Long Reprieve Poems

Various Heresies 4

I, Lazarus
by Michael R. Burch

I, Lazarus, without a heart,
devoid of blood and spiritless,
lay in the darkness, meritless:
my corpse?a thing cold, dead, apart.

But then I thought I heard?a Voice,
a Voice that called me from...

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For All That I Remembered
by Michael R. Burch

For all that I remembered, I forgot
her name, her face, the reason that we loved ...
and yet I hold her close within my thought:
I feel the burnished weight...

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Enough!
by Michael R. Burch

It’s not that I don’t want to die;
I shall be glad to go.
Enough of diabetes pie,
and eating sickly crow!
Enough of win and place and show.
Enough of endless woe!

Enough of suffering and vice!
I’ve...

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World War II Poems and Holocaust Poems - IV - Primo Levi

Shema
by Primo Levi
translation by Michael R. Burch

You who live secure
in your comfortable houses, 
who return each evening to find
warm food, 
welcoming faces...

consider whether this...

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 A French ‘Indianist’ Doctor: A Tribute to a Die-hard Humanist
                         ...

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Poems about Children III

Miracle
by Michael R. Burch

for Jeremy

The contrails of galaxies mingle, and the dust of that first day still shines.
Before I conceived you, before your heart beat, you were mine,

and I see

infinity leap in...

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Old Pharaoh had enslaved the Jews; he would not let them go.
So God devised a mighty scheme; his go-to guy was Mo.
His brother Aaron was the voice, for Moses talked real slow,
So he would wave...

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Recluse by dint of circumstance

Proud anonymous troglodytes 
forerunners of mine
confronted threats less horrific
than forty fifth commander in chief
of United States of America.

He/him (matted hair, ratty, scrawny, 
and tetchy ugly villain)   
scurried into dark...

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Unquotable quotes: Paris, the last week of the August reprieve – XXXV Part Two
                 II

The first signs reek tell-tale
Buffer-to-buffer...

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Back in 1962 when I was just a lad
my dad gave me a holiday
the best I ever had.
A holiday of every dream
that one lifetime could hold
so listen while this wondrous time 
to you I now...

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Three Tribute poems--  composed by me,

For Longfellow blog….

(1.)

Glory Of Faith's Triumphant Golden Crowns



The rays of morn took their first golden breath

Dispersing powers of night's darkling mists

First gleams romancing sweet the earthen shores

Beating back dark...

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The Edges of Rhyme 

I wrote the playbook, watching what they took 
While the earth shook I could not look 
In the direction of the Big Book 
Like a fish caught on a nasty hook...

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Unquotable quotes: Paris, the last week of the August reprieve – XXXV
 Part One                     ...

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(4.)
As Midnight Hours Call In More Darkened Hosts

Slow flows a river of doubt and regret
foaming its swirling eddies and sad pits
cavernous echoes one can not forget
nor withstand jagged cuts and hardest hits!

As sun retreats and...

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Fork git about spooner hiz ham

And join (singing the words 
in the next paragraph) whether alone
in a traffic jam
basting, cooking, then eating a lamb
prepared by thee missus
a superb culinary madam.

“A Ram Sam Sam” Lyrics
A ram...

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Life is not cricket: though a game of cricket reflects life 
It portrays real-life conditions; from cradle to urn 
Starting with toss of a coin; ends in pulling bails off
Just as cricket life is simply...

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Watching upcoming toilet bowl lvii highlight of February 12th, 2023

Above title attests 
how mine mundane mein kampf
insync as a veritable clogged drain oh:
flush with adventure overflowing excrement
er... rather excitement.

Apt aforementioned accurate personal description
believe me not,...

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Watching upcoming toilet bowl lvi highlight of February 13th, 2022

Above title attests how mine mundane mein kampf
insync as a veritable clogged drain oh:
flush with adventure overflowing excrement
er... rather excitement.

Apt aforementioned accurate personal description
believe me not,...

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Those evil thorns of bitterness
That couldn't bear to see
This child so loved and so adored
By their father
Captain Lee

Until one day in early May
When she went out to play
In  fields drenched in morning  dew
Above...

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From my Blog:
Of Byron, Keats And Shelley, A Few Words

(1.)

Of Byron And A Visit I Once Had

Alas! Youth and its joy away has flown
I wake at the break of day with a groan
the smooth mirror...

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How dare you walk around all cocky and self righteous
Nailing your ASS is going to be my final gift
U know what u did covering it up because you had to
You don't fool me Doc I...

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11	Contracted in this state our marriage made
		And only far too late we recognize
		That gladly with Reptilian Flesh we’ve laid
		The veil torn away revealing eyes
		Of yellow flame exposéd we surmise
		Out from the darkened room these floating...

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(Lights dim, a single spotlight illuminates Judy Garland, center stage. She wears a faded housecoat, her eyes holding a lifetime of stories. She speaks directly to the audience, her voice a smoky whisper)

Judy: 
They christened...

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I am ill eke quipped to dusk hoover dawn ting task of badinage

Indentured gumption forsaken 
courtesy each pulled wisdom-tooth
this hug gust aspiring writer..., albeit youth
fool looking imp posse Hubble wordsmith,
(i.e. the babbling dad) coon sitters...

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How did my Nanny know of the horrors that went on in our home?  Was it the palpable fear in my eyes, or her heavenly instinct?  Today, I believe she had a divine...

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