Long Scattering Poems

Erin, for a girl who embodies Ireland
by Michael R. Burch

All that’s left of Ireland is her hair—
bright carrot—and her milkmaid-pallid skin,
her brilliant air of cavalier despair,
her train of children—some conceived in sin,
the others to avoid...

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With my Uyghur poetry translations I am trying to build awareness of the plight of Uyghur poets who are being sent to Chinese "reeducation" concentration camps.

Elegy
by Perhat Tursun
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Asylum seekers, will...

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The Field
by Rumi 
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Far beyond sermons of right and wrong there's a sunlit field. 
I'll meet you there. 
When the soul lazes in such lush grass 
the world is too...

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Birdsong
by Rumi
loose translation by Michael R. Burch

Birdsong relieves
my deepest griefs:
now I'm just as ecstatic as they,
but with nothing to say!
Please universe,
rehearse
your poetry
through me!



I choose to love you in silence
by Rumi
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

I...

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Juvenilia: Early Poems VII

These are early poems I wrote as a boy and as a teenager.

The Leveler
by Michael R. Burch

The nature of Nature
is bitter survival
from Winter’s bleak fury
till Spring’s brief revival.

The weak implore Fate;
bold men...

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He just appeared to me, like wispily curling 
Chimney smoke, 
One grim and early morning in the very midst of 
Decembers briefest days, on the highest slope,
Toiling through my daily round; where, slowly 
Driving up...

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"Christmas in the Cathedral of the Forest Deep"




The silent heart is found 
embedded in the 
Cathedral of 
The Forest Deep

The lost jewel
shines in the dark
see the reflection of emerald eyes
endless hazel woods scried

On Christmas Eve
when...

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PSYCHOTIC JOURNEY
by
JOHN M. ARRIBAS


Feeling really beat,  I went to bed early last night
Suddenly awakened feeling something’s not right
There was total darkness, I was not in my room
Lying on a cold flooring, with a feeling...

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the sky erupts monsters
sky erupts monsters forming
erupts monsters forming wreaking
monsters forming wreaking havoc
forming wreaking havoc shattering
wreaking havoc shattering serenity
havoc shattering serenity bolts
shattering serenity bolts of
serenity bolts of hell
bolts of hell deluge
of hell deluge descending
hell deluge...

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“The Blue Nazarene” 

caeruleum caelum 
in nubibus
caeruleum

caeruleum caelum
in nubibus 
de hyacintho nazarene

testimonium:

white stallions, 

clouds commanding
Christus imperium
above all below 

all below 
now present to worship 
a secular ghost

stopped dead in their tracks
those ridiculous battalions
games of war...

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                                  ...

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The missus served me high test coffee...

Ah... tis nothing more heavenly 
(to one borne again devout atheist)
then a spring like January 18th, 2023
here at Highland Manor apartments
picturesque green covered landscape,
where intrepid dandelions 
dare to defy...

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Everybody is singing a different tune
Everybody is dancing to a different beat
Everybody is praying to a different God
And here I am feeling very sad
I am here, you are there but I have no fear

The politicians...

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I noticed a difference in you that is oh so true
A kind of difference that is brand new, shining anew
You are the beautiful shade of blue
I keep on wishing upon a star to be with...

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I wish to
Relay
To all of my people the importance of sticking together as a 
team

And that
Because we have run 
through the preliminary trials as selfish individual, goal seekers
we have barely made it to the finals,...

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The Ending at Wounded Knee

This is what happened:
Two worlds collided,
The elder one died.

Pony soldiers and Indian police,
Trigger happy and jumping at shadows,
Killed Sitting Bull at Pine Ridge;
     His horse pawed the...

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Inevitable death defines afterlife

I mull mortality 
thru lens crafted occipital orbs
regarding a better future
experience sing a space oddity – 
whar incessant yaks
exuding a big hurt
emanate as cosmic atomic 
bipedal hominids replete roof lee wax
during a...

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It's the weekend (Friday night). Lisa and I are hangin’, music’s playing, and we’re rummaging through my suitcase, for an outfit option, for me, tonight. Call it cliché, but we like going out - and...

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She is not with me. I can write the saddest verses tonight.
I write, for example: "The night is starry" and the stars shiver, in the distance, and thousands of echoes of silent desires
Find shelter under...

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In the blinded moments,
Before the mist rises over the tumbling surf…
Blueness tempting awake my dreams,
A heartbeat from the flaming blaze,
Sunshine pouring through the clusters of 
Feathery clouds, like the breath of peace
Aroused from the falling...

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Is it possible, in times like these, 
To fight off such adversity and selfishness
And to save other souls that you owe not to?
Gaze into these pain-filled eyes,
Contemplate their crushing calumny 
And see why I must...

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Reflections upon mine gender identity redux

Although heterosexual 
predilections punctuated
physiological pulsations 
about five inches below
innie belly button of mine 
showcasing undersize
male member, when fully erect 
not much to crow
about, contributed 
diminished masculinity within
body electric regarding 

wordsmith...

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Written: December 31, 2024, Contest: Sponsored by: Kai Michael Neumann
                         ...

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People anticipated, and waited for the day they could gaze upon my beauty, and that they did. The men adored me, the women admired me, and the children were in awe of me. 
Everyone loved...

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Bang! Bang! Bang! 
The sound of gun shots echoing in the air
Shattering windows and, smashing glasses 
Sending people pouring out in the street
Gun shots penetrating the clouds 
With a message that is very loud

People are...

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