Long Scored Poems

Rejection Slips 2

The Shape of Mourning
by Michael R. Burch
 
The shape of mourning
is an oiled creel
shining with unuse,
 
the bolt of cold steel
on a locker
shielding memory,

the monthly penance
of flowers,
the annual wake,
 
the face in the...

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Moon sprites dotted the sky like lilies at dawn
    in a ballet meant to cause nocturnal delight.
While Fairies and Pixie Dust covered the lawn
    in a dance that would...

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Old Pharaoh had enslaved the Jews; he would not let them go.
So God devised a mighty scheme; his go-to guy was Mo.
His brother Aaron was the voice, for Moses talked real slow,
So he would wave...

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Hey…did I ever tell you ‘bout the greatest baseball game,
Or should I say…the one that gave “Ol' Babe” his famous name?

Like several other great ones, there were many hits that day, 
And if it hadn't...

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April 9th, 2024 would be ninety fifth birthday poem for dearly departed papa

The following words crafted soon after the soul of me daddy set adrift into the empyrean realm joining the rank and file of...

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At once she paid a visit. In her colorful dress, so revealing and appealingly suited to her slendern torso. I to gaze the door way, mine heart pounded viciously,  a death knock. I was...

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[Continued from ‘Terror Bugs: Part 2 - A Freezer Mice Adventure’]
__________

London’s streets resembled an al fresco mausoleum 
They tracked a trail of body parts which led to a museum
A thousand Terror Bugs were massed, in...

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DJ and  the Damian squad rushed
The house. "Dad we're gonna 
Play CRUEL BALL!"  Amadeus 
Gave notice. Damian said, "Oh
Yeah." He put his hands on both
His sons shoulders and said.
"Fellows first of all it's...

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Dedicated to the 2000 National College Football Champions, the Oklahoma Sooners 

--------------------------------------------------------------

Over fifty years, boy and man, I’ve been a Sooners fan
Watched and reveled in their glories, every one;
But there’s no more glorious “Sooner Magic”...

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COME ON SOUPER'S LETS HAVE SOME FUN AND MAKE FOLK SMILE DURING SUCH DIFFICULT TIMES FOR US ALL. THERE ARE LOTS MORE APT NAMES  - PLEASE SOUP MAIL POEMS AND I WILL ADD THEM...

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**Trigger Warning**



"I Knew Anne Silently - My Ravenous Poe" 

I knew Anne.
you’d think 
with a name like hers
she’d be able to find her way 
out of unchartered waters.

it didn’t come as a suprise, 
then, on...

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11 am everybody was preped
And in the yard pass the two 
Houses waiting and planning for the
Cruel Ball Opposition.
 There was Amadeus 
DJ Damali Rico Nyaf Justin Jordan 
Tanaka Aka Tank Constantino Aka
Tino Ricky and...

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I killed my friend,
I never wanted,
Do not see me cruel,
I did it for love.
We both ran naked
Under this influential shower.
No one uncoupled his lips
Against this faint madness,
We were indebted,
Either had to earn the prize.


It was...

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April 9th, 2023 birthday poem for dearly departed papa

Borne aloft into the netherland
the body bearing thee soul   
of Boyce Brandon Harris
birth name given to my late father
buoyed aloft united with spirit
of mine late...

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Fourth canto (first part)

The deep slumber was broken in my head
By a strong thunder, so that I woke up
As person forced to arouse from bed;

My rested eye I moved around then deep,
Erect uprisen, and also...

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There was a time throughout this land 
    when all was well and kind.
Where Wood Sprites, Fairies and Pixie dust 
    were not that hard to find.
But times have...

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Mine courtship and marriage with deadly obsession...

As September daze will soon arrive
recollections from a 
psychologically checkered  past
loom large recalling  
tragic storied days of mein kampf.

Circa early nineteen seventies:
As a mere slip of a...

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I beg for your forgiveness once more
I said too much again…need I say more?
It’s been a crappy, snappy day for me and today will be my day
An attitude of gratitude instead of dismay would be...

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JOE VERSUS THE RACCOON 
By Kate H. Stark


Each night ‘twas the same old proverbial shout. 
“Hey Joe, will you please take the garbage bags out?”

Joe sighed, rolled his eyes as he walked toward the door....

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April 9th, 2021 birthday poem for dearly departed papa

Elysian fields embraced dada's soul
which rocketed into aerospace
(courtesy General Electric satellite)
just a tad more'n six months ago,
nevertheless melancholy
still plucks mine heart strings.

Mine psyche still situated awry
placid countenance...

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What remains 
when gratitude for learning
totally evaporates?

I don't know...
Totalitarian senility, maybe?
I guess I don't understand
the source of your question, dear.
Do you feel less grateful for learning
than in more formative years?

No, I don't
but I sense younger...

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"Free Falling"



You have to believe in Magic
to believe in the poetry of You

If you don’t believe in Magic
you are nothing but a black line 

bleeding to the right creative, 
without left margin

for logical analysis,
you’re fixed...

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Here we are fans this fine summer day,
to watch Trash Can Cats, versus Downtown Stray.
The field is grand in this deep wooded glen,
pitchers are warming up in the bull pen.

Pitching for the Cats is Crazy...

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Easter as interpreted by one...

rebated, rebelled, rebirthed, rebooted, 
and rebuked courtesy 
one ill shod Unitarian atheist,
who means NOT to affect
any sacrilegious fallout
nor offend devoutly religious 
man, woman, or child,
when the most important 
Christian holiday notated,...

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In 1958 Elmer's was the only high school in his county that had been integrated. Basketball was the big sport. People in the little town filled the gym every Tuesday and Friday. They roared when...

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