Long Reeling Poems

I have been trying to find the right words to pen this verse, but since I came to this country my words are suppressed and my voice is oppressed. The wind is blowing furiously, and...

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Where art thou anonymous benefactor...to offer me succor?

Ah... methinks legal tender 
could be a boon to help me bolster 
mein kampf with necessary material equipage,
which prospect to acquire essential 
commodities sabotaged 
at the altar of...

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SELF REFLECTIONS

These are poems about mirrors, images, self-image, reflections, impressions and self-reflection. 

Self Reflection
by Michael R. Burch 

for anyone struggling with self-image

She has a comely form
and a smile that brightens her dorm ...
but she's grossly...

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Radiance
by Michael R. Burch

for 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 but feels its meaning—
the...

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your silken skin gleams opaline
bathed in Luna's soft wash of cornflower - like a
porcelain Madonna by Michelangelo
conjured to life by the magic
of moonlight

your eyes open just long enough to
affix mine, and affirm I'm in a...

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These are poems about Dylan Thomas, as well as poems "for" and "after" Dylan Thomas. Dylan Thomas was one of my favorite poets from my early teens and has remained so over the years. I...

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Myth, after Dylan Thomas
by Michael R. Burch

Here the recalcitrant wind
sighs with grievance and remorse
over fields of wayward gorse
and thistle-throttled lanes.

And she is the myth of the scythed wheat
hewn and sighing, complete,
waiting, lain in a low...

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[Well, ShallowMan’s ne’er at a loss
for voicing shallow thoughts that gloss.
With trenchant wit he reaps the dross
when seeking sense in applesauce.

But to his aid flies FactoidMan
who always has a Fact at hand;
with him, who needs...

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Sonnets LXXI-LXXX

Because You Came to Me
by Michael R. Burch

Because you came to me with sweet compassion
and kissed my furrowed brow and smoothed my hair,
I do not love you after any fashion,
but wildly, in despair.

Because you...

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Wovoka in the Feverland

In the Dying-Grass Moon came another winter to claim the old and sick.
This was when the first messengers came
To the desolation known as Pine Ridge.
They came riding in at the end of...

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Death Watch

It was early morning.
The sun was barely above the high hills on the other side of the lake.
I was at the end of the dock slowly reeling in my line.
I could see fish jumping...

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A funny frog called Mr Snog,
once lived beside a slimy bog,
he was a most peculiar fellow,
his hat was red, his boots were yellow,
his waistcoat was an olive green,
the strangest sight you’ve ever seen,
no matter where...

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https://gigglespoet.com/#jp-carousel-66   My scars from a misdiagnosis are my armor 

Lord, old memories plague me in the darkness 
And as they rear their ugly head 
They only remind me of all that I've lost...

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I woke up this morning with courage over my back and wisdom in my hat
I was determined to put an end to the sneaky kangaroo rats
No one had done me anything but I was reeling...

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The Mirror

When I look in the mirror I don’t see me, I see who I used to be.  A little lost girl that was so abused and so misused, so ashamed of who she...

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The Professor's campaign
although stealthily benign
still co-arose fair hecklers.

How can you reassure me
that our vulnerable children
will not hate me
and you
for stealing from all Earth's tribal presence,
and any possibility of healthy future?

While Yangyinstein stood stunned
with wonder
about all...

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SHE was my wife, once ...

long ago, so very long ago ...
we met on the showboat, up-river,
almost fifty years back now ...
I was a young officer for the Confederacy,
working for the Yanks after The Turn,

supplying...

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"Conceits"



Such conceits
as veils between 
our windowed worlds 
torn torrential incomplete

mayst thou watch and learn 
the one I spawned, 
strength beats weakness
carried soft and harsh

one direction or the other
strength and weakness
both carried soft and harsh
ego and...

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"Heart"  

Deep fissures formed
in the cracks of 
the nowhere place
where time leeched
bleeding claret 
through the green 
veined blues

protean bit by bit
the flesh disappears
prematurely 6ft under
mulch for rebirth
the subcontinent
conscientious conscience 
inward reaching

the divine central tableau...

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White old men are kind
White old men are divine
White old men are my brothers
White old men are inviting me to supper
White old men are my dream
White old men are very clean
White old men want to...

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Hello, there. Rise and shine. I think I’ll call you Adam/
Who are you? Your creator. The maker of all you fathom/
You can call me God. This place is the Garden of Eden/
Why’d you make me?...

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One warm Summer’s day
As I sat in my folding chair
Something caught my eyey
Something there
Something flying through the air
It was a butterfly
It did flitter and flutter by

When it decided to land
It landed on my left hand
I...

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His walk into town would prove fateful that day,
As his mind wandered idly while finding his way.
His footsteps were brisk like fall chill in the air,
Past Wellington Gate, south of Denby town square.

He paused for...

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I have not penned a verse for many months because I have many things
That are undone, I have not penned a verse for months because the mornings have me on the run. Here I am...

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There must have been several of these incidents
Occurring in towns and cities all over the country
From month to month and from year to year
But to experience one at such a close range
Was enough to cause...

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