Long Retreats Poems

These are prophetic poems and apocalyptic poems ...



The Vision of the Overseer’s Right Hand
by Michael R. Burch

“Dust to dust ...”

I stumbled, aghast,
into a valley of dust and bone
where all men become,
at last, the same color...

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“The Splice of Life”



When colour 
was to be 
washed out
of the world 

the evil ones 
didn’t care

the Actor led 
with his 
Dementors 
either side of him

Laundry, 

they resolved 
to be the best 
pristine method 
for...

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Hard driven by the embarrassment,
                              ...

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POTD 9th April 2018

Synopsis -
A story of selflessness without jealousy or rancor that is often evident through the ages in all walks of life, even in modern times. 

She’s a queen who sees her lover...

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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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“The ribbon is cut
 The die is cast
 The cement is dry
 Yet nothing lasts
 The brazen rewarded
 The hero a fool
 All reason outdated
 New fury the tool”

A journey presented
Your ship to go far
With...

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Fred’s feeding his neighbour’s pet parrot,
He replaced its water with claret,
Poll dropped off her perch
Now Fred’s in the lurch
and claiming it choked on raw carrot

Big trouble is looming for Fred
As Polly is very much dead
The...

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Behold! 

A gaping black-
Curtains of a heaven, drawn
Set adrift
Across the wilt of the zodiac! 

An’ so, she emerged

An’ madness dreamt into reality 
A bow, to tether-
Then glide down humanity
Every heart string, to vibrate an’ tear-
Tooth...

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Bring two poems is what he said. 

She chose a Personification, ‘Violin’, (the proud recipient of an International Poetry contest award), and a narrative, ‘The Rise and fall of an Empire.’ 

***

A Raven greets her.

She...

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A pulsing motive met them in the sky
to paint his birds before they flew your way,
then talons reared, determined to deny
the devil’s flying wolves a win this day.
Your heaven’s filled relentlessly with fire
as deficit engulfed...

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Shane walks in, hurries to the back of the bar. He finds the door opened to an alley littered with the garbage of the restaurant beside it, the one whose neon sign has two lights...

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A dogged stance had made the beast retire
as disappointment filled the devil’s veins.
Though Brit resolve repulsed his hellish fire 
this demon’s air of pompousness remains.
His raging storm had faltered in the face 
of fierce resistance,...

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In seventy-eight, my steel-stallion, KZ1000, 
   pride, wind in my hair.
Its Sissy Bar, firm tether, bag secured, 
   my wanderlust's prayer.

Sun, snow, wind sculpt my journey's theme, 
   my...

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Dapper Drac had a panic attack, and topping off the dread
His trendy boots clashed with his suit, plus his white shirt was stained red

Sure his hair was right, and dynamite, as seen in the mirror
Yet...

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In my sanctuary’s hush, Poe’s tales I clasp,
Into his world, I plunge, a breath, a rasp.
Beneath the creaking floorboards, a heart's pulse
In my mind, it throbs and gasps;
Suddenly, I'm the culprit, in horror's vice, my...

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Achingly, I watch as you frequently fall
For the idyllic notion of unconditional love
The dream, the desire, the fantasy
Drawn, inexplicably, to the potent flame
Of one who ignites the spark
You learn from her, confide in her
Losing yourself
As...

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(Rinpoche in Sarnath, 1987)

That’s What A Buddha’s Like

It’s hard to know where to start
when talking about the ineffable.

Maybe starting at the end is best.

It’s taken me a lifetime to appreciate
the little things, the simple, unadorned,...

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GILDAS TRANSLATIONS

These are modern English translations of Latin poems by the English monk  Gildas Sapiens (“Gildas the Wise”).

“Alas! The nature of my complaint is the widespread destruction of all that was good, followed by...

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despair hangs heavy 
in the air these days
 
but the only path
is through they say

an intruder in the midst
blowing his cold still drip 
into the ivy

teardrops overwhelm tilted ice trays
gently gathering each
hoping for a catch...

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Around that lonely house by the hill
The stray cat prowls through
His eyes glowing like meteors in the dark
And his fur's fawn rough
The stray cat strolls to the casement
Meowing for succour
The owner-occupier sneaks with a rod
Ready...

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When cyan night's 
raspberry moon
is dipped in softness 
of the afterglows, 
I gaze at that glossy
first evening star between 
creamy fingers of 
my cherry palm, 
which trace lunar kins -
those angelic fireflies, 
twinkling and pirouetting,...

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Track Through The Desert
                         
The place is Arabia in the early...

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Open up the Mask Drawer Please

I cackled delight as I opened up my mask drawer.
Naughty Wednesday mask was on top. It had a permanent stamp on it that said “Call in sick.”
Wednesday is the longest...

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What but ‘warmth’ speaks of ‘love’ to a child, to the aged,
Warmth all poems convey (that get launched from tome’s heart?)
I pray love gets displayed, found in stranger filled room
That you aren’t fishing for when...

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The ribbon is cut
The die is cast
The cement is dry
Yet nothing lasts
The brazen rewarded
The hero a fool
All reason outdated
New fury the tool

A journey presented
Your ship to go far
With doldrums eclipsed
By the light of new stars
The...

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