Long Socrates Poems

A MINISTER RETIRES :  
SOLILOQUY 

I arise as infant Phoenix 
from Akasha ashes 
counterparts frozen 
with foibles intact
a still Arctic of death
sheath for recalibration 

Source Light breathes into 
fontanelle slowly sleepily  
Sekmet my...

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Gone now are the wondrous minds of old,
whose era treasured learning over gold,
And humble were the thoughts and words of these,
who, trothed to truth, would now be left displeased,
by hurried tempers bent on winning wars,
neglectful...

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Contest : The Prismatic Self
Sponsor : Daniel Henry Rodgers
Date submitted : 19/5/25

—————- 

“Contests around track, contests for followers,
for best tasting wine, most exquisite 
architectural design ~ endless
quests to become best versions of Self,
sharpen mind, mould...

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Brains and guts orbit the soul—
that polar star searing in the marrow of being.

I was born somewhere between Einstein’s neurons
Ginsburg beat poetry, the birth of rock and roll, revolution marches,
and the calloused hands of a...

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Nigga my fade be the meanest this nigga been hot since a foetus                      ...

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Unquotable quotes: Philosophers – XXII

Take Socrates: the insignia of a true philosopher is the bald pate and the luxuriant beard – the very reason why women make for such pathetic philosophers.
The bald pate facilitates the...

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"Like a piece of ice on a hot stove the poem must ride on its own melting." Robert Frost 


 
"Bees Under Milk Wood : A Spell"



Spider Web glistens wet 
in the spoilt lies of...

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I see the smiles beaming in your eyes
And I can hear the passion moving in your voice
I can feel your breath moving inside me
And your spirit soaring above me
I wish if I could fully understand...

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I am walking Athens with Socrates
And see the world through his eyes
Barefooted with white robe
Tied in a knot with linen rope
I follow him like a shadow
Starring at the faces of Athenians 
Who lived ago a...

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Ever wonder where big ideas come from?

Memories of FDR
from newsreel clips -
a lion-headed striking man
with rakish grin,
jaw jutting proudly, 
signature cigarette holder
clenched in his teeth
tilted ever upward...
soaring to the heavens
as he cruises by
waving to admirers
in...

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In my sanctuary’s hush where Poe’s tales I clasp
Into his world I plunge with a breath, a rasp.
Beneath the creaking floorboards a heart's pulse
In my mind, my mind, oh it throbs and gasps;
Suddenly then I'm...

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Amélie Beth Harris -McGeehan

Acknowledgment of birthday gal,
whose invaluable priceless worth
exceeds more'n a bajillion dollars.  

First born of Boyce and Harriet
(both long since deceased,
albeit cremated whereby their ashes
- cremains scattered to the four winds)
in Paterson,...

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Post post Modernism

Who wants modernity in any case whether
                          ...

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catapulted by a magic trampoline I pass the gates of heaven

          no border control

            ...

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dogs that left faux paw prints extant within me life 

lids black out and allow me to write
about a petty issue ye aye in vite
while eyes shut tight
bring back four legged friends sprite
and though many...

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EPIGRAMS IV

Improve yourself by others' writings, attaining freely what they purchased at the expense of experience.
—Socrates, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Are mayflies missed by mountains? Do stars
applaud the glowworm’s stellar mimicry?
?Michael R. Burch

I didn’t...

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Grab Bag Poems and Epigrams

POEMS

Less Heroic Couplets: Dark Cloud, Silver Lining, Dupes
from “Love in the Time of the Coronavirus”
by Michael R. Burch

Every corona has a silver lining:
I’m too far away to hear your whining,
and despite...

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Victory at the Hippodrome

They were hiding their stalls out of sight near the race course at Olympia

No signs but everyone knew where they were under cover of dubious propriety

On track for instant wealth and gratification...

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Epigrams VII

A question that sometimes drives me hazy: 
am I or are the others crazy?
—Albert Einstein, poetic interpretation by Michael R. Burch


The Whole of Wit
by Michael R. Burch

for and after Richard Moore

If brevity is the...

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Alchemy of the Answers

Belief in the beauty of unrequited love blooming 
No relief as they replay the sounds of war looming 
A chief at the mane of the horse he is grooming 
A thief that...

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For the last time they all wanted to meet
him to share their thoughts, feelings; he heard them
patiently and bid good-bye to each.
Asked them to leave, as he desired to stay lone;
They left except two associates...

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[Wishing a joyous Christmas to all the poets at Soup, and may all have a very happy, healthy and productive 2020!] 

Christmas has sadly lost much of its significance. Yes, we pay lip service to...

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/ "Like Open-Mic Explosions from the End of Language". ~ Chat-GPT /
_____




Madmen leaked a rash of sky-blue puddle;
fatally cloistered the hat-flu's hubble -

To wit:

- the half-time half-life smile of she and the other half-wonder of...

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THE PLURALISTS : Empedocles & Anaxagoras

That single primary substance the ‘arche’ of
the Ionian philosophers ,
Was challenged by Emphedocles (b.495BC)
and Anaxagoras(b.500BC) !
Emphedocles spoke of four qualitative elements
of Nature ;
As Earth , Air , Fire and Water...

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The very first time
my mother's healing touch
tapped my forehead,
I felt God's travelled down
here in this peculiar earth
to heal me up from the fever.
A sunken soul released out of me,
turned as rejuvenated as a fresh lemon...

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