Long Shingles Poems

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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The Rhine Salmon Complaint, Translation of Etiemble’s Complainte d’un salmon du Rhin

						For Yvon Belaval
(A lilting musical poem of varying line length in quatrains with a refrain and much internal
 rhyming; end-rhyme scheme: alternate rhymes in...

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Watching upcoming toilet bowl lvii highlight of February 12th, 2023

Above title attests 
how mine mundane mein kampf
insync as a veritable clogged drain oh:
flush with adventure overflowing excrement
er... rather excitement.

Apt aforementioned accurate personal description
believe me not,...

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Watching upcoming toilet bowl lvi highlight of February 13th, 2022

Above title attests how mine mundane mein kampf
insync as a veritable clogged drain oh:
flush with adventure overflowing excrement
er... rather excitement.

Apt aforementioned accurate personal description
believe me not,...

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Mine slovenly unkempt appearance spelled embarrassment

spurred by most recent therapy session 
with Renee Cardone
whereby thematic thread
stitched how yours truly sewed
coping modus operandi,
viz avoiding emotionally volatile situations
courtesy mine trademark signature reactions 
rather than be in compliance...

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Do I want to only look at new ones,
never been used,
or is that a too restrictive market,
too competitively priced
for virginity of place and relationship on Earth?
And, is such redemptively-intended virginity
an asset or a deficit,
in which...

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Hereafter in the times of tomorrows yesterday,
                            ...

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We have tree traditions,
still accessible in diverse backward
and forward
reforesting cultures,
of planting a commemorative tree
when a great and portentous series of loving events
comes to its untimely rest.

Recently
my middle son's lifetime friend
decided it was time to travel...

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Watching toilet bowl lv highlight of snowy February 7th, 2021

Above title attests how mine mundane mein kampf
flush with adventure overflowing excitement.

Apt aforementioned accurate personal description
culmination of decades worth hesitation and trepidation.

Ever since garden variety generic...

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Up in the trees,
Cold from this winter night,
Bronze leaves dangling 

Along the wet hedges
A train passes,
And doesn't say much.

Sweet hot sun gently
Placed on the surface of my
Face- easy to smile.

The roar of jet 
engines- tilting...

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THE RUIN 
an Old English poem about fate & destiny
modern English translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

well-hewn was this wall-stone, till Wyrdes wrecked it
and the Colossus sagged inward...

broad battlements broken;
the Builders' work battered;

the high ramparts toppled;
tall...

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Second shingles shot successful... 
slight prick, but otherwise... positive pitch
re: without a hitch
the first innoculation approximately 
five months prior also nary glitch.

Preemptive needling measure
regarding getting fully
immunized at CVS
(Zieglerville, Pennsylvania)13:08
military time May First
2020 bruised left arm...

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Come see my world where the body is found
After the feast of worms is done; come see torn apart
The life and prospects skipping rope in children's heart
The dust drizzles atop the sutured sound
And eyes litany...

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Following a day of stillness and intermittent sunlight, comes the storm.
Hushed breezes, hot, humid clutching to the skies now race through the trees.
Late afternoon, darkness embraces the skyline, strewn with clouds of shaded blacks and...

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Here are questions that I would be asking Trump.

have many crosses to burn
why never will take your turn
before start did adjorn

poor things have proposed
why are you being exposed
lying we supposed

with supporters mingles
and why do you...

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i was arrested because my room mate wouldnt leave my condo
then i was arrested because my roomate wanted me to leave his apartment
cousin died after going to dentist
ive been held hostage
222 tips wouldnt take the...

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Orphaned Slab 
         by Odin Roark

They call me a foundation
once supporting siding and stone
wire
plumbing
shingles

Through the doors of my house
trailed family and friends
across kitchen floor
slanted slightly
letting Benny’s agate...

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Haiku With Variations (Both Sonnet & Free Verse)

Haiku Number 2

hail rides air updrafts
raindrops crater planet's skin
your breath’s clouds, fall skies

May 12, 2016


Mother of a Winter’s Night – Shakespearian Sonnet

Her distressed sighs rise up like nascent...

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When I was the tender age of seven
   I was to go on a week's vacation...I thought "heaven".

   My uncle had a '55 Buick in two tone green
   A...

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Helen's brick house
was built by her grandpa James
with a specific design in mind:
the front black cross-windows
riminded one of Christ's sorrows;
when the off-white roll shades opened
the neighboors saw Helen wearing a rosette
on her blouse she herself...

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No rhyme nor reason why
yours truly recalled how
me late mother
(earlier in her fitbit livingsocial years)
non verbally communicated disgust
(insync with audible sigh)
quite often ultimatums
blasting fulminating nauseating
scathing well nigh
she loosed loathing against
grungy looking son (guess who)

futilely escaped...

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THE BLUE MOON

Shimmer does it not this inspirational ivory opal,
Lightly dinted with a thin sheen of aquatic blue,
Illuminations elliptical transparent veil, a drapery
Suspended by heavens orbiting web called gravity!
Shingles tacked in by star nails, fastened...

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Five days of steady rain. A hurricane approaches the city. The streets are flooding but the wildlife is thriving. Every person wears a raincoat or carries an umbrella. Indoors is cozy. Movie theaters are crowded...

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A VISIT TO THE DOCTOR

I had a bad cold,
And my throat was sore,
My husband told,
Me to go to the Doctor,
Before I got flu!
I made an appointment and was due,
To be seen at two o’clock.
I sat...

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SISTERHOOD OF AVON

Oh how I miss the sisterhood
the brrr...ringing of a bell
a catalog and a smile in hand

the scent of sweet cologne
nearly met customers at the door
miraculously in their own flavor

jingle jangle of jewelry 
not...

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