Long Sired Poems

The Tender Weight of Her Sighs
by Michael R. Burch

The tender weight of her sighs
lies heavily upon my heart;
apart from her, full of doubt,
without her presence to revolve around,
found wanting direction or course,
cursed with the thought...

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Harriet Harris, née Kuritsky gave up the ghost...

~ May fourth, 2005
wedded bliss nearly fifty years
half a century almost
me not most favorite grown offspring,
she (when alive) did boast,
about youngest sister and her family,
unlike me – severely...

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The bane of a cold sore inside my mouth

Sent my smooching life south,
whereby I felt like poor Georgie Porgie,
pudding and pie,
who kissed the girls and made them cry.

The medical term for cold sores,
Herpes Labialis, refers
to...

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Once upon a night so bleak,
frozen silent laid the creek --
air of death, pushed, swore
and swore...as if were fists
pounded the frail, wood door;

shutters noised, bolting and
banging; metal hinges oddly
clanging – cupboard glasses
adding more tumultuous tang,...

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Thru a paroxysm of tears...

I inconsolably wept a river of sorrow
starkly aware alienated daughter(s)
implacable woe sundered fatherhood
yesterday, today and tomorrow.

A series of unfortunate events
(move over Lemony Snicket)
set in motion since my birth
unleashed impotent scrawny infant
registering...

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As one grows old, when evening approaches, memories too lengthen like shadows. Now I remember more often my parents wondering how much sweat and toil they had shed to make their children comfortable, how much...

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Privilege
by Michael R. Burch

This poem is dedicated to Harvey Stanbrough, an ex-marine who has written eloquently about the horror and absurdity of war in "Lessons for a Barren Population."

No, I will never know
what you saw...

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Told with truth                                ...

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Sappho Translations IX


Sappho, fragment 17
translation by Michael R. Burch

Hear me, Queen Hera, as your delightful festival nears,
you to whom the sons of Atreus performed vows,
those dazzling kings who did such amazing things,
first at Troy, then...

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O albatross guide my loosed soul  
from the shipwreck seized by sandy shoal

persuasive Polar Star in quiet pull
a sailor’s tired eyes gone dark 
I will dream while we fly 

on wings that span horizons...

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There’s this bison ranch in west Nebraska,
not all that far away from the Pine Ridge,
most of the time they make money off meat,
though when the weather gets colder than a fridge

they like to offer folks...

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...He taught himself to levitate,
even to solidify air,
and learned to use it as a shield,
he grew stronger without a care.

I guess it is bound to happen,
when power and resentment merge,
Anton decided to seek revenge
on all...

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I was working cattle with a crew a little south of Muleshoe,
When I watched a horse work with perfection and grace.
I said "pardon me gent, no offense is meant,
But your horse is the smartest thing...

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Whar art mine fervent zeal for Marx Brothers?

While figuratively trout fishing
for ideas to write about
analogous (hook, line and sinker)
idea wormed itself into mind with clout
moment of awareness arose
without shadow of doubt.

As a long haired pencil...

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Oh...and hello
to you, some hours past, I
returned from counseling,
(hence this boy yent -
     albeit beastie boy 
     figuratively basking
in fading afterglow)
great kickstarter session,

countless moments ago,
sans treatment plan,
she...

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A powerful poem, inspired by a thought-provoking storyline on a show. We are all part of the great human family and everyone is important. Our diversity is a strength. Let's embrace every colour of the...

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Photons of Life

For millennia they remained etched in the very essence of mother Gaia herself
For eons they`ve travelled at sub-sonic speeds within the space we call the universe
They brought light to the darkest realms, casting...

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He stepped over her head,
	with polite procession.
Climbing the pearl ladder of dreams
			Seeking the world, something he would call Heaven.
FeetplantedFirmly
	in the clouds, tapping his toes on transparent sheets of oblivion. 
TAP TAP TAP
	away the roads of...

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Nested like treasures priceless, eagle parents watch over the brood
On an island far away from the city, I beheld in a vision of azure blue
A rural settlement in waste laying, arid with black bile
A desolate,...

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His head slumped low and he looked like a most unhappy man,
said, “My peoples’ laws forbid it, both of us would be hanged.”
She rolled her eyes and said, “I’ not talking laws of this earth,
I...

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that will neither revolutionize whorled wide web,
   nor pollinate like fecund human loam
viz - it mine neurological nuances here
   within Schwenksville, Pennsylvania,

   my present home,
town pulsating with
  ...

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'Whiskers'! That's who we called him and he passed through once a year
with his swag and billy; this time with a 'heeler' dog close near.
Our 'oldies' always said when 'Whiskers' camped beside the creek,
to keep...

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For all the weighted years of empires
Stockpiled with human grief
For all the fallen towers of desires 
From which love has no relief
For all the cargo of the heart and ships
Tossed and turned where water whips
Across...

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We have moved to higher Grounds.

The ridge enclave in mist and cold
Sight is poor as in jackets we fold
Peering below at the stagnant pools
-Covering to brim our hoeing tools.

Ink that was too thick is diluted
Scribbling...

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"The Three Ages of Woman," painted by
   the noted symbolist named Gustav Klimt;
from Austria, late-nineteenth century
   till early twentieth, he left his mark.

At center, woman with her child held close;
 ...

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