Long Scatters Poems

The years have passed quietly,
	Moments poured out in timeless winds,
Falling from my spirit, shadows, 
	Wistful, blurred images, photographs,
Twisting, turning, trembling,
	Black and white, tinted presences
Of those I know, those I’ve known,
Some gone, some old, some broken...

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Heavy pressures of fame were getting to me, since I was world famous,
And desperately needed a getaway, as a rainbow sometimes detains us.

I was a successful performer, and ardent press went wherever I went,
Like exotic...

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Yolotli, the beauty of Tenochitlan,
She was a tender, loving woman.
Every day she was catered to.
That is, until she was stolen.

Men, Warriors big and strong came from an opposing tribe.
They saw her glamour even from a...

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I went to bed late this morning with a sweet tender feeling
My head resting in your bosom listening to the soul of the  mighty woman
My mind traveled the entire universe observing everything that is...

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I love spending nights on the lake.
Once the oven-like sun disappears,
things get suddenly quiet, except for
the occasional hoot of an owl, crickets, frogs
and the soft lapping of the lake on the boat.
When the moon rises...

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Ode to Be

I feel different from other people,
Some say I am weird and strange,
This endless striving to be accepted, 
Just leaves me disheartened and drained. 
I haven’t found God in the Bible, 
But your eyes...

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A blitzkrieg wipes your innocence away
and only heaven’s hand can help you now.
Your counterparts lie trepid to the fray,
for they can sense the wolfen on the prowl.
Oh dear Poland, there’ll be no recompense
as death, unbridled,...

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Drink the poison from my blood, breathe the rot from my lungs.
Take all that has been decaying inside me and nurse it to health like an injured bird.
A child who was once pure, turned sour...

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WHEN The WIND COMES DOWN LONG LAKE in OCTOBER 
 
(1 AM in the morning  -  Naples, Maine)

When unseasonable lake water balm 
meets you tripping out of Ricks’ Café 
after midnight
you know those...

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I was a pleasant, conscientious librarian, whose world consisted of books,
As a world of fragrant beauty, can be found in the glossy, honeyed nooks.

Although it was pleasant work and appealing, I was not so very...

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These are poems about recollection, poems about remembrance, poems about memories, poems about time and things we forget as well as remember...

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...

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Rounds
by Michael R. Burch

Solitude surrounds me
though nearby laughter sounds;
around me mingle men who think
to drink their demons down,
in rounds.

Now agony still hounds me
though elsewhere mirth abounds;
hidebound I stand and try to think,
not sink still further...

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The Heights of Machu Picchu, Canto VIII
by Pablo Neruda
translation by Michael R. Burch

Ascend with me, my American love!

Let’s kiss these mysterious stones together!

The Urubamba’s torrential silver
lures pollen to fly from its golden chalice
while above this...

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Symphonic sirens serenade me from afar;
distinctive, delectable scents tickle and tantalise:
my senses awash with anticipation
as, finally, I lay eyes on my prey.

Slowly and surreptitiously,
I draw ever closer to my quarry.
Prancing and playing, oblivious to the...

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I was a productive, proficient painter, long captivated by the manifold colors,
An infinite parade of hues and intensities, like tales of a thousand summers.

I worked daily at this irresistible passion, which made long, golden hours...

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Since you have a pair of wings,
What about you reach to the clouds
Since you are more royal and fearless than kings,
Do me a favor and snip off my shrouds 

Do you have wings that are...

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In the backdrop where the sun had regally retreated, like a knight of the dusk,
The pipe of time smokes memories onto the face of the sky, lamenting in a sigh.
The clouds, scholars of the azure,...

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They converge at the gate with vicious eyes crawling out of the skies and vengeance puffed up in their guts with lots of details engraved in tattoos painted on their skins.  

The dogs carry...

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"A Blessing In Disguise"

Sometimes life shuts you down
Scatters all your dreams & makes you bound...
This time I was all about to quit
Everything was vanished & badly hit...
I thought how will my family & I'll survive
We...

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THE SWEETER, THE BITTER
The sweeter the bitter, the bitter the sweeter;
There is nothing like a free lunch, the sweeter the bitter
Lift me high so you can pull me down, the sweeter the bitter
Only my loved...

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THE SWEETER, THE BITTER
The sweeter the bitter, the bitter the sweeter;
There is nothing like a free lunch, the sweeter the bitter
Lift me high so you can pull me down, the sweeter the bitter
Only my loved...

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THE SWEETER, THE BITTER
The sweeter the bitter, the bitter the sweeter;
There is nothing like a free lunch, the sweeter the bitter
Lift me high so you can pull me down, the sweeter the bitter
Only my loved...

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From sagging huts up in the hills, 
We watched the tourists flash their bills. 
They piled our harvest on their plates, 
While soup and scraps were all we ate. 

The flames lick up from garbage...

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Lord have they gone to far given an inch they want the yard            	          ...

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The mighty 3rd to the north did steam,
Chasing a ghost not to be seen

Guard the landing your task assigned,
Quiet the day is to be benign

At dawn the Imperial fleet does appear,
Surprise complete, ranging fire splashes...

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