Long Squirm Poems

They were gambling in front of the house.
Manservants and pages bustled about
Serving Suitors who just curse and carouse.
Few mix wine with water. I heard one shout,
"Clean down the tables with wet sponges! Rouse
Yourselves! And when...

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Rejection Slips 3

Rejection Slip
by Michael R. Burch

Whenever my writing gets rejected,
I always wonder how the rejecter got elected.
Are we exchanging at the same Bourse?
(Excepting present company, of course!)

When editors reject my poems, did I slip...

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Juvenilia: Early Poems IV
I wrote this around age 17.



Bible Libel
by Michael R. Burch

If God
is good
half the Bible
is libel.

I read the Bible from cover to cover at age eleven, ten chapters per day, at the suggestion...

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[Now ShallowMan is quite content
receiving FactoidMan’s consent
to quibble and express dissent
as long as keeping covenant
with fingers crossed and belfry bent
when viewing Facts in sealed cement:]

SM
“The Facts you give me circumvent
those ‘truths’ your chuckles supplement;
although they...

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Where do we come in
					in medias res  not knowing nor caring when
doesn’t everybody pine being number one we leave behind our lives in pages  pictures  or else make for images of what...

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The Lay of The Best Man - Part Five


Have you heard about the bespectacled man who wore his glasses to bed?
Because when he awoke mornings his dreams were all blurry in his head.
And what about...

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Listen
by Immanuel A. Michael (an alias of Michael R. Burch)

1.
Listen to me now
and heed my voice;
I am a madman, alone,
screaming in the wilderness,
but listen now.

Listen to me now, and if I say
that black is black
and...

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According to The National Fatherhood Initiative, there is a father absence crisis in America. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 18.3 million children, 1 in 4, live without a biological, step, or adoptive father in...

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Rum got to his feet and said, “Let’s go play in the street.”
Raisin said, “I’m up for that; some fresh air would be neat.”
They were soon outside and heard a sound… FLAP FLAP… THUD… TWEET
What...

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You were my least liked teacher,
                    ball of fire
       ...

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A tramp steamer plies an ocean of fog. 
The Chief Bos’n makes a note in the log while the helmsman 
Strains to see beyond the wheel. 
The ship’s Captain leaves the bridge with a groan....

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Rum had heard the rumour, “There’s a great new movie out.”
He asked around to find out what the plot might be about
It’s a tale of dogs so naughty, folk won’t go outdoors
Twas Ronnie Rat that...

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On a silver moonlit pillow’s blissful patch I dreamt nirvana 
verses for my sister Jay and our magic mutual bond,  that
gem-enhanced treasure chest, that life support as ironclad rampart 
for our twin psyche sparkle,...

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Kublai winter days are slow and steady. He is now my fluffy
old boy dog. Sleeps a lot and is somewhat of a loner. Genghis and Sassy
follow me always wanting my attention. Not Kublai, I have...

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Millie Mable Millipede was worried by the news.
Mike and Molly Millipede would soon need winter shoes.
Their itsy, bitsy, tiny feet, until now free and bare,
Were leaving cold and frosty foot prints almost everywhere.

Winter soon would...

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I have heard prayers of others that, not only could  I not pray, but what I heard made me squirm.  These are dear and good people, and I feel that their hearts are...

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In the elm outside my window, roosts a mysterious bird.
I listened as he squawked and fluttered. This is what I heard,
"If God had given you wings, would you fly away with me?"
To have wings and...

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The Punisher and the PunishEd

                           I

The Punisher needs the...

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What is white?
  The ironies of the question and the implications
    Are really quite extraordinary ...
      For WHITE, specifically
       ...

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Let's dwell a tiny bit  on that  skill  most hanker after,
of mastering a language that especially enthrals,
infused with magic rhythm so fervent,
pulsing music lilt,  anthem-rich samba,
think for one ecstatic heady moment,
if...

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I don't know what she saw in me
that attracted her so fatally
I was just an inconspicuous guy,
sitting in a lonely hearts club,
minding my own business
When she invaded my privacy,
and latched on to me like a...

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Always envious of gifted individuals with neat hand printing/writing

Gnome hatter heroic measures taken
moost ludicrously asinine,
nonetheless hoop fully
me legendary penta meat herd bovine design

of modest fellow (me) will endure as divine,
no matter not one bloody poetic...

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Poems for Poets X
Poems about Poets X



Sinking
by Michael R. Burch

for Virginia Woolf

Weigh me down with stones ...
   fill all the pockets of my gown ...
      I’m going down,
...

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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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Under the depths below the deep 
     of this Atlantic Ocean,
live the lobsters that crawl and creep
     with an articulated motion.

They thrive on the ocean’s sea floor,
...

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