Long Shielding 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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Salvation of a Formalist, an Ode to Entropy
by Michael R. Burch

Entropy?
God's universal decree
That I get to be
Disorderly?
Suddenly
My erstwhile boxed-in verse is free?
Wheeeeee!



Eternal Currents
by Michael R. Burch

How can I write and not be true
to the rhythm...

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Athenian Epitaphs

Mariner, do not ask whose tomb this may be,
but go with good fortune: I wish you a kinder sea.
—Michael R. Burch, after Plato

Does my soul abide in heaven, or hell?
Only the sea gulls
in their...

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Alone I arrive, walking from Frederick
over the gaps, across gentle hills
out onto a knoll
overlooking this burnished landscape.
Before me I see countless writhing rows
of indiscernible shapes gathered
in terrible rituals mid fire and smoke
darkening the sun.
From distant...

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Here he stands, Edwardian vogue, sometimes with his spats, 
sometimes with his brogues below his dungarees. With rounded collar points and tie, and jacket donned below this flying suit, his waste is tied with simple...

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[ ... story with context, a plausible universe with top and bottom
  a coat of cosmos covering
  over a subterranean protoverse of potential fields
  a quantum cellar creating
  the very big...

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I fall down
deeper and deeper
into oblivion
nothing
only darkness.
the sounds of evil
dripping into my ears
slithering farther
and sliding down into me
filling me with echoes.
terror courses through
my veins
into each cell
turning them against
me
they are no longer mine
they follow another
a stronger...

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Pardon any absent adulation, bequeathed capitulation, devoted dedication, indiscretion, blabbering peroration, improper salutation or any unintended vexation if this unknown earthling sent a nearly identical message. He over-looked a small number of errors and hoped...

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I felt great calmness and perfect peace. I had the feelings of a poor man who has just come under the protection of the Royal Family, and has obtained an annual pension for life-the dreadful...

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When we met, I surely knew the yearning
Breathlessness erasing my weariness
Feelings, dreams, soothing every discerning
You silence doubts, discourage dreariness
Deep inside, I long for your spirit’s smile
I feel so thankful for this song of grace
Past all...

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Rosalia - The Evil Black Witch of the Harz, Part Six

Archangel Gabriel and His Force of Heavenly Angels
Upon seeing the radiant, almost blinding light as it lit up even the darkest corners of the forested...

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Our lives and our time
Fired useless
Into the air
Toy cap gun shots
Those winter palaces unstormed
No tax offices ransacked
Where is utopia I asked
And no-one knew
They looked at me with pity
As if I still talked
To an imaginary friend
At...

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But we of the Three Tribes live undiscovered 
   In the reverberating stillness of the 
 Three Gorges...
And are therefore unknown to the warring mongol;
    His impassioned lusts -- his...

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I romanticize the single room without a jurisdiction
If only I could filter through a voice of logic over reaction 
Would it impel my inner child to regress into an illusion?
My mind composes a structure but...

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"Perspective of an Invisible People"

Struggling for over four hundred years
Drowning in rivers of tears
Throughout the country's history
Accepting black people, still a mystery
Since the country's discovery, we've been abused 
Standing with strength, will prevent us from...

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When I was five, I asked the Lord…
To please protect my mom, my world
He whispered to my soul, “I will”
And went on to protect her from pain
From worry, doubt, fear and depression
From all the things...

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........Cactus
....Water Towers
Isolated desolates
Wrapped in spikes
Fluted aqua Greys
Or in military green
Reaching the skies
The desolate cacti 
The desert fingers 
Withholding blaze..
Desicating breeze..........
.Blistering freeze..................
Where not a blade....................
Nothin' germinate......................
Them root in dust.....................
Wasteland, gravel.....................
The fluted barrels......................
They shrink in dry......................
Bellow up...

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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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O beloved chevalier, 
cloaked in shimmering champagne armor,
tonight I long to feel your sultry skin,
embroidered with emerald embellishments 
and twinkling teal topaz, 
tailored to tempt,
veiling these tanned desires.

My soul sways to a chained string 
of...

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An image of the netherworld envisioned by a misanthrope

Mein kampf fraught re: 
emotionally/psychologically challenged 
impossible mission to cope
compared to classmates, I felt like a dope
and entertained escapist fantasies,
whereby Miss Rainbow 
(sixth grade student teacher),
though robbing...

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POTD 7th Mar 2018

I trust you like the music video clip which enhances the poem

Like dark molten honey caressing her tongue
and soul food for taste buds addicted to caffeine
Coffee has its own excitation
The book has...

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Right up until you were honest 
I found hope in the regressing of your sentences 
From fine wine to a poisoned chalice 
Remembering you in the corner of the grocery store 
Sparked the overwhelming urge...

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(Lemuria: A hypothetical "lost land" variously located in the Indian and Pacific Oceans.)
***********************************

The Tale Of Lemuria, Master Poe, Pen And I

Its birth a shake of Neptune's golden trident
Its glow a diamond glitter on the moon
As...

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Does my head in the guillotine promptly paint me guilty?
My last meal, a full plate of your golden excuses 
But any attention means so much to me 
We’re going in circles, 
But feel free to...

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Offering Thanks to the Lord

                        Accept my thanks, Merciful Lord,
  ...

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