Long Summoned Poems

??1 Kings 5:3-5 NIV??
[3] “You know that because of the wars waged against my father David from all sides, he could not build a temple for the Name of the Lord his God until the...

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Epigrams by Michael R. Burch

If brevity is the soul of wit
then brevity and levity 
are the whole of it.
—Michael R. Burch

To write an epigram, cram.
If you lack wit, scram!
—Michael R. Burch

Conformists of a feather
flock together.
—Michael...

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Zen Death Haiku

Brittle cicada shell,
little did I know
you were my life!
—Shuho, translation by Michael R. Burch

Returning
as it came,
this naked worm.
—Shidoken, translation by Michael R. Burch

As dew glistens
on a lotus leaf,
so too I soon must vanish.
—Shinsui,...

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It's peaceful here in my backyard.
The crows sound happy
with warm October sunlight.

I just read about a deadly gathering in Las Vegas.
Absence of sun-drenched peace.
Inconvenient this time of lost loss.
Death is always inconvenient,
even when invited.

A veteran,
about...

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For Pharaoh still exalts himself and thinks he’s in control,
But if he won’t release my folk, he’ll pay a heavy toll.
Tomorrow I will bring down hail like Egypt’s never seen,
On plants and trees and man...

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I shall resolve to leave this
Place now...
And steadfastly search out,
Nestling between ridge and bluff
Amidst the folds of a foreign 
Land,
Several acres of unkempt ground
Fallow and rough;
Upon which stands...
Crumbled stone walls
With an exposed slate roof in
Some...

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NOTE:  This is the 2nd THIRD of a funny 3-part piece. No other way to post it due to file size limitations. It's a really fun poem, and I hope you'll take the time...

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The photograph that Tim had shown me a few hours earlier certainly did not do it justice.
From what I could see it was a large triangular shape on three legs which were all at a...

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Rosalia - The Evil Black Witch of the Harz, Part Two

Rosalia’s Instruments of Evil and Debauchery
Rosalia needed certain tools or instruments of evil and debauchery to successfully pursue her nefandous plans of bringing the people...

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Film Noir

By the lampost at night
with the pale moon shining bright
but obscured by the fog
I saw her in the harbor
standing where my boat lay moored
but she knew that
her azure eyes beckoned me to come
smoke from...

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Film Noir

By the lamppost at night
with the pale moon shining bright
but obscured by the fog
I saw her in the harbor
standing where my boat lay moored
but she knew that
her azure eyes beckoned me to come
smoke from...

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The Roman administrators came for the wealth of our worship
demanding that I crack the church's coffers wide open
for their needs, for the Empire's desperate embellishments,
in place of gold I presented the poor
I told the onery...

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They came from as far a way as New York and Dallas Texas. The class of 1981 wasn't a large class, it was the very first class of a very very private school. Their school,...

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Selena...Sarah the Sorceress
Russell...the Ghost of Never-land
This year has not been mine
Death laughs at me as he steals my grandfather from me
while I plead emptily for him to take me instead
yet I fail to realize I'm...

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Shame and guilt sabotaged mine healthy growth...

and let yours truly not forget emasculation
that prickly emotional immobilization
whereby these lovely bones 
subject courtesy senescence 
upon cremation reduced to obliteration.

Inching closer to mortality
linkedin with concomitant
subtle deterioration of body...

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“Upon Waking”


Slumber has its upsides 
while the outside runs around
like a split fowlyard, 
cacophonous 
pecking at each other 
and at the ground…

Elsewhere, 

like dull background noise
through the fog of dream 
the sound of the gamble...

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Obey The Cross That Jesus Suffered Although It Will Cost All You Claim As Yours !
Each of us must learn to take a part in the dance be part of Christ's vine by his design
Although...

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Excuse me operator, 

I think I’ve been disconnected,

To a neurotic world that's seemed to lose its senses,

A ceaseless quest of life questions,

Where are all of these transcending fairytales and esoteric answers?

I am feeling like it’s...

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This is a poem (Original Title “Mukti” in Bengali, which means “Freedom”) by India's Nobel-laureate poet, Rabindranath Tagore (1861 - 1941) - a poet, writer, playwright, composer, social reformer and painter. He was a man...

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I see this ulcer
Mind boggling in perception
Body arresting in phenomena
Of diverse shapes and designs
Magnificently wrought together
In one whiff of putrid scent
It is of an exotic nature
Magnanimously growing out of context
Thus ticking with apocalyptic dimensions ...

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...cont

She flew back to her nest that she so carefully tended and loved,
the angel close behind her.
“Why do you stay,” he said angrily.
“I have given you your wing.”  He stopped to think.
“I have offered...

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Date  October  2049

It was a cool Saturday evening.
Desharah was on the video phone
With Dolly. "Ma me and the kids
Are coming for a visit and Ame is
Coming too and he's bringing his 
Family. DJ...

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HEADSTONES AND CHATTELS 

‘Twas pure chance that I discovered
Just the other day,
A place passed 
Countless times,
Never had the thought of calling in,
Inner thoughts and misplaced fears
Oh there must have been countless other reasons
For one to...

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As I was walking swiftly
Just to reach Bajoga early
To see what a hot birthday
Will be chucked in the day
Of 27th of the october,
I collided with a creature
Seemingly so calm in nature
And so educated by sanity
With...

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someone always told me this with tears in her eyes...


(for Lata Sethi's late-mother, who was my mother’s ‘sister’ and who took us all into her heart, and for Lata and Ravi Sethi of Defence Colony,...

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