Long Stripling Poems

Athenian Epitaphs

Mariner, do not ask whose tomb this may be,
but go with good fortune: I wish you a kinder sea.
—Michael R. Burch, after Plato

Does my soul abide in heaven, or hell?
Only the sea gulls
in their...

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yet another iffy coronavirus haiku #1
by michael r. burch

plagued by the Plague
i plague the goldfish
with my verse



yet another iffy coronavirus haiku #2
by michael r. burch

sunflowers
hang their heads
embarrassed by their coronas

I wrote this poem after having...

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As dawn unfolds today beyond my fractured windowpane,
a breeze beguiles the ashen drapes. Like snakes they slip aside,
revealing wanton worlds that race and run aground, insane,
immersed in scenes obscene that savants strive to mask and...

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Your voice kisses the breath of the morning wind
Snapping in the solemnity that bears a cry unto God.
Angels have come to earth; that in slumber seemed,
Like the wind creaking among the faith we once had.

Life...

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I stand proud with pride...

exuding suave debonair air 
plus head and shoulders taller
(than the empire state building -
hey what's a little hyperbole, eh?)
since September eleventh
two thousand and twenty four,
which date marked a major change
(yes folks...

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Preface preceding promiscuous philandering peccadillos
undermining energy and time not spent with missus
and mother of our precious progeny,
whereby, yours truly sought, (somewhat assertively, modestly,
and zestfully) to elicit – illicit prurient heterosexual predilections
before dark shadow of guilt...

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Roman à clef tragicomedy...
overlaid with façade of fiction = Mein Kampf

in summer re:
typed out during winter of my discontent,
when yours truly no spring chicken
stirred ruse to expatiate poetically
regarding following rhyming reason,
hence mine lovely bones 
into...

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French poems by Charles d’Orleans in modern English translations by Michael R. Burch



Traitorous Eye
by Charles d’Orleans
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Traitorous eye, what’s new?
What lewd pranks do you have in view?
Without civil warning, you spy,
And...

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Why do today what you can put off till tomorrow?

The following extrapolated 
thought thread exercised,
NOT utilized to intimate 
how Fats Domino belied,
and wowed a crowded house ass-sized.

As a former ace procrastinator, I abhor
putting off doing...

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Will you burn the earth`s  skin  to glass?. 

Yet, right there , in Harmony of `69
I bent  in adoration 
before the dusky pearl of your forehead
the soft slopes of your never-ending body
shifting...

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Roman à clef tragicomedy...
overlaid with façade of fiction = Mein Kampf

No need for yours truly to dig deep,
(albeit bonafide figuratively)
by Dickens thru mine Uriah Heep,
a gnarled mass creep
ping, comprising, encompassing, glomming
abysmal existence strewn with hard...

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“Get lost, I don’t care,” snarled the young wolf disingenuously
The naïve stripling wanted little more than acclaim
With no knowledge of why it continued--
The 
       slow 
   ...

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* This has become a fave genre for me, as I’ve always been fascinated by metamorphosis and introspection of a shadowy nature … I hope you enjoy it. *

      ...

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(the following extrapolated 
     thought thread exercised,
NOT utilized to intimate 
     how Fats Domino belied,
and wowed a crowded house as-sized).

as a former ace procrastinator, i abhor
 ...

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WoodStock - Fifty Years Ago August 15-19, 2019

I knew nary a whit about
rock n roll history
soon to unfold August fifteen –
eighteen ninety sixty nine
mollycoddled, nestled,
obliviously preoccupied

bajillion miles away
attending Baker Park Day Camp
within Phoenixville, Pennsylvania
innocently naive...

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Though I posted the following poem 
(B)efore (C)ovid, a sense 
of glee donned my being 
the notion arose to trumpet anew
said literary handily crafted endeavor.

Not far from here – Perkiomen Valley -
Schwenksville, Pennsylvania
regular folks going...

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Gloriously "FAKE" Early Boyhood

Yah, ma brew their,
     and American sister golden hair -
     afar and away
book as aye ken ream hem bar,
     yea...

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Sitting at the very top of my closet,
a small cedar chest, with treasures I did deposit. 
It was Christmas gift my sweet cousin gave,
for years it has sat there, as if in a grave!
With broken...

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Das dada = codified bonafide anachronism

me thoughts infused
with thom hankering for yesteryear
circa antebellum i.e.
American Civil War era veer
rilly, teetering, smoldering, rumbling
upon iniquitous tier

United States greenacres crossroads
with petticoat junction spear
ritually hexed courtesy anti abolitionists
pitted against unfair
slavery,...

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Two hundred forty two
(12.1 score) years ago
countless stripling soldiers
strapping farming homeboys
healthy agrarian lads
raised among generations

in summer re:
offspring original settlers heirs
family acreage encompassed
wide uninterrupted forested swaths
across sprawling vistas
sparsely populated enclaves,

now heavily industrialized
lovely bones occupying
unmarked never known...

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Hice
handwritten from the little notebook
my new Hispanic friend read this
he speaks of delirium and decay
and makes it become fantasy
this is for him
Self Descriptadjective
A Library (lieberry) is full of books they cover upp the words is...

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Decade behind Memories buff,
Insight-now said set off;

Lifted me - reserved Coach
Shifted Corner for Window watch!

Head back to -where I belong
Setback by Playing tune;

Steering hands across Avenue,
Greeting Warriors deployed in each Queue;

All worn Herb Head-gears in...

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I will tell you a sorrowful tale of an ancient time
 when the turning years carved grooves into vinyl,
a time that changed everything and nothing.
He was a lad, a stripling, knobble kneed and roughly handled.
A...

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On the field of battle,
Young brave and strong,
We are stripling warriors,
Ready to bring it on!

We are fighting the darkness,
Piercing through with truth and light!
Charity is our standard,
Faith, courage and commitment our delight!

Captained by our King...

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Majestically lissome, a stripling nothing less,
slender in silhouette, a beauty in undress,
standing starkly bared, every limb exposed.
Not for an artist, but the splendour disclosed
is singularly attractive, as any you’ll see:
a natural vision of simplistic symmetry.

Engrossed,...

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