Long Swimmer Poems

Currents
by Michael R. Burch

How can I write and not be true
to the rhythm that wells within?
How can the ocean not be blue,
not buck with the clapboard slap of tide,
the clockwork shock of wave on rock,
the...

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Poems about Poems (I)



What the Poet Sees
by Michael R. Burch

What the poet sees,
he sees as a swimmer
~~~underwater~~~
watching the shoreline blur
sees through his breath’s weightless bubbles...
Both worlds grow obscure.



Muse/Goddess
by Michael R. Burch

“What will you conceive in...

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The Making of a Poet
by Michael R. Burch

While I don’t consider “Poetry” to be my best poem—I wrote the first version in my teens—it’s a poem that holds special meaning for me; I call it...

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State of the Art (II)

These are my "ars poetica" poems about the art and craft of writing poetry. 



What the Poet Sees
by Michael R. Burch

What the poet sees,
he sees as a swimmer 
~~~~underwater~~~~
watching the shoreline...

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OUR BABY GIRL TURNS 21

ON 1ST JULY 1990~ THE ANGELS DID SOMETHING ALMIGHTY
FROM HEAVEN THEY SENT US OUR LIFE-LONG DESIRE-A PRECIOUS DAUGHTER TO LOVE AND ADMIRE.
TRUE TO YOUR NATURE YOU ARRIVED WITHOUT FUSS OR PAIN--THE...

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If there is life there 
must be an encounteration.
Even the moons and 
the suns, all get to return 
back if they passed 
to their eventual 
transportation. The morning
lights shunned and pass 
like flying clouds. When...

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I was out one day walking, along the glad sounding shore,
Gathering pretty seashells, and watching the seagulls soar.

To the left were lofty mountains, touching the azure skies,
To the right, sparkling ocean, and ahead the butterflies!

In...

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Here are tribute poems for exceptional children and teachers who should be alive today:

Emilie Parker,
the horror grows starker
as we see your sweet image
and cringe at the carnage;
but dear, how you mesmerize
with those vivid blue eyes
and...

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*LETTER TO MY FATHER*

 
Dearest Father
With heart ripped into rags and shreds I write ? to you tonight
Trembling hands and ink made of tears and blood
Teary ?? eyes and bloody heels like a defeated soldier
Lost...

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I awoke early that morning

to an unfamiliar familiar sound.

I rose from the bed with cacophonous singing

ringing in my ears, separated the curtains

with the breast stroke of an Olympic swimmer,

and opened the blinds to the on...

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I loved the cool, blue-green seas, and was most at home on crystal water,
As earth, forever in the pale glow of a moon, looks fondly to its daughter.

I had always been a strong swimmer, for...

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You're cracking me up, brah
You're my beloved friend flaw
You're everything I need now
Why did you do this to me somehow?
I'm a drastic disgrace...
Look at my smeared face...
I am bleeding like wounds never healed...
Never dealt with...

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Sunday cockcrow nascent promulgate aural essays reveal,
laissez-faire luscious lustrous buoyant  raptures,
radio behemoth prompt to that untamed erudite fantasist,
me the one possessing rippled rampant penchant,
for titanic exploit extraordinaire beyond dimension heftiness,
 a stimulant patently innocuous...

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We are all true wild swimmers 
You swim everyday and dive through the waves,
Look great in a swimsuit and your hairdo behaves. 
You have all the gear and it coordinates, you always seem glam on...

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STROKIN’: PART THREE
THE FULLBACK

He was twenty-eight yards and
thirty-two seconds from the end of a career
He had broken several bones, had a permanent
limp, knew the burden of performance to be an
unforgiving weight like the heavy black...

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FREE VERSE VI

Reason Without Rhyme
by Michael R. Burch

I used to be averse
to free verse,
but now I admit
YOUR rhyming is WORSE!

But alas, in the end,
it’s all the same:
all verse is unpaid
and a crying shame.



What the Poet...

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Life is a precious gift, and sometimes we push against
the wind, and  like salmons, we spend much of our brief lives             ...

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In the quiet depths where shadows swell,  
I dive into the ocean of grief,  
Where the waves whisper secrets,  
And the tides pull at my heart,  
A current of sorrow, heavy...

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I shouldn’t live in the past but I’m not just expressing myself
I’m over myself
I promise not to stay there too long but the pain makes everything high definition
Never in the back always a leader, I...

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As you see, hear a few moments later a funny looking Huckleberry Hound dopey little dog
cartoon the families all time favorite as the children snicker, and everyone there comes
in the room just in time and...

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Your thoughtless talking 
Got me running and walking
Our reflection of cyber-sensation is not genuine
You're playing with my feelings and head now...that's mean...
Where have you been?
I have lost you...once again...
How can I forgive you, boo,
When we...

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Friend, before life moves us to the parting ways
Let wisdom tell from rend of heart its lessons old
That you may take your journey springing praise
And mend with gladness dream and mirrored fold
   ...

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Surprise, I'm back up from the kicks you gave me
I'll be the First to admit I'm crazy 
I could curse out my ex, but at times I miss that lady 
I just Don't want you...

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As Marion trod the old familiar path
leading to the river of her childhood,
she viewed the willow tree across the river
and recalled with clarity
the event that changed her life 
half a century ago - that memory
which...

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she was a beautiful and rare wildflower
peaceful and delicate 
but with vibrant untamed hues

she had a blaze
that no one could grasp or contain
so she confined her truth in solitude

she often felt lost and consumed
by the...

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