Long Raptor Poems

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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"Ground Level Entry"

“She fits the bill”,
they say it 
insouciantly

visions of being 
carried in the beak 
of a bilious pelican 

where it builds
its rudimentary nest, 
it uses sticks and debris

no stones, yet,
from irreverence
thrown at it

no higher...

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The day the asteroid arrived the dinosaurs were playing,
With toys and bats and balls and things, some dancing jigs and swaying.
Young Betty Brontosaurus was renowned for being dim,
She was running on a treadmill in her...

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These are my modern English translations of sonnets by the French poet Stephane Mallarme.

The Tomb of Edgar Poe
by Stéphane Mallarmé
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Transformed into himself by Death, at last,
the Bard unsheathed his Art’s...

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CHAPTER 4 The Eagle (continued)

Swinging up it glanced the raptor
Merely brushing through its wing-plumes
But the eagle lost its balance 
And released its hold on Rosy
 
Who then plummeted in freefall
But the bird regained its rhythm 
And hard turning...

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Modern day scoffers say,
only the strong will survive
That the weak will be eaten alive
Only T-Rex,
cold-blooded logic will thrive

The talking serpents e-vol hiss, 
instincts of compassion and kindness won’t abide
Forgiveness is viewed as fleece clothing
to bear...

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The nervous man
Slight awkward stance
Waiting for a train
Talking to the rain

Is he mad?
Is he sad?
A broken heart?
How many times has his life been torn apart?

He doesn’t fit in
Fashion and style were never his thing
His glasses,...

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Running as fast as I can
heart pounding
I can feel his wings beating
by the wind swirling around me
my lynx instincts are alive
as I try to escape this hungry bird
but I’m no match for his cunning
speed or...

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Fox Hunting

She turns tail to snake through the dust,
parting orderly heads of corn,
breathing heat and eating dark
On her way to escape—she hopes—
from the fox chasing her (a rabbit).
She knows this place and can’t be lost

in...

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Sudan 1993 and an ugly famine reaps its prey

malnourished bodies make it difficult to believe

that women were created from the rib of men

it is the most vulnerable who carry the weight

if you pardon the cynical...

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cosmic dust spirals, 
supernatural storms born 
the Goldilocks zone


Free verse ~

A quadrant of marble missiles born

Ever since,
A dream catcher catches dreams
Jupiter catches meteorites and asteroids

Super-sonic projectiles pass Jupiter's gravitational shield
Shoots like V-1 rockets, destination is...

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The finch dances merry, weaving feathers into music
That spills from overeager beaks and drips light onto slick wings 
Which beat in time with the song, fluttering, flittering, 
Finding life in the sky and where the...

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I can recall another lifetime, one where I could fly
Gazing down upon the earth, moonlight glinting in my eye
A king among the stars with a piercing call that could terrify
I was once a mighty falcon,...

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Flying free
in rooftop ecstasy

Raptor's wings direct
with feathered pins strong, erect
swelling mountain chests
then wings 
brought safely down
protecting Earth's 
most sacred wounds.

Standing Yang
with wings wide spread
Left then Right
rebalancing

Bent over filling in Yin's flow 
extending gratitude for out
bold...

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I like cute dogs, poofy dogs, goofy dogs,

Wiggly Giggly Barking dogs, quiet dogs too,

Smart dogs, silly dogs, crazy dogs, lazy dogs,

Large agressive guarding dogs,

Those are just a few,

I enjoy helpful dogs, playful dogs, bashful dogs,

Hyperactive...

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Sitting alone in the light of the moon
Twirling my glass of red wine
I retreated back into my cocoon
But still felt a chill up my spine

Something flew by in front of the moon
With a silhouette of...

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I like it when I go with one of them as I don't have to drive and I can enjoy 
God's  wonders.  Yesterday our tank fitting took us east to the town of...

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I hunt my prey, late dusk or night
     With wings so quiet in my flight
It's hard to see me up in trees
     Since I am camouflaged with...

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Blind ... can be seen to find,
        a mysterious fog ahead,
     restrained by fury without wind,
Hot air born to burst,
    ...

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Inspired And in awe of Majestic Beauty.
.
Stagnant moss and patches of lichen
Cling to weathered uneven 
Sandstone dry stone walls
Segregating lush green moorland
Surrounded by silent sisters standing 
Lofty huge and tall 
As wholly clouds majestically ...

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My wife went shopping yesterday
Posted missing what do the police say
Her weight color and eyes
Please tell me he cries
I need to know for the missing's display

Hey dude can you help me a little more
I know...

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Trepidation
Meandering through parallel dreams
Sunlight reflecting off sheer cliff
Stonewalled direction of ever river
Flowing onward through time.

Thumbnail scrapes old paint
Where generations of varsol coffee cups
Loosen the hold easily
Bubble and peel
Ripped vinyl booth bench
Duct taped
In true Canadian style.
Grey....

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Many whimsical worlds ago,
In a matchbox by a tree,
A faerie captive lived, by name of Jo.
Her light was plain to see.

This good-hearted faerie lived with a bunch of elves.
That thought of no one but themselves.
They...

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[Written with Matt Caliri’s ‘Chapter One’ contest in
mind but too many verses (presuming that ‘three 
paragraphs’ also meant three stanzas)]
               ...

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the rapture 


Each story fell to the ground
feathers were collected
in the die-off different colours
prismed in the silver dust 
of moon eclipsing sun
the in-between time
where the sky parted
like torn curtains 
the Grimoire words
flew off the page
into...

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