Long Shrewd Poems

 Translation of Eric Mottram’s Poem 33 in Interrogation Rooms by T. Wignesan

33.  on a vu un homme courir/ de la scène de crime un homme est maintenant en train d’aider/ la police avec...

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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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Poems about Flight, Flying, and Birds



Flying
by Michael R. Burch

I shall rise
and try the bloody wings of thought
ten thousand times
before I fly...

and then I'll sleep
and waste ten thousand nights
before I dream;

but when at last...
I soar the...

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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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“Through me you enter the city of woe
Trough me you enter the eternal pain
Through me you go to people lost below.

Justice inspired my highest factor reign;
I was created by act of divine,
Supreme wisdom and the...

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They pursued it with vigor, they pursued it with crass
They hunted with valor and hope
They proceeded with a dose of good Knightly sass
They chased it with tackle and rope

Now King Arthur declared in a boisterous...

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Poems about Poets I


The Wonder Boys
by Michael R. Burch

for Leslie Mellichamp

The stars were always there, too-bright cliches:
scintillant truths the jaded world outgrew
as baffled poets winged keyed kites—amazed,
in dream of shocks that suddenly came true ...

but...

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The Tale of the Bumpalump

After the Knight had unraveled...Flagan decided to travel
    and get away on a long holiday.
He thought it quite grand to visit a new land
    and...

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Moving on ???

I have come to wonder – as time passes – why ?,
the lady brings tears to my heart – makes me cry.
This lady who took in hand, in holy of holies, in mouth,
resurrecting...

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A tale of greed, power, 
deception, discrimination and 
love. 

Miller, daughter, king—
All the actors are present
Except the small man. 

The king summons the miller 
for some reason. Summons a 
humble working man. 

Miller, shaken, scared,...

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I shan't try and be witty an engage in the norm 
peeking through such pain my eyes see dim 
as crushing temporal lesion push against 
soft tissue endings pounding my optic nerves 
from my forehead...

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When I was a little girl, 
I spent so much time hoping for…
The day I turned 12, 13, 16 and 18.
I wanted to know what it would be like
To wake up and see that girl...

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It was 'My Town' for 7 of the most                          ...

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You were an Afghan, Farid Khan by name,
A name less known to the world today.
You ran away from home,
Because your own step-mother plotted against you.
Now you were runaway-Khan!

You chose to be a knight-errant,
Soon became a...

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My given name is Hortense, and I am an English Professor,
I love my job and my life, and to do my best I endeavor.

I am popular with my students, as I also am with friends;
And...

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Ode to Be

I feel different from other people,
Some say I am weird and strange,
This endless striving to be accepted, 
Just leaves me disheartened and drained. 
I haven’t found God in the Bible, 
But your eyes...

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On reflection, a shining  mirror lays my core ethos bear,
inkling etched on mien can’t escape deep probing,
tilted jaw, gleaming eyes, vivacious aspect,
express an ardent quest for exponential flourish,
in this life of mine, and its...

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Bombarded by myriads of daily data without cease,
I suggest a forthright discourse on this topic,
carousel of trend and sound adherence  merely looming?
some unwitting sentiment  an aspirational diction,
reverberation or innuendo pending aftermath augur,
the world...

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Blandishments eroded invaluable necessary viz life savings of mine videre licet alms

initially crafted June twenty fifth
two thousand twenty four
affecting me to utter "oy a broch"
(pronounced ah-BROOKH)
before I cast accursed blatant spells
outright upon the head of...

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Continuous cathartic resonance of black bashful veil,
imposing the darkest recess and its tangled tantrums amassed,
phases exist without problematic manifest intrusion illusory but for a while,
the reckless chilling bursts of wild incendiary angst a blight,
such burdens...

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New York Theory

Boo don't talk to me news
He rebegins
Chaste in here with you
I held out empty ink
Twirling walls 
Rampant porcelain dreams
Too many parks
In one day, destroyed me

sundered tulips

Tell my brother not of his famine
Call my...

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January 25th 2009



   I hope that you know Moneca, in a New York heartbeat, I would forget every negative word, ever negative act, ever negative reaction, every rejective  gesture, ever pain filled...

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                                  ...

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(In the light of humanity- Oh,
I’m out of breath, I feel suffocated
I cannot breathe, though no Cov-19 infects me
Yes, truly I cannot breathe now

On this earth, I feel ashamed of myself,
On this earth I fie...

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i (dedicated to u)
by michael r. burch, circa age 15

i.

i move within myself
i see beyond the sky
and fathom with full certainty:
this lifes a lethal lie

my teachers try to tell me
that they know more than i
(and...

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