Long Rhinestone Poems

Let Me Give Her Diamonds
by Michael R. Burch

Let me give her diamonds
for my heart's
sharp edges.

Let me give her roses
for my soul's
thorn.

Let me give her solace
for my words
of treason.

Let the flowering of love
outlast a winter
season.

Let me...

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MODERN SONNETS I

I prefer the original definition of the sonnet as a “little song” of indeterminate form and length. These modern sonnets vary from more-or-less traditional to free verse.


Maker, Fakir, Curer
by Michael R. Burch

A poem...

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Sonnets XXV-XXXII

Archaischer Torso Apollos (“Archaic Torso of Apollo”)
by Rainer Maria Rilke
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

We cannot know the beheaded god
nor his eyes' forfeited visions. But still
the figure's trunk glows with the strange vitality
of a...

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 “looking back, I’m ashamed of what I was
I’m different now, though not without flaws
Each crest becomes a trough, as we move on
God slowly steers soul towards a new dawn” Unseeking Seeker 

Life is like...

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I am an unvoiced breeze~
a sea warrior 
    kite-surfing through 
    heinous waves, 
knitting cobalt chronicles 
    from smooth syllables~ 
tackling chaotic currents 
with chamomile magic...

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A beautiful Wintu girl reached puberty. Her sisters were sent to find 
maple bark to make her an apron. 

It so happened that Turtle, the mischievous son of the mighty ‘Sky 
Turtle’ stopped at the...

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Agnes Beaudette stood in front of her fifth-grade class on the very first day of school in the fall and told the children a lie. Like most teachers, she looked at her pupils and said...

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Ah, the life surreal.  Nothing like wearing the weirdness like a greatcoat as I sip bad hotel coffee and muse over where the last few years have taken me while watching ice flow around old...

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God’s country, a volcano who turned herself into a lovely lake 
                       ...

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Old Jack is at it again, Great Grandmother says.
Her voice eases through a window as we reach shoes on the porch.
At least twelve pair; which is okay as she has eighteen children.
A variety of second...

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When Marcelino Manuel da Graca aka Sweet Daddy Grace came to town.
 At an early age, I must admit that I was excited along with the majority of the Black community of the South East...

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There are Guineas that live in America
Guineas that live in a zoo
But the craziest, zaniest guineas of all
Are the ones that reside in Peru

It is said that they live in the Andes
And on weekends they...

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Music and romance are camarilla comrades,
just like poems are my shield and arrows.
But not all lullabies of lovers,
harmonise like a street choir of angels.
If love resembles the weather,
then poetry is like a snowflake.
Its fragile abstract...

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Time To Shower...When Pervasive Odor Of Ureic Acid

Doth strongly waft, sting,
and nauseate about me
olfactory nose flying zone
bombarding cilia of
nasal passageway analogous
to displeasure wrought by

crashing, deafening, exploding,
ear splitting xylophone,
also synonymous isolated like
barenaked lady within
remote location of...

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Turtle heard that Salt Woman was on the road again, and he was 
wanting a taste of her. Some miles from Cochiti, he stopped 
for directions at a Speedway gas station.
The dwarf who ran the...

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..for him 

   A little something in the 
 scintilla of soporific smiles you left me
 beneath dulcet gazing twirls
  of ballerina stars amongst a moonlit lullaby,
 sitting in the quixotic corners...

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This heart~ a lovesick talisman
f l a r e s fallen sparks,
seeking Mayan glyphs of hope
amidst layered lace of halcyon,
illuminated with tears
of black diamonds,
    for the empires ruined
by the self-righteous kings
 ...

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Dear Life,
that betrayed the heart-shaped shells,  
breathing colors of coral caves in slow cadence,  
I’ve surfed through whirling waves of woeful rhymes,
  to navigate tides of tormented tercets,  
  to...

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As we speculate the clear evening sky
Iridescent with gems, which we call stars,
Alive in our hearts stir the endless dream
To unwind and solve the puzzles of Earth-
The unfathomed vastness of cosmic space.
Since time began, this...

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I  d r
  e a
   m  away
from the golden-laced drapes,
tracing smoke-veiled cloudscapes,
reminiscing rainbow reveries,
raining with musical laughter,
mirroring the sun within
  my maternal spirit,
drawing cerulean smiles 
across the kaleidoscopic sky
with...

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Maradona, ice palace princess was more formidable than we knew
Her reputation was startlingly modest, said the soothsayer, Lou.
She led the dragon brigade in January, stated snowy owl, a friend.
Her army annihilated the enemy, I mean...

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January is a fascinating gateway to cool hand crispy, 
Fooling us yearly. 
Appearing overnight, as we dream of warmer things.
Covers the earth with her glistening white beauty, 
Knows we will be mesmerized by her dazzlingness.
Enthralled...

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my heroes have alway's been cowboys
                             ...

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He drove up to the Triple "T" Ranch in his brand new Cadillac!
In his air-conditioned trailer wuz his Arabian steed an' the finest tack!
He'd dreamed uv bein' a real workin' cowboy since he wuz a...

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When cowboys sprawl 'round the camp fire after the days work is done,
They strum guitars and tootle harmonicas and sing to have fun.
Real cowboys don't sing Honky-Tonk or She Done Me Wrong stuff.
They leave that...

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