Long Sagged Poems

Lady’s Favor
by Michael R. Burch

May
spring
fling
her riotous petals
devil-
may-care
into the air,
ignoring the lethal
nettles
and may
May
cry gleeful-
ly Hooray!
as the abundance
settles,
till a sudden June
swoon
leave us out of tune,
torn,
when the last rose is left
inconsolably bereft,
rudely shorn
of every device but her thorn.


The...

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Winter
by Michael R. Burch

The rose of love's bright promise
lies torn by her own thorn;
her scent was sweet
but at her feet
the pallid aphids mourn.

The lilac of devotion
has felt the winter hoar
and shed her dress;
companionless,
she shivers—nude, forlorn.

Published...

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It had been a hellish week.

On Monday
my lonely and tired AfricanAmerican husband
told me, as gently as possible,
that what I had hoped was a temporary separation
is to be extended into perpetuity.

This separation had been scheduled to...

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Sonnets LII-LX

The Endeavors of Lips
by Michael R. Burch

How sweet the endeavors of lips: to speak
of the heights of those pleasures which left us weak
in love’s strangely lit beds, where the cold springs creak:
for there is...

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LOVE POEMS V

These are love poems by Michael R. Burch, about life, the dream of love, virtue, a first kiss, a first crush, the birth of a first relationship, the joy of a first love...

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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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[Continued from ‘Terror Bugs: Part 3 - A Freezer Mice Adventure’]
__________

The Terror Bugs pursued them through the skies toward the river
Cody flew just fast enough but still he felt a shiver
“Any slower and we’ll stall...

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If there is life there 
must be an encounteration.
Even the moons and 
the suns, all get to return 
back if they passed 
to their eventual 
transportation. The morning
lights shunned and pass 
like flying clouds. When...

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He wondered with horror how so many memories, so many forms to be branded on his skin and engrave there.

Then the wet rattle of a twisted throat, and he beats his last breath to his...

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“One completed, two to go,” Lumi said to Joulupukki as he lifted the mud guard in front of them. He wanted to give Joulupukki the chance to talk if he wanted to.  His weary...

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I got a text from one of my professors yesterday saying, ‘Please stop by my office at 6 pm tomorrow.’ It didn’t say why. This was the first day after November recess, had I missed...

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Lisa and I had a party to hit-up. I can’t stay inside all the time, not on a Friday night anyway and a rooftop is the perfect place to mull over big questions and get...

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A Vain Word
by Michael R. Burch
 
Oleanders at dawn preen extravagant whorls
as I read in leaves’ Sanskrit brief moments remaining
till sunset implodes, till the moon strands grey pearls
under moss-stubbled oaks, full of whispers, complaining
to the...

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Sometimes I still use a cordless house phone. 
When I call her I imagine her wrapping an invisible cord around her finger 
as if she were only walking slowly the opposite direction as the cord...

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This is a Repost

Today is Good Friday. Jesus, the Nazarene, who robbed no one, cheated no one, who loved all, healed the sick and performed only acts of kindness, when accused guilty and became the...

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Children's Poems XI

These are poems for children and poems about children and their mothers, fathers, grandmother, grandfathers and extended families. 



To My Child, Unborn
by Michael R. Burch

for Jeremy

How many were the nights, enchanted
with despair and...

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THE RUIN 
an Old English poem about fate & destiny
modern English translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

well-hewn was this wall-stone, till Wyrdes wrecked it
and the Colossus sagged inward...

broad battlements broken;
the Builders' work battered;

the high ramparts toppled;
tall...

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Today is Good Friday. Jesus, the Nazarene, who robbed no one, cheated no one, who loved all, healed the sick and performed only acts of kindness, when accused guilty and became the victim of gross...

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The Monarch Who Thought He Was King

Once there was a butterfly
	who fluttered by a gate. 
The gate was closed, that’s when he said, 
	“O shucks, now I’ll be late!” 
He danced and pranced and shouted...

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I could tell from the look on his face that things were not going his way,  the numbers have been overwhelming but the people have been deceiving him; some people with bad intention tells...

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Saw 
                                 ...

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Ballad : Just another odd guy*

He was just another odd guy
   With a self-abnegating smile
He spun no known wilful ploy
   Enough – just look at him a while

Others came to camp...

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To her, their apartment was the whole world—a small but cozy place where she felt safe and loved.

It was early morning. She heard her sister squeal with joy hearing that schools would be closed today...

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[Dearest American friends... Gloucester is pronounced ‘Glosster’]

                            ...

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Don't ask me how I got here
But I know it was a struggle 
You never knew you were pregnant with tomorrow
I ate what you ate
I drank what you drank 
I went everywhere you went 
When...

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