Long Tempted Poems

Psychologically still thirteen 

Ordinarily meaning pre Internet days
familiarization with me would entail
bringing the avid listener 
into my private mancave hideaways
less a physical place than a juncture in relationship, 
(whereby one or the other of us)...

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Rejection Slips 2

The Shape of Mourning
by Michael R. Burch
 
The shape of mourning
is an oiled creel
shining with unuse,
 
the bolt of cold steel
on a locker
shielding memory,

the monthly penance
of flowers,
the annual wake,
 
the face in the...

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I Know The Truth
by Marina Tsvetaeva
loose translation by Michael R. Burch

I know the truth?abandon lesser truths!
There's no need for anyone living to struggle!
See? Evening falls, night quickly descends!
So why the useless disputes?generals, poets, lovers?

The wind...

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Early afternoon. The Solomon 
Were in their, (according to Damali)
Club house. But the reality of the
Circumstance is this. The Club 
House was the Damian Domaine.
Damian's Billards. Damian didn't 
Know it was their chosen hangout.
As the...

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The young lady's car slowed to a stop ...

As she pulled as far off the highway, (onto the shoulder), as she could
(Allowing for any snow plow that might come along).
She had chosen poorly this time
Believing...

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Juvenilia: Early Poems VII

These are early poems I wrote as a boy and as a teenager.

The Leveler
by Michael R. Burch

The nature of Nature
is bitter survival
from Winter’s bleak fury
till Spring’s brief revival.

The weak implore Fate;
bold men...

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Once Upon a Time Everything was Perfect in Eden, NSW, Australia

This is a story about why snakes are reluctant to leave whenever you see them. 
Why they hang about, instead of scurrying off.
A reluctant snake...

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~ Just Be Thankful  ~
( The  Linked)


~O~



 Just be  Thankful
 J
 Thankful for all
 U
 All that you have
 S
 Have in your life
 T
 Life that God gives
 B
 Gives every...

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~ Pray  For  The  Lost ~
(Linked)


~O~


Pray for the lost
P
Lost  in  this  World
R
World, Needs Prayers
A
Prayers, Love, God
Y
God sent His Son
F
Son to Save  All
O
All who are lost
R
Lost, Blind, Confused
T
Confused, thru...

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Note to Readers of Previous Versions:
There are so many new vignettes scattered throughout the poem that I hope you will reread the whole thing! There are new GEMS, improvements to previous verses and improved footnotes...

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~ Jesus  Is  Great ~
(Linked)



JESUS  IS  GREAT
J
Great is His name
E
Name so  Holy
S
Holy  is  He
U
He, Son of  God
S
God, our  Father
I
Father  Almighty
S
Almighty  and  true
G
True and...

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~The Savior Is Near~
 (The Jewels Rule)


 Jesus  is near 
 With  Him  there's nothing to fear 
 He's returning any time 
 His  Love  sublime- 
 Return  prophesied...

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~God Is Lord~
 (Jay's Way)


 God is Lord
 With Him I can do it all
 Sees me thru everything and each time I fall
 With God by side there's none I should fear
 He always...

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Death Watch

It was early morning.
The sun was barely above the high hills on the other side of the lake.
I was at the end of the dock slowly reeling in my line.
I could see fish jumping...

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Everything here is true
Just as stated
because it's already happened
or - it has yet to occur - 
but it's very soon to occur
and I have such strong feeling
that the future will be as I see it
as...

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~ Bow  To  His  Grace   ~
 ( Candlelight )



~O~


 
He makes heart aglow 
Lord You make soul glad 
Vanish all my fears 
With His Love care 
To  Him ...

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~ Bow  To Your  Grace   ~
 ( Candlelight )



~O~


 
You make heart aglow 
Lord You make soul glad 
Vanish all my fears 
With Your Love care 
To You I pray 
Every...

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~  Jesus  Christ  Is   Lord  ~
 (  Nonet  )




~O~
 


My  Holy  Bible  is  true  and  right. 

Tells  me  what...

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"How Do I Feel Today"
written out of depravity of sleep, of self assurance of happiness
written out of love and vulnerability
I was so sure, aware; I had a plan!
but as the case with all my well...

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(One poet's vision of what being indwelled by Christ's heart might look like)        

What makes me feel loved isn't easy to say, 
And not because the heart of...

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Once pawn a time...

About four plus weeks after
frazzling fiasco from friggin fraudsters
white knight still mourns swindled money
Lynne Costello Senior Civil Investigator
(assistant to Philadelphia attorney general)
unable to recoup forfeited funds.

While holed up in castle keep,
(albeit fetchodit...

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MORNING DEVOTION

Heavenly Father:

I lift up travelers to You. 

I pray for peace for Jerusalem and safety for Israel. I pray that between one and all of Her children would come to a saving knowledge of...

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Glib rhetoric concerned with  striking independence may seem frivolous,
nuanced rational quite often a typical traumatic casualty,
the once interminable interdependent passionate zeal disintegrating in rapid spasms,
a longing sated and mutually embraced by two compatible persons...

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I have heard some things in class today
I pray I make more progress and struggle less
Praying for peace and quiet someday
I want a clear mind from regret and distress

Cold-hearted lies 
Won’t open its eyes to...

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After drenching biblical rainfall...
verdant green acres covered the planet of the apes
like a petticoat junction
donning barrel of skinny dipping monkeys.

Once drought stricken vast landscape
far as the eye could see
suddenly flush with promise
of budding new shoots
and...

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