Long Sever Poems

Poems about Poems (II)

Kin
by Michael R. Burch

for Richard Moore

1.
Shrill gulls,
how like my thoughts
you, struggling, rise
to distant bliss?
the weightless blue of skies
that are not blue
in any atmosphere,
but closest here...

2.
You seek an air
so clear,
so rarified
the effort leaves...

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State of the Art (III)

These are my "ars poetica" poems: the ones about the art and craft of writing poetry in a modern world that doesn't always recognize the artists or their work. 



Come Down
by...

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I used to dream of a dark hall. Dim. Empty with thick cheap navy curtains. 
The breeze. It felt hot and old. It shivered in the curtains that lined the walls on both sides.
The breeze....

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I used to dream of a dark hall. Dim. Empty with thick cheap navy curtains. 
The breeze. It felt hot and old. It shivered in the curtains that lined the walls on both sides.
The breeze....

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Medieval Poems



Wulf and Eadwacer
(Old English circa 990 AD)
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

My people pursue him like crippled prey.
They'll rip him apart if he approaches their pack.
We are so different!

Wulf's on one island; I'm on...

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Sonnets XLII-LI

Distances
by Michael R. Burch

Moonbeams on water?
the reflected light
of a halcyon star
now drowning in night...
So your memories are.

Footprints on beaches
now flooding with water;
the small, broken ribcage
of some primitive slaughter...
So near, yet so far.



A Surfeit of...

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Come Down
by Michael R. Burch

for Harold Bloom

Come down, O, come down
from your high mountain tower.
How coldly the wind blows,
how late this chill hour ...

and I cannot wait
for a meteor shower
to show you the time
must be...

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Today, catching sight of the mallards
crying over Lake Iware:
Must I too vanish into the clouds?
—Prince Otsu translation by Michael R. Burch  

This world—
to what may we compare it?
To autumn fields
lying darkening at dusk
illuminated by...

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At the footbridge Sue was meeting her beau
(He was married to a woman called Flo)
Sue soon found out his deception
She dismembered his erection
For his love life it was a massive blow

To the hospital fled poor...

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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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YangLeft: Those still capable of right thinking,
as our more civil
humane reflections
on bilateral political
and economic investment inflection,
sometimes cooperative
and democratically co-invested,
but usually just BusinessAsUsual
life remains a win/lose infested 
compromising 
ZeroSum political disempowering game 
deflection.

YintegrityRight: Sweety,
thanks for honorable...

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Continued from
‘CATONITA STRIKES - PART ONE’
A Freezer Mice adventure


When no-one was around they did the finger-clicking thing
And grew to human size in time for what the day might bring
Their guns were charged and ready and...

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  Another Cruel Link in their Chain 

1.   Beginnings

Her babe was her joy, such a beautiful boy,
	and he suckled her breast till the end.
The slaver sought cash, bestowed mammy a thrash,
	sold her...

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Poem About Trump Poem

Are often things I may forget to mention
Some are both you and your opinion
And many things we have to decide
Not having anything we should hide.

Following poem I did have to prepare
This is...

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I loved my job as a librarian, and today I was walking to work,
In the warmth of a summer morning, when golden butterflies lurk.

I had some extra time, and it happens I took the scenic...

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Once within eternal time
of pre-LeftBrain domination,
I recall breathing in 
EarthMother's richly hued nutrition,
and this Other inhaling me,
purging lungs of misperceptions
that I was Her
any more or less than S/he was me.

We owned this communion together,
sacred breath...

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It is a strange dream
in which an animal rights advocate
is swamped with questions
from Chief Justice Roberts.

A vicious dog,
trained to attack humans 
with politically incorrect audacity
to trespass against his white supremacist Master,
has been imprisoned
and sentenced to...

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"Universe to each must be
All that is, including me.
Environment in turn must be
All that is, excepting me."
       Buckminster Fuller

Evolving Universe to each must become
All integrity that is, including me.
Regenerative...

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Martin, a very senior citizen, wants to get a bucket and knife and go hunt up some greens in a field in Alabama. But in spite of his yearnings for a big bowl of greens,...

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Here are tribute poems for exceptional children and teachers who should be alive today:

Emilie Parker,
the horror grows starker
as we see your sweet image
and cringe at the carnage;
but dear, how you mesmerize
with those vivid blue eyes
and...

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HIROSHIMA
I remember it well, that first day in Hell
             So long ago, I know

As the sirens sounded our Yankee foe
Decided that now his...

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Our UU ecofeminist minister
was verbally accosted one Sunday morning
after celebrating multicultural peace
and respect 
and integrity
sufficient to restore private ego- and public eco-justice.

This was far too much to take in,
to peacefully and holistically rake in,
for a...

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No one suspected or may have expected
As it was mind-boggling to even conceive
Of events to transpire that night by the fire
On a cold wintry Christmas Eve.

The Elf on the shelf was left by himself
And shenanigans...

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The Power of Forgiveness
By Reg Rhodes





Today, I found a key to set myself free from the nightmares of my own 
shattered reality.  

Today, with the key known as forgiveness;
I will cease to languish in...

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I greet each day the very same way. 
It's A Great Day To Be Alive.
It's a positive way to begin your day,
but for me, it's so I can survive.
Waking up is a struggle. Way too...

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