Long Smolder Poems

Radiance
by Michael R. Burch

for Dylan Thomas

The poet delves earth’s detritus—hard toil—
for raw-edged nouns, barbed verbs, vowels’ lush bouquet;
each syllable his pen excretes—dense soil,
dark images impacted, rooted clay.

The poet sees the sea but feels its meaning—
the...

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These are poems about Dylan Thomas, as well as poems "for" and "after" Dylan Thomas. Dylan Thomas was one of my favorite poets from my early teens and has remained so over the years. I...

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Myth, after Dylan Thomas
by Michael R. Burch

Here the recalcitrant wind
sighs with grievance and remorse
over fields of wayward gorse
and thistle-throttled lanes.

And she is the myth of the scythed wheat
hewn and sighing, complete,
waiting, lain in a low...

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Prelude

After banishing my foe off to hell
The Lord took pity on my soul 
And returned it to my undead shell
Again, I was alive and whole

But the consequences of a second chance
Meant that I would have...

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Once wars were fought with sticks and stones
to flog the flesh and batter bones
and conquer lands, defending thrones -
though gods provoke, not one atones. 

The multitude (by hordes beset
with battle-ax or bayonet)
braved blades, dyed red...

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The Bedouins, bequeathed with the sacred beauty of paradise harsh,
trusted guardians of jealous gorges and gifted groves
lead me from the Wadi Musa to the humble ingress of Petra,
saying with thrill, the Jin of your Jihad...

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_ _ _ _While walking one day in crisp autumn air, 
On the edge of the sidewalk,  I saw it so clearly_ _ _ _

         ...

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Woven are these pages in poetic verse,
With bare threads of our deepest feelings,
You will find laughter, tears and remorse,
and words of wisdom, prayer and healings. 
Krish Radhakrishna

The words herein form an anthology of love
From the...

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In the shadows of a fading room,  
Lies a heart, a fragile thread in gloom.  
Time, the thief, steals moments away,  
Leaving whispers of love in decay.

Bridges once burned now smolder and...

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"The nature of the Authentic [Love] Self is always already spiritually [naturally] motivated, turned on, tuned in, ready to respond to the radical [co-arising] immediacy of now [as LovePresent]. It [love] experiences no fear, no...

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Don’t let the color red get into your head, don’t let the color red force you to bury the dead, red is strong,   red is high, red is powerful, it is touching the...

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                                  ...

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I was talking to my solitary self again, grumbling how life held no adventure,
And my parrot, Cherry, often echoed me, as moon echoes golden splendors.

She'd ruffle her feathers and preen, as she perched redly upon...

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dark matter(s)
by Michael R. Burch

the matter is dark, despairful, alarming:
ur Creator is hardly prince charming!

yes, ur “Great I Am”
created blake’s lamb

but He also created the tyger
and what about trump and rod steiger? 


The Echoless Green
by...

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I wanted to make something drawn from bosom
      You & I gemini'd, 
From the wells extract'd virginity untouch'd 
     by compounds—
Forgot to send it out, forgot...

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Saw Old Scratch the other day
Wanted to talk but couldn't stay
Seems he was up to no good
But then for him it's understood

Fried chicken for my Sunday dinner
Nothing is satisfying for saint or sinner
When I was...

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An email written to eldest daughter
December 28th, 2019,
which unwittingly, magically, accidentally...
resurfaced while scrolling
thru outdated emails 
and OpenOffice documents of mine
thee evening of February 20th, 2022.

The remaining lines 
comprising reasonable poetic rhyme
sent to said offspring
more than...

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Im Saven my freestyle rhymes so I got da proof n soon I'll be raising da mothaen roof, feeling bullet proof..with all my skills shining through..my competitors ain't know what to do.. when I grab...

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We dream of rain... 
And the mystery of the gun
We bold hold and driven apart 
Kill the king when lovers depart
We dream of rain and the dark arts
Upon an endless sea, across an infinite A’merican...

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I

I am disinfected, sanitised from touch and eyes
Do not hold me. I am Bakelite and you smolder
Sat solid, the wall cold against my spine. A back-rest 
To concrete electrocution. 
I am distilled from Suburbia and...

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The soldiers winter is the Winter Soldier.

Reality shows the totality of evils depravity. Some see it as a formality when evil begins rioting. It is a catastrophe when the pirating of evil destroys tranquility. To...

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and I feel awakened 
                from this dream...
7 am,  I feel startled, alone, inhibited -
 
I want to scream...

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I walk into my room every day 
seeing that closet. I wake up 
and I think in my mind "there's 
that sin."
It's a eternal evil, it's clawing at 
the door, gnawing at my skin, 
growing...

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The soul behind the mind
The thoughts gain entrance
Tick, tick, tick…
All wound up
Tick, tick.
Just a matter of time.
Pre-released dreams coming into being
Tick, tick
We never retaliated
We’ve always waited.

The redundant fear grows
Inside where hope hides
Locked in doom
loomed in...

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The song of my love is heard
It travels over Seas and mountains 
Bearing cadences that make the fishes dance
It frolics over hills and oceans 
With rhythms that adorn the eyes of the sun 
Sniffing the...

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