Long Reeds Poems

Vacuum
by Michael R. Burch

Over hushed quadrants
forever landlocked in snow,
time’s senseless winds blow...

leaving odd relics of lives half-revealed,
if still mostly concealed...
such are the things we are unable to know

that once intrigued us so.

Come then, let us...

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State of the Art (IV)

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



Hearthside
by Michael R. Burch

“When you are old and grey and full of sleep...”  — W. ...

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Come Down
by Michael R. Burch

for Harold Bloom

Come down, O, come down
from your high mountain tower.
How coldly the wind blows,
how late this chill hour ...

and I cannot wait
for a meteor shower
to show you the time
must be...

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What Good Are Our Tears?
by Michael R. Burch

What good are our tears?
They will not spare the dying their anguish.
What good is our concern
to a child sick of living, waiting to perish?

What good, the warm benevolence...

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THIS WORLD OF DEW

This world? 
Moonlit dew
flicked from a crane's bill.
—Eihei Dogen Kigen, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Seventy-one?
How long
can a dewdrop last? 
—Eihei Dogen Kigen, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Dewdrops beading grass-blades
die before...

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Stars fall under failing skies...stars fall...stars fall...
And sadly...i start to drive.
Through the unremarkable village with its tall 
Georgian Bay window panes, lightless,
devoid of visages; outwardly staring back at my 
Abject countenance with detached contempt and...

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Regret
by Michael R. Burch

Regret,
a bitter
ache to bear . . .

once starlight
languished
in your hair . . .

a shining there
as brief
as rare.

Regret . . .
a pain
I chose to bear . . .

unleash
the torrent
of your hair . ....

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"Barefoot in the Bushfires of the Vanities"



Heat rises slowly to rapture flames licking and teasing
Blue Ghostgums to stretch and crack wide open
as Fire spreads molten sweet sap bleeding burgundy all over 
amber gold wild bush...

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Love has a Southern flavor: honeydew,
ripe cantaloupe, the honeysuckle’s spout
we tilt to basking faces to breathe out
the ordinary, and inhale perfume ...

Love’s Dixieland-rambunctious: tangled vines,
wild clematis, the gold-brocaded leaves
that will not keep their order in...

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Within the frame a sepia scene
a dusty porch   a rickety chair   
the fabric of your dusky face creased
with ceaseless sunbaked woes
your old pair of getaway feet gives 
a different walk of...

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Washed ashore on the lost island

Skin already peeling on the beach

Burning from the hot green summer sun

Meat melting off to become bone

Jumping back into the water

Cooling off with the clams and fish 

Washing the sand...

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This is a Crown of Sonnets I wrote about one of my favorite books and movies (the version in 1943 with Liz Taylor, who was only 11 had a small role, Joan Fontaine and Orson...

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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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In the raw expanse of land where rivers sigh,  
marked by the shadows of cats and dogs,  
with each puddle of yellow reminding us  
of lives once lived, hearts bound to the...

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Renee Vivien Translations


Song
by Renée Vivien
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

When the moon weeps,
illuminating flowers on the graves of the faithful,
my memories creep
back to you, wrapped in flightless wings.

It's getting late; soon we will sleep
(your eyes...

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With the morning crisp and frosty
    and the Earth yearning for autumn's heat.
Darkness gave way to a fractured dawn
    as the Sun rose in the East.
The forest became warm...

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In glamor-light of sunset
a new crowd of cumulus clouds arrive
and revive a sepia sky-scene—
unworldly woolgatherers gather
spinning fantasy fluff into quixotic yarns
of debutantes dancing with honeymoon hunger;
their dewy eyes blurred by the sawdust of stardust

pseudo-princess-pleasure-seekers
—drama daring...

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(Day 1)

"O Wise Raven, Sage of the Skies, tell me what you have seen from your perch set on high."

"Mortal Man, I feel no compulsion to reveal to you that which I have witnessed with...

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There is a water glint,
just shining through the copse beyond.
Autumn's sinking sun, 
barred by spindle trees and the last 
of summer's brindled reeds 
and sedge and rush that fringe this stilling pond.
.
 
Damp leaves hide...

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"Seeds"



Blue reaches reflections
touching ripples 
tears in time ephemeral
caresses fragrant Green my canopy

opens the light
inside me 

cracked eggshell 
golden-yoked sunshine
pale turquoise kintsugi
splintered paths inside my mind

in the smallness
of me 
something 
quietly blooms 

ragged yet refined
a gecko...

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You rock me wildly
 To the black rhythms of juju music from the radio;
 Drinking horn in hand.
 Not too drunk to tread
 The course of blue, warmth
 And moaning shadows behind batiste curtain.
 Waves...

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Memories of a Green Beret

“Where have all the soldiers gone, Long time passing,
Where have all the soldiers gone, Long long time ago,
Where have all the soldiers gone,
Gone to graveyards, every one.
When will they ever learn?
When...

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It helps me to optimize possible health-improving wealth outcomes
by temporarily suspending disbelief
we have each chosen to be spiritually reborn into
each and every WinWin opportunity
to optimize mutual healthy-wealth
naturally developed for cooperatively-owned
and integratively managed 
personal enrichment
extending families
and...

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(A lone voice whispers)


Within this deep clearing, a mystical sanctuary surrounded by the long trees of Time's perpetual symphonies, we meet.



Within this clearing, sheltered from Storms



Inside this sacred sanctuary, within this journey



A place beyond the...

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THE SEEKER

A weaving’s blending is spun within the soil of the discontent,
Legends are the roots of cultures, stories woven within the 
Fabrics of societies, but the colors of truth reveal the shocking
Details of wrong deeds,...

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