Long Silence reigned Poems

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The First Gathering, The Wrath, The Return Of Zeus
( "Wherein Fate and Destiny Reign Over Blind Worship )


Else the throngs of mortals find the truth,
 
teeming in the angry hordes they may,
 
forget to pay...

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somber thoughts in disarray
broken moments of a jaded day
under siege of firing brigades
the bed you lay in is the bed you made

tattered talons from battles fought
a mind full of colorful forgetmenots 
fragmented pieces of what...

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As night draped its cloak over Baltimore's sleeping form,
A cargo ship, the MV Dali, sailed to greet the dawn.
From the bustling harbor shores it had slipped away,
Bearing goods for far-off lands, under the sky's dark...

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Grab Bag Poems and Epigrams

POEMS

Less Heroic Couplets: Dark Cloud, Silver Lining, Dupes
from “Love in the Time of the Coronavirus”
by Michael R. Burch

Every corona has a silver lining:
I’m too far away to hear your whining,
and despite...

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In the tapestry of time, a story is spun,
Of hearts entwined beneath the sun.
It began in the halls of youth's embrace,
Where two souls met, face to face.

In the halls of Primary, their eyes did meet,
A...

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Epigrams VII

A question that sometimes drives me hazy: 
am I or are the others crazy?
—Albert Einstein, poetic interpretation by Michael R. Burch


The Whole of Wit
by Michael R. Burch

for and after Richard Moore

If brevity is the...

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On my tourist trip through Europe where I ventured recently,
I travelled through so many countries seeing things I want to see,
and I enjoyed the gourmet tucker put on as the local fare,
eating snails, spaghetti, frogs’...

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Heavy and eerie silence reigned therein, 
The dark rooms looking as sullen as mean, 
As if they had taken serious offence 
Against me who had failed in their esteem, 
My heart feeling contrite was heaving...

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He was called to preach at a christian crusade 
in a foreign country. On his last day,  he thought to share with thousands of people few things about struggles. 
he opened another topic about his...

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A dark and evil creature
Pursued a man today.
He tried to run,
He tried to hide, 
But the darkness followed him.

He ran down the street,
And around the corner.
He ran up the stairs
And through the door,
Yet the darkness...

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Many moons ago the island was born
spewed up in a volcanic eruption
it was perfectly formed out of rock
five nautical miles from the mainland

A barren isle with no life on it
visited sometimes by birds and seals
over...

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By morning, I could feel the first hints of warm air,
Relieved I took my bath and dressed for work.
There was no music in the block of flats,
But in my head rumbled a hundred old time...

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The Ruba’iyat of Créteil Lake – Part Thirty-One

The Tent-Vendor’s son kept whining and wailing on the road
Such that none could even hear their own thoughts mocking aloud:
“Now what doth yon Sirrah untimely break open our...

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Calmoruus calamity

Calm, in feather doona encumbered, 
slept soundly.
Even the stars twinkled
in hushed, squelched, muted tones.
Silence reigned in solemnity, in peace.
All of a sudden
the deafening din
of cacophonic hard rock shrill
rattled the rafters,
jolted the sleepers 
starkly to...

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I found a bag outside the door
My mind, alert like a sly fox,
Advised me not to rush because 
It could contain Pandora’s box!

My fingers itched to pull the string
So that the knot I could untie
With...

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Dusk fell rapidly. Three women dressed in black
With their young lanky companion hurried back
To their rather small impoverished dark room.
Only an oil lamp that added to their gloom.

Silence reigned except for the youngest maiden
Sobbing, though...

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Sleep lifted its gossamer veil from my eyes this morn
before dawn's roseate beams of light had been born.
Silence reigned as the world around me still slept.
I watched a cat in the garden as it stealthily...

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Beautiful, frivolous queen bided her time. 
The castle stood tall and strong.
Silence reigned.  No one dared to speak.
Below the enemy had gathered ready for a fight.

A little soldier thought he was just a pawn
in...

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Will you marry me?...enamored the deep gaze.
Twenty years ago , I mesmerised into your maze.
    
Razzled dazzled life, beleaguered in  myriad phase.
Pristine peace I found, hugged in your embrace.

Those quarrels and...

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Crepuscular cumbersome clouds above,
Curdled and coal-black, heavy with cold rain.
Silence reigned below like a brooding dove.
Peace lost seem it would not be found again
To the discomfort of old ones in pain,
With all the chill of...

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I used to see them everyday. A pair of doves, very much in love. They flirted, flitted and floated together. Every sunrise and sunset winging and singing together, they were meant to be. That day,...

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A charm of finches flew in circles
disappearing entirely into surreal mist
that now camouflaged the field.
It seethed around rows of trees
until all was invisible:
Silence reigned,
supernatural eerie feeling
took over my thoughts.
Fog's gradual encroachment
over hills and cliffs:
Swirling unearthly...

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Shivering lightning
quills of silver
Signed their names
on skies of grey,
A story written many
times
In many a different
way,
On ships of old,
Saint Elmo’s fire
Danced  silently
around the mast
So many dancing
glowing ghosts
Created a celestial
cast.


The winds blew cold,
then died away
Into their
insignificance,
As...

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I wandered round the lonely graveyard.
The few mourners did not bother to look at me.
I ought to know the paths so well
Ah there it was, unembellished as I had left it.

Silence reigned everywhere, except for...

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Silence reigned….for the moment.
Nothing stirred in the garden.
No owl screeched.
No bird flew.
And inky darkness seemed to spread.
Even the moon 
hid itself in shame.
A light breeze rose suddenly freezing all.  
It rushed through the trees,...

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