Long Sentinel Poems

These are early poems of mine, written as a high school student in the 10th grade. 

as Time walked by
by Michael R. Burch

yesterday i dreamed of us again,
when
the air, like honey,
trickled through cushioning grasses,
softly flowing,...

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 A French ‘Indianist’ Doctor: A Tribute to a Die-hard Humanist
                         ...

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I am an Outlander
Who lives on a high hill
Overlooking a man-made lake
That once was a rapidly rushing river
Along whose banks the Ozarks Bluff Dwellers and the Osage and then Delaware
Hunted, fished, and created shelter
For their...

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The last time you felt good, you played along with them, and they were fooled
The feeling inside was blue and you always considered the suicide rendezvous
It’s when you can’t laugh or cry, and feel it’s...

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The Enchanted City of Dual Realms
In the sprawling labyrinth of concrete towers and spectral glass,
where skyscrapers, like ancient obelisks, pierce the celestial veil with unyielding ambition,
serpentine rivers of fortune murmur in arcane tongues, their secrets...

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THE SENTINEL
by
JOHN M. ARRIBAS

					

I took the elevator to the lobby of the small hotel
I’d been here six days the ennui was starting to tell
I’d been sent to cover an international gathering
Sessions so long and dull...

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Beneath the pall of an eldritch moon, 
                           ...

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From north, south, east and west 
This is the town to beat the rest,
Where history and present blend
As through its many streets you wend. 

Where once a monastery so great
From every view would dominate,
Where Pilgrims...

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Beyond the Realm of Wishes
In sun-scorched dunes 
beside a weathered sentinel 
a glint ensnared his weary gaze.
A tarnished lamp / 
grazed / its secrets unknown / 
a genie unbound.... 
a muted haze.

Three worldly desires danced...

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Into the woods we ventured, where darkness began to encircle us,
Their ancient murmurs mingling with the forest’s ominous chorus.
A chilling breeze, as if the very breath of the woods sighed,
Veiled in tempestuous clouds, the stars...

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      As I fall into the buzzing altar of heavy 
metal shifting sand, maw, swirling sheets, 
illness drools plus plus halcyon?
drawn too many wrinkles...

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Written: December 04, 2024, For Contest, Sponsored by: Ink Empress
                   ________________________________

A grimacing goon
in a destructive drug-driven delirium 
faces...

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Bill hates to go to parties but he loves to go to wakes. One of the advantages of being old, he says, is that there are fewer parties to go to but a lot more...

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I gaze out the window of my soul,
Scanning a distant horizon where dreams and reality intertwine,
Seeing patches of ethereal clouds,
Drifting across the vast expanse of the blue sky.
I am bound for a realm called Insanity,
To...

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In the labyrinth of night, I wander, seeking echoes of a lost era,
To be modern means to delve into the incurable,
To plunge into the depths of the soul's festering wounds,
Each scar a testament to battles...

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Welcome to Bridal Veil.
The beauty is beyond compare.
As you walk down the peaceful trail, 
Strange whispers might fill the air,
of Maswein, the magician forgotten tale.
O' the lore and truths, it begs to share.
May this humble...

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Under the cloak of night,
where the moon weaves delicate incantations from forgotten dreams and silent woes,
I wander the corridors of my own mind,
a flickering flame in a world of spiritual guerrillas,
of gods and madmen.
These young...

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Dawn's Embrace:
Adret: Dawn paints the face of giants,
Where sunlight warms and shadows dance.
Aiguille: Fingers pierce the azure sky,
A challenge whispered, sharp and high.

Earth's Whispers: 
Dome: Molten heart, now cold and grand,
A silent testament to time's...

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III. Ecological Awareness 

In this fragile eggshell
I will call life
for security's a mirage
I chase.
Existence is a gamble I take
a wild and
desperate gamble.
Not a problem –
to dissect, I say
but an eagle’s call
heard.
A life joy-filled
sorrow
I feel every...

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              The Night Soil Man

			I

		Nothing sticks to-get-her like turds
             ...

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Saturday Afternoon Before Jack’s 2nd Birthday

A Caravelle wall clock behind me
  ticks away muffled minutes,
Its black pointed hands 
   reaching upward and downward;

The EXIT sign above the open white door
  ...

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———

2016,

Sheep.
Magpie.
Mule deer.
Mustang, colt, mustang...upon the ridge.

Eagle's nest, bald.
Oreo cows, in far field.
Running baby cows.
Sheep.

Felled branch...100 mph winds.
Controlled burn, left quiet;
but not, as it turned out,
without embers enough
to catch to flames
and race up the Sierra,
down the...

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Beneath a sky veiled in black velvet silence
The moon’s silver sliver grins like a knife, a greedy eye
Carving hollow light across a hallowed field
Where footsteps dissolve and flee
Consumed by the earth’s whispers
Each step is a...

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Canticle: an Aubade
Michael R. Burch

Misty morning sunlight hails the dawning of new day;
dreams drift into drowsiness before they fade away.
Dew drops on the green grass echo splendors of the sun;
the silence lauds a songstress and...

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The raven knows, listen to his soundings warning,
Beware and listen to what he says, harken unto this
Messenger of death for he sees all things, be it dark or light!
Black ebonies feathered sentinel, warily watching, as
The...

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