Long Sinew Poems

Medieval Poems



Deor's Lament (Anglo Saxon poem, circa 10th century AD)
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Weland knew the agony of exile.
That indomitable smith was wracked by grief.
He endured countless troubles:
sorrows were his only companions
in his frozen...

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I shall resolve to leave this
Place now...
And steadfastly search out,
Nestling between ridge and bluff
Amidst the folds of a foreign 
Land,
Several acres of unkempt ground
Fallow and rough;
Upon which stands...
Crumbled stone walls
With an exposed slate roof in
Some...

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Deor's Lament

(Old English/Anglo-Saxon poem circa the 10th century AD)
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Weland endured the agony of exile:
an indomitable smith wracked by grief.
He suffered countless sorrows;
indeed, such sorrows were his bosom companions
in that frozen...

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8. Transformation

Yielding to those who have mastered the art
Of grasping one's place in existence's grand scheme
Life’s constant challenges never depart
But humble diligence will grow the dream

In passing from childhood to adulthood
Innocence to responsibility
Firm new role...

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Contest : The Prismatic Self
Sponsor : Daniel Henry Rodgers
Date submitted : 19/5/25

—————- 

“Contests around track, contests for followers,
for best tasting wine, most exquisite 
architectural design ~ endless
quests to become best versions of Self,
sharpen mind, mould...

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Brains and guts orbit the soul—
that polar star searing in the marrow of being.

I was born somewhere between Einstein’s neurons
Ginsburg beat poetry, the birth of rock and roll, revolution marches,
and the calloused hands of a...

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I walked a long path today. Off in the woods nearby.

My dogs walked with me, and took side trails on the
sly.
 
A little trail becomes a deer trail, through the
eucalyptus and pine

The oxalis grows wild...

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On becoming a night owl...,
no matter whether or not ya give a hoot

especially after feeling super charged
watching the second night of 
Democratic National Convention conclave
ushering a hint of "Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité.

Men and women are born...

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Venerated paternal puissant prophet...

His buzzfeeding spirit jump started
and kindled eternally his uplifting karma,
thus I present genuine psalm
remembrance of things past hallelujah!

Lemme automatically shift figurative gears
and apprise thee dear reader,
when a series of irreversible unfortunate events
accelerated...

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I walked a long path today. Off in the woods nearby.

My dogs walked with me, and took side trails on the
sly.
 
A little trail becomes a deer trail, though the
eucalyptus and pine

The oxalis grows wild...

Read More

We’re not called upon to choose anything we live through;
Neither parent nor sibling nor school nor form of sinew;
Neither colour of hair or eye or skin,
Nor love or hate, nor loss or gain
Nor opportunities nor...

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From his mama's own mouth, this story came
Her travail to carry him, a long trail
Of tears, loneliness, suffering and shame
A hunger for which hope made no avail
And then the hemorrhaging, her vital blood
Like common mud,...

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III

Kept out
   kept out he was: muzzled and shut out
from mothering social approval
    and the usual conning courtesies

Kept shut
  Involuting in the hippo-lipped paranoïa
from the darling eyes of his...

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I always said tether to the void
Not any idealistic reason or choice
Now suspended I know why I’ve been devoid
Because how can one speak with an inside voice
Where no one can hear you outside yourself
Dawn of...

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The Silent Killer

The silent stealthy cancer
Creeps and spreads inside
With no warning it's deadly rancour
When it strikes none can abide

Relentlessly eating through and through
As remorseless as a snake
Crushing muscle, bone and sinew
While asleep and while awake

No...

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tight thoughts toil,
as threads in head uncoil
ideas plaited, intent's tug
escort through dilate pupils.
umbrella lashes shady look
was all it took-
inception outspooked
at artful spirit's raid, 
inkling's snapline birth
twine in tensile mind, 
sprinkling notion's seeds.
Small things become divine.

...

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September has come and gone leaving a trail of damage behind it, the weather created havoc, the guns create sorrows and the knife took many innocent lives away. 

It was hard to stop the steal...

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Venerated puissant prophet kindled karma - hallelujah!

Higher power our prayer for vehicle addressed
courtesy deliverance kindred lady luck,
we (the missus and me) blessed,
whereby each our expanded bosom 
nearly burst forth

(think analogous stuffed to hilt treasure chest)
managing...

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Cap'n & the Wench  *part the third*

Says the Wench t'the Cap'n "Me thinks I'll have me a Gin!" 
So says the Cap'n t'the Wench " Go right ahead Me Dear~
Fer now I'll surely Win!"

With...

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Krakatoa Kritic #007

Let those comment who kill with soft words when they ‘get’ you!
Should we hold praise hostage, retreat when we can’t see
reciprocal giftings that laud what we write in return?
My take’s yours if you...

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We are living in the middle, you and I,
between butterfly beginnings - ethereal endings.
Despite Natural Law, I'm persuaded to pause;
if possible, dear, let chrysalis continue ...
Timothy Levi Hicks

Living in the Middle

Rules of life restrict us...

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Over saturation with 
welter weighted Yuletide
drenching world, web, wide
equal and/or greater
effort demands energy tide
to global warming,
lest apocalypse doth ride

high and mighty mandating,
inculcating, buoying... pride
toward planet Earth, the
apathetic, demonic, horrific,
plastic... malleable passive
can no longer run and...

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An’ so, the saviors’ called –never answered, my breath in the cold
An’ as the autumn leaves pile, amassed- to merely rust, brown an’ gold
An’ from betwixt the veil – screamed ghostly, from air, sea an’...

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In the Beginning was the Word

Just a sound really

A somber echo into the abyss
that kickstarted the whole universe

(was the noise beautiful? was it ugly?
who's to say for sure...

...it was the First)

But it did its job
It...

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Bone Lady. 

Pippa Gray

If you have come for romance, please leave.
Follow the fireflies and they will lead you 
back through the woods, to your manmade path.
There is no sweetness or solace here. 
I am a...

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