Long Smother Poems

(Inspired by my sister, Laura Breidenthal’s poem called “The Dream in His Eyes” and also, inspired by Disturbed’s song “Forsaken”. Special thanks to my sister for such an awesome poem and the writer that wrote...

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Erin, for a girl who embodies Ireland
by Michael R. Burch

All that’s left of Ireland is her hair—
bright carrot—and her milkmaid-pallid skin,
her brilliant air of cavalier despair,
her train of children—some conceived in sin,
the others to avoid...

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Here We Shall Remain
by Tawfiq Zayyad
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Like twenty impossibilities
in Lydda, Ramla and Galilee ...
here we shall remain.

Like brick walls braced against your chests;
lodged in your throats
like shards of glass
or prickly cactus...

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Break my neck; snap it in two, snap it in half
don't give me that incredulous, frightened look as I ask
don't hesitate in front of me, please just do me this favor
so I gain a halo,...

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On the canvas of a cold, grey, winter sky,
In large black letters above the Iron Gate,
Read the message: "Arbeit Macht Frei".
A shrewdly sinister, propagandist lie,
Designed to deceive all of our eventual fate.
This was the very...

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The Bloodstone, The Raven And Master Poe,
Part Three of Three


There came hammer knocking on the back door
As Poe was acting out pitiful moans
Raven thought, could this be from Hell's dark shore
Another beast hearing anguishing groans
Then...

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Another shift ends. I'm dead on my feet.
Too shagged to even eat.
The word leads (inevitably) to you...
I slipped the timesheets from work today.
Another incident occurred...
Sweetie, please be there, and say you care.
I loved working alongside...

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You wake me from the dead
Put these thoughts in my head.
Nothing is there
No hope no love no care
That was not fair
An empty shell 
It was hell
Other people feelings you let me see
No understanding of what...

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I do not recall telling him how his kindness made a major impression on my life, but I did share the same with his wife and daughter after his demise. Moreover, I suspect that he...

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I had an old auntie called Mable
Who could drink men under the table
She’d tell folks of her gout
Sup up six pints of stout  -
then stagger to the loo when able!

11~23~16

WRITTEN BY JAN ALLISON


My paternal...

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I doubt it was a philosopher,
more likely an emperor,
but possibly both,
who first explored this sad relationship
between exclusion
and punishment,
colonialism
feeding repression.

I'll bet it was a Taoist mother
afraid bad weather would smother
all hope of restoring future peace
who first...

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"The Void"
                                 ...

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My mind is burning, blazing, turning
With doubts and irrational drivels
My heart is livid and hardened
For it freezes in the potentials of disappointment
Of failure, downfall, and impending death
In ceasefires of never mind, and never more 

My...

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I hope you’re ready for the pain, I hope you’re ready for the hurt.
Now I can breathe, turn my insides out and smother me, warm and alive I’m all over you, would you smother me?
Fell...

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I was on a swing
Bring us peace in mind
In the end, I had to get off of it
I was dancing for hours
I found my place above the city
My eyes begin to water…
Life’s a bother –...

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Tell me every lie you’ve ever told, don’t hold back for my sake, let out all of the pain within, explode
Don’t make me out to be someone that I am not, I am not an...

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Wind-farms of love

Comets lighting humanity 
                             ...

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Tonight, I cry for myself
I cry because I’m feeling so hopeless, helpless and lost
Maybe it sounds absurd, but I need to reset
To release, to be able to raise my spirits again
It’s sad how everything turned...

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“Blue Sky Eye and The Hope Angels”



It came to be 
that many forgot
the messages imparted 

prior to arrival
instructions were encoded 
inside all our vessels 

we were berthed 
locked and loaded 
waiting for ignition

but we were...

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Why, after everything, do I feel lost tonight?
Like a ship that drifted out of calm waters and suddenly find itself adrift in an ocean of uncertainty

Why, after promises that have been sealed by kisses, do...

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You got roasted the moment I walked away from your reach 
Everyday, I wish I could be at the sundrenched beach...
What about you practice what you preach 
Be very careful what you teach 
Because what...

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Be truthful, supposing you were I,
Would you have not snub the thigh?
Opened its teaching; closed one eye
Move swiftly so shy
Rest weather to rely
Not on heart contemplating to comply
The weird moment fitting body's sigh.

How then after...

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Even the Lazy Lizard

Even the lazy lizard knows when not to beg,
when not to emerge, from behind the hungry black rock of 
another dying hand, hopelessly clutching the mysteries of 
another sit-down, in the serene...

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In our most beautiful, suburbian , breakfast nook,
Where I read so many joyfilled books,
With  the golden sunlight streaming in,
Is where my days as a girl,always,did begin.

Wallpaper of giant strawberries
Smiled with love at me.
A knock...

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Her hair was red, frizz with frost
Crisped, solidity, warmth was lost

Porcelain skin, eyes of deep blue
Hair falling in wisps, reminds you of someone, 
you likely once knew

how her voice danced, twirled dangerously in a box
of...

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