Long Sobbing Poems

The tears flowed and I still smiled,
My body and spirit and mind,
Were still in that state of residual bliss,
Soaking in your sweet smile,
And savoring the moonlit skin before me,
But my soul was being torn asunder,
And...

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Come, You
by Rainer Maria Rilke
loose translation by Michael R. Burch

This was Rilke’s last poem, written ten days before his death. He died open-eyed in the arms of his doctor on December 29, 1926, in the...

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There was a glimpse of time unknown to man
The things none may ever describe
All wrapped within this wall of thoughts
For if a moment of my thoughts are clear
They are not my thoughts at all
Never again...

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Archaic Torso of Apollo
by Rainer Maria Rilke
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

We cannot know the beheaded god
nor his eyes' forfeited visions. But still
the figure's trunk glows with the strange vitality
of a lamp lit from within,...

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The Panther
by Rainer Maria Rilke
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

His weary vision's so overwhelmed by iron bars,
his exhausted eyes see only blank Oblivion.
His world is not our world. It has no stars.
No light. Ten thousand...

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A Night On A Wharf

The couple decide to walk. The boardwalk still lit at this late hour guides them. They walk hand in hand,..whispering softly with small talk...solemn.,. lonely , yet together. The walk is...

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Domestic violence survivor killed after reporting my abusive ex husband to the fbi he’d began extreme attacks on me mental cruelty mostly first hitting me in my back with a brick I still stayed what...

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The Trial 5

Workers in the courtroom were making last minute sitting arrangement for Poetry Soup’s poets who have been following the case.  

Their comments after reading the transcripts, were seen by Love.  She...

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In sandy Egypt lived three men
In ancient days when pharaohs reigned
The kingdom of the pyramids,
Osiris and that Isis’ den,
Whom everyone worships and heeds,
Or at least doing so they feigned,
And those gods too blessed them and...

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TRIGGER WARNING this piece features active addiction, the struggles etc 

I Can't stop screaming, sobbing the pain in my stomach is excruciating,
Eventually Im assigned a bed to be left in whaling, waiting, 
Finally a nurse...

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Neither Tray or I take any guff from adults, especially adults in authority; it’s a result of having had the belt when you are young, thus learning you cannot trust your care-givers or anyone else.
In...

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This is my translation of the first of Rilke’s Duino Elegies. Rilke began the first Duino Elegy in 1912, as a guest of Princess Marie von Thurn und Taxis, at Duino Castle, near Trieste on...

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In the greatness of heavens realm there are many chapters of angels
Arch Angel Micheal the great warrior, Arch Angel Gabriel the great
messenger, Angels who tabulate, Angels who sing, Angels who watch
and for Earth the most...

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The Tale of the Bumpalump

After the Knight had unraveled...Flagan decided to travel
    and get away on a long holiday.
He thought it quite grand to visit a new land
    and...

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Bank rolled by billionaires

No matter Tuesday, November 5, 2024
still one hundred and eight days away,
(thank you Julian Date Calendar -
FOR LEAP YEARS ONLY),
I believe a foregone conclusion
that Donald Trump will win
based on the pathetic debate...

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The Sandless Sand Castle

Let me tell you about my eldest brother.

I am: the "Scram!", the "Beat it!", the "What you looking at?!", and the "Turn around and watch the movie!", younger brother. As you can...

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The last time you felt good, you played along with them, and they were fooled
The feeling inside was blue and you always considered the suicide rendezvous
It’s when you can’t laugh or cry, and feel it’s...

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"Years” and “Distance”, phantoms of the dark that do their evil
in the quietude of the everyday, coming and going without so
much as a footprint or a whisper, and taking the most valuable
possessions of the heart,...

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I have to admit
The school where I work
Needs everyone to be
Able to speak Spanish.
Because the parents do.
We are an 82 percent
Spanish-speaking community.
I’ve taken Spanish 4 times.
And I have failed Spanish 4 times.
I have no idea...

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Facilities that claim they recycle spew nothing but rubbish
as does yours truly,
whose ecological ethos
goes out the window
into the cold freezing iceland
prompting the following balderdash.

Upon the advent of an unexpected inspection
slated for tomorrow January 24th, 2025
myself...

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Hmmm, where do I start? With deep sighs, I am sighing right now.
I just finished burying 2 lizards, and my heart is heavy...

Let me back up a bit...bear with me if I might turn out...

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Dad, I remember well the night I grew up. 
I know you remember that night too...
   I know you never forgot this happening:
  
It was 1966, an early Fall night, around 10:30...

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The Table 
                                ...

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FYI BEFORE READ. this was made as a personal note to a stepsister i lost over time, this is more of a note then a true poem. but i felt the need to share.

A sinner

Was...

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Winnie, wild-eyed, went insane
and sang “Happy Birthday” in the rain, 
while she washed away her bloody pain.

Now all day long she sings that song,
she sings it loud, she sings it strong,
walled in where she does...

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