Long Snaking Poems

Winter
by Michael R. Burch

The rose of love's bright promise
lies torn by her own thorn;
her scent was sweet
but at her feet
the pallid aphids mourn.

The lilac of devotion
has felt the winter hoar
and shed her dress;
companionless,
she shivers—nude, forlorn.

Published...

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I used to dream of a dark hall. Dim. Empty with thick cheap navy curtains. 
The breeze. It felt hot and old. It shivered in the curtains that lined the walls on both sides.
The breeze....

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I used to dream of a dark hall. Dim. Empty with thick cheap navy curtains. 
The breeze. It felt hot and old. It shivered in the curtains that lined the walls on both sides.
The breeze....

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These are poems about starlight and moonlight, moons and stars, dreams and visions, illuminations and intimations …



Will There Be Starlight
by Michael R. Burch 

Will there be starlight
tonight
while she gathers
damask
and lilac
and sweet-scented heathers?

And will she find...

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WINTER, 1948 [40 Saxton Street]

for W.W

The winter nights that pass now
are so unlike the winter nights
that passed before, that I often
struggle back in those suspended moments
when sleep grapples for a hold,
to once again hear the...

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Chief garbage taster as fifth grade Halloween gag
at Henry Kline Boyer Elementary School
interestingly enough landed me a grubhub grab bag.

I rooted thru poetry anthology of mine,
and came across an unpublished poem
by one obscure poet (me),...

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RED SEA

At the mouth I lay splayed
blood trickling, slowly dripping into soft mud or red Akashic ink
             mud of my anus, ink of...

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margins stimulate and juxtapose
  edges greet with troubled, disturbing friction
  faraway forces exert influence and combine relentlessly
  how the Sun and Moon dance together about the planet Earth
  their grasping hands...

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Treading Down the Journey of Life

                            I have...

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I saw you …

high …
atop the promontory
spinning with manic madness
pirouettes et fouetté
lost in yourself -
in movement …
your upper back split, low
and, I swear -
feathers … peeking …
tucked under your shoulder blades
splayed and black as black
(obsidian...

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As Joulupukki was talking, Seileach used his own magic to probe the tree,
     “Ah, very interesting,” was his response.  “Yes, by all means lead the way.”
The three of them made...

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at Henry Kline Boyer Elementary School

As a Halloween costume, 
one year during early grade school, 
my father got the brilliant idea 
for his sole son to be dressed 
with one of a kind getup.

Missus Shaner...

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Chief egalitarian garbage taster i.e. “white trash”

As Halloween costume, 
one year during early grade school, 
my father got brilliant idea 
for sole son dressed
uniquely rubbish qua 
putrid offal getup. 

Missus Shaner (talon clawed, 
shriveled relic...

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The Naked brazen placid blue
Meets its foe the dark forbidding nemeses
Who unleashes his growing anger and fury
Obliterating and defeating his enemy
Proclaims a victory and unrolls his miserable shroud
With utter contempt
And spews his venom
Impregnating his virgin...

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*“Named after Pieter Both, who was the first Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies, Pieter Both is one of the most beautiful mountain peaks in Mauritius.” Mauritiusnow.com>blog>things-to-do>pieter-both
**************************************************************
        ...

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Showering white light illuminates 
  Bright-Moon Bay;
   In the overlooking Moon-Inviting Pavilion,
 Li Bai had raised his twinkling, rich amber
Coloured wineglass
    To invite the same reticent Moon.  ...

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Tell me
Have you ever felt you could runway
Far away to a secret place
Where time stands still
The hot sun mostly shows its beaming face.

Well come!
Take my hand
And I'll take you to that place
A world away in...

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Last Autumn we invested in a 0.5 acre
of Mother Earth's aria,
as sung to Thames River swell and tide,
New England new sprouting this our virgin spring wedding
with this home place,
space of grace.

My urgent first task, now...

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Himalayan  Trip-Trap

They poured in,  before the deluge
To surpass the natives in numbers
folks in their  cribs -through-hearse  stages, 
trusting like kids,  a burnished sky,  blue-white, 
a cocktail of the wrong...

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Encomium for cumulative collection of trash

The pyromaniac within yours truly
beckons sacrificial ritual
mine burning (man's)
sacred plastic bags
of rubbish (comprised of: hairs combed,
ditto trimmed from dead head,
filthy lucre - ha, phlegm
wrapped in tissue paper,
snips and snails,
and puppy...

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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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Surrounding my dreams, softly flowing waters
Soothing as the hope that bleeds
Liquid gentle, lulling my life to silence, in peace,
Shadows colored in music, like waves,
Graceful, reflecting the songs that grieve,
In brilliant sunsets, tangerine and buttery yellow,
Flaming...

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Creeping creepy creepers, the crawling trellis
jutting out of everywhere
snaking through country and metropolis
twisting turning in floral bliss
but more like snakes that hiss
But in quietude feign death for self-defense! 

Weeping willows with an unreal surreal sorrow
weeping...

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And there are not enough cubicles and grey paneling that 
sugar rock candy lights won’t cut 
the sapling eye from its still decline into Abyss.

And there are not enough sad thoughts wars rapes to gratify...

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A STORY OF TEENAGE THUGGERY, JEALOUSY, TEASING AND TAUNTING - 
THE DESTRUCTION OF A PROMISING LIFE ................ 


Staggering down the rain-drenched street 
I see you, reeling drunkenly 
like a sailor trying to keep his balance...

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