Long Shoreline Poems

Currents
by Michael R. Burch

How can I write and not be true
to the rhythm that wells within?
How can the ocean not be blue,
not buck with the clapboard slap of tide,
the clockwork shock of wave on rock,
the...

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Poems about Poems (I)



What the Poet Sees
by Michael R. Burch

What the poet sees,
he sees as a swimmer
~~~underwater~~~
watching the shoreline blur
sees through his breath’s weightless bubbles...
Both worlds grow obscure.



Muse/Goddess
by Michael R. Burch

“What will you conceive in...

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The Making of a Poet
by Michael R. Burch

While I don’t consider “Poetry” to be my best poem—I wrote the first version in my teens—it’s a poem that holds special meaning for me; I call it...

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State of the Art (II)

These are my "ars poetica" poems about the art and craft of writing poetry. 



What the Poet Sees
by Michael R. Burch

What the poet sees,
he sees as a swimmer 
~~~~underwater~~~~
watching the shoreline...

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Lake county music company filled with 
slots carney folk real carny folk the little 
pete's illegal gambling road show throughout 
the  Midwest gaming like your idol Frank Peter 
Balistreiri the mad bomber stops Metropolis...

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from island corner, big Antrim lad
  to Belfast city, a tiny pad
  shattered windows, tilted clocks
  Goliath had lost his socks
  gargantuan giant going mad

  Armagh apple girl, any topic
...

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The daily star Tuesday issue...

announces Summer Solstice 2023
regarding ray zing planetary earthlings

Wednesday, June twenty first
at 10:57 Ante Meridian
Eastern standard time
will find Earth's North Pole tilted
closest toward sun. This demarcates

most daylight hours of the year for
people...

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On Fam’ly Traditions - 2nd third -
 


“Might as well grab us some food an' some beer...some ice...and some bundles o' wood, an' prob'ly some charcoal....there ain't nothin' better than walleye from right off a...

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Each of the new deer adjusted quickly to the pace of the ones they had been paired with, and the sleigh tracked smooth and true.  The effects of the extra four deer were easily...

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This whip is a relic of war
an instrument of severe education, 
come now Avia, look how lovely and vulgar,
it is essential for you to appreciate it's intention,
feel it's supple weight, the simple fright,
I use jasmine...

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Day 1:
Indistinguishable from the next
Yet placed in a pocket
Decisions made to be kept
Yet I feel I give nothing
For I am a stone after all
It's my life's work
To ponder my worth 
So tiring I mostly sit...

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The daily star announces Summer Solstice 2022

Tuesday, June twenty first
at 5:13 Ante Meridian
Eastern standard time
will find Earth's North Pole tilted
closest toward sun. This demarcates

most daylight hours of the year for
people living the northern hemisphere.
Just shy...

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Gaylord Laryngitis was a monstrous human being.    
They say he weighed…at ten years old…at least 400 pounds,
But standin’ 6 foot 7…and because he exercised…
he actually didn’t look real “fat”…despite the way it...

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“Ten Years, Somewhere in their Lost Neighbourhood”

Of course,
he said, like a god,
there is no course,
one must simply go with the flow
the penumbra stands waivering its existence,
a kind of deactivation, fuzzy borderline hanging, 
backing the art...

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"Small Mutinies"



So what if my point of view
is not that which wraps 
you in comfortably warm
fluffed-up silky 
cashmere blankets 
of insecure insincerity
simple scribbles 
bleating from the 
chirping crickets 
and frog croaking
symphonies 
muddying waters
cutting pristine lines...

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:) now this is what Im talking bout .... nothin iz 2 uncommon when all you got 2 eat iz Ramen 
noodles 4 all y'all poodles
 seahorse sonar struggle with senses 
far beyond the realm...

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Written 24 December 2023 
Placed 5th in :
No 1243 New Poem Only Poetry Contest
Sponsored by Brian Strand

                  ...

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This poem was inspired by one of my all time favorite motion picture classics, particularly the 1939 (the 1st) edition, in good old black ad white... 
 
NOTE: This is part 1 of a 2...

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The day, following their nuptials, was like most days.  The humans that had come to witness the Joining had all left early, thanking the elves for their hospitality and packing their carts with...

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I.

The Fish Crow is an outcast amongst the seagulls
Standing on the hot Miami sand
At the end
Of our rose-colored beach towel

Nodding and blabbing half-heartedly
Nuh-uh nuh-uh
To the lack of crumbs

From us
The stingy blue collar visitors
From freezing old...

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margins stimulate and juxtapose
  edges greet with troubled, disturbing friction
  faraway forces exert influence and combine relentlessly
  how the Sun and Moon dance together about the planet Earth
  their grasping hands...

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The Castle On White Otter Lake

That rustic, old log castle
Stands facing the lake.
Built by hand, by one man
To acknowledge his presence,
In a changing world, he felt
He could not participate in.
And so chose to live like...

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by sun-kissed shoreline 
patiently I cast my line
waiting for a catch


Fishing was my family’s go-to, inexpensive recreational sport.  Many weekends were spent at the lake checking trout lines for fish or standing on the...

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I was going to be late to work again, as it was one of those days,
When one small mishap after another, made for way too many delays.

Lateness had become a genuine problem, to a person...

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Why do we feel increasingly difficult conflicts
create strong-rooted energy?

And depressingly BusinessAsUsual
penetrated 
exhumed
exhausted
extracted
distracted by runaway toxic chaos?

Yesterday,
on my way to a deep rooted tree and shrub nursery
half-way across Connecticut's Route 1 made-over shoreline
my youngest NativeAmerican RightBrain...

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