
Two similar souls, lives so different, in the game of love: they are caught.

She who...

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There is a name falls on my ear,
Like an aria, so soft and clear.
It rings with a melodious sound
With vision of maiden quaintly gowned.

I never saw my Grandma Hannah.
She lived far away in Indiana.
I knew...

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Teardrops of dews glistening
Breaks the days of dawn
Caterpillars shedding shells of cocoon
Awakening with yawns

The little fairies quaintly appear
Dancing their favorite dances, all the day long
But, where do the butterflies dance to
When the sun hides her...

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I spent my day shopping for rubies
Far East posting covert listing
Mr Patwari’s emporium 
Assistants ever so obliging

Hexagonal set quaintly bulbous 
does cheapen the overall effect
Disappointedly I turn aside
Mr Patwari, whose tone inflect

Secretly, soft whispers in...

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He’s ambling toward me and his lips move
I pick up my pace, the distance to remove

Moving ever closer, still can’t hear his voice
So much seems distorted in a world of white noise

Bikers trek loudly o’er...

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US Verse, after Auden
by Michael R. Burch

"Let the living creature lie,
Mortal, guilty, but to me
The entirely beautiful." - W. H. Auden

Verse has small value in our Unisphere,
nor is it fit for windy revelation.
It cannot legislate...

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Pardon me Quaintly,
my DEAR FRIEND...
For how would you feel,
If I brought the End?

My eyes are empty,
and my soul is Black...
Nothings to living,
there's no coming Back...

Everyday,is a waste,
I waste my Breath...
I await the call, 
from my...

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