Long Simplicity Poems

Family Poems

Mother's Smile
by Michael R. Burch

There never was a fonder smile
than mother's smile, no softer touch
than mother's touch. So sleep awhile
and know she loves you more than "much."

So more than "much, " much more than...

Read More

Poems about Children


The Desk
by Michael R. Burch

for Jeremy

There is a child I used to know
who sat, perhaps, at this same desk
where you sit now, and made a mess
of things sometimes.I wonder how
he learned at all...

He...

Read More

Poems about Fathers and Grandfathers III




Success
by Michael R. Burch

for Jeremy

We need our children to keep us humble
between toast and marmalade;

there is no time for a ticker-tape parade
before bed, no award, no bright statuette

to be delivered...

Read More

It's peaceful here in my backyard.
The crows sound happy
with warm October sunlight.

I just read about a deadly gathering in Las Vegas.
Absence of sun-drenched peace.
Inconvenient this time of lost loss.
Death is always inconvenient,
even when invited.

A veteran,
about...

Read More

I heavily recall two times when I had made you cry,
Both of which bewildered and moved me
My response was that of disbelief, and regret
And never, upon recalling, 
Have I felt more of the need to...

Read More

Greetings to those who would willingly seek admission to theater of the absurd. Zoltan Goliath and Otis Trench are masters of the avant-garde genre silent musicals for the imaginary stage, an art form sui generis....

Read More

{Poet’s Note : I wrote this poem for the passing of my very dear friend & comrade, Cecyl Esau, Umkhonto we Sizwe Commander in 2021, as a contribution to his memorial service. Cecyl was given...

Read More

Just a view on the inner critic. Every time I read what I wrote I see a different angle. This person never even opened their eyes. Some day you can't.

The day had begun. Simple. It...

Read More

I know you're not here

but you are in my heart 

so 

you are always with me

i'll just slip into you

with these words.
 
I know 
there are mountains
dwarf the cities below 
peaks that stride above the...

Read More

“Strange Creatures and The Forest of Egregore” 

Where do we go -

when our rosebuds
stop still in the cold,
unwanted, 
along the unopened road?

we walk into the 
forest alone, 
there we meet 
strange creatures -

some say 
they...

Read More

In these United States of America, there is a little town not very far off the beaten path. Neither gold nor silver has ever been mined in or near this town of fertile delta soil....

Read More

Greetings to each of you my dearly beloved brothers and sisters. Please read these seventeen blessings rendered for you in God's grace:

I. May God’s love for the new year grant you joy and inspiration overcoming...

Read More

Who wants to join a sacred cooperative
with both divine and humane purpose,
secular meanings
with organic liturgical rites
of seasonal passage?

Indeed,
who would not
should ego's veil descend
like commodified energy's nonrenewable extinction;
LoseLose trends of nihilism
within psyche,
fascism 
within a paranoid society
which...

Read More

Universal elegy grieves and yet embraces shifts of paradigm
New beginnings consciousness initiates comprehends and thus proceeds from
Illusion’s delusion collusions misconceptions in the irritating
Vortex whirlpool immanent void of false containment

Enlightenment modern postmodern retro visionary futuristic aspirations
Resound...

Read More

Lost In the Mists Parts I - IV

                           ...

Read More

  MAGDALENE : JEWEL OF JESUS 


She was the Chosen
a beckoned one
to ignite His speeches 
smooth it with her own
illustrious strength
‘Courage against Odds’
marked her inner Jewel 
 soft it lay cradled  
rhapsodic rubicon...

Read More

Back in 1962 when I was just a lad
my dad gave me a holiday
the best I ever had.
A holiday of every dream
that one lifetime could hold
so listen while this wondrous time 
to you I now...

Read More

I have heard some things in class today
I pray I make more progress and struggle less
Praying for peace and quiet someday
I want a clear mind from regret and distress

Cold-hearted lies 
Won’t open its eyes to...

Read More

"Heart"  

Deep fissures formed
in the cracks of 
the nowhere place
where time leeched
bleeding claret 
through the green 
veined blues

protean bit by bit
the flesh disappears
prematurely 6ft under
mulch for rebirth
the subcontinent
conscientious conscience 
inward reaching

the divine central tableau...

Read More

Obey The Cross That Jesus Suffered Although It Will Cost All You Claim As Yours !
Each of us must learn to take a part in the dance be part of Christ's vine by his design
Although...

Read More

Social settings have stigma attached to this. 
Atmospherically climactic negative correlations sustain society. 
Civilized individuals are naturally monogamous; serially… 
On the other hand gender segregated facility.

Men and woman,
Penis and vagina,
Birds and bees,
Conditions and stipulations…

A rule...

Read More

Understanding myself, and towards developing  introvertedly 
The parameters of today, yet most lay dormant inside of me
Questioning the how, as in such, the extended inner faculty 
Fractured as then, it's an opposing end, and...

Read More

PART I

The girl was walking with the boy. The color of her cotton saree was lighter green. Her face was a little worried.  Some might not fully understand the situation, some might see her...

Read More

Speak gently when you offer criticism,
but don't be so soft as to sacrifice the truth.
                    ...

Read More

Spirit and sponsor sane sexagenarian scribe (and his spouse) to a Utopian country

He seeks (in tandem with the missus) 
legal asylum in Canada...
New Brunswick, Newfoundland, 
Nova Scotia, et cetera,
or any other socially 
progressive European country,
and...

Read More