Long Tenderest Poems

Sappho fragment #155
translation by Michael R. Burch 

A short revealing frock?
It's just my luck
your lips were made to mock!

*

Sappho fragment #156
translation by Michael R. Burch 

She keeps her scents
in a dressing-case.
And her sense?
In some undiscoverable...

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Lady’s Favor
by Michael R. Burch

May
spring
fling
her riotous petals
devil-
may-care
into the air,
ignoring the lethal
nettles
and may
May
cry gleeful-
ly Hooray!
as the abundance
settles,
till a sudden June
swoon
leave us out of tune,
torn,
when the last rose is left
inconsolably bereft,
rudely shorn
of every device but her thorn.


The...

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Dream of Infinity
by Michael R. Burch

Have you tasted the bitterness of tears of despair?
Have you watched the sun sink through such pale, balmless air
that your soul sought its shell like a crab on a beach,
then...

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Sweet Rose of Virtue
by William Dunbar (c. 1460-1530)
loose translation/modernization/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

after William Dunbar

Sweet rose of virtue and of gentleness,
delightful lily of youthful wantonness,
richest in bounty and in beauty clear
and in every virtue that...

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Juvenilia: Early Poems XII

Because You Came to Me
by Michael R. Burch

for Beth

Because you came to me with sweet compassion
and kissed my furrowed brow and smoothed my hair,
I do not love you after any fashion,
but wildly,...

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PRINCESS DIANA POEMS

Fairest Diana: an Epitaph for Princess Diana
by Michael R. Burch

Fairest Diana, princess of dreams,
born to be loved and yet distant and lone,
why did you linger?so solemn, so lovely?
an orchid ablaze in a crevice...

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a beacon in hours of darkness! 
                 unsung Warrior, vigorously protecting uprooted, 
      ...

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The scent of your feelings clings 
To the fabric of my dreams
It never leaves….it lingers
Lingers
Permeating everything
The scent of your feelings
Envelopes me

The fragrance of gardenia
When you are tender, sweet
Gentle and serene 
Tranquility showing through
In the gardenia...

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for Judy, who stole my heart before I could part with my fears

“Is solace anywhere more comforting than that in the arms of a sister?”—Alice Walker.

Not my sister, yet it felt
Like she was my sister,...

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The scent of your feelings clings 
To the fabric of my dreams
It never leaves….it lingers
Lingers
Permeating everything
The scent of your feelings
Envelopes me

The fragrance of gardenia
When you are tender, sweet
Gentle and serene 
Tranquility showing through
In the gardenia...

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A crystal-clear picture! 
                               ...

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There are two kinds of people: those who say to God, 'Thy will be done,' and those to whom God says, 'All right, then, have it your way.' - C. S. Lewis

When my breath comes...

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Where, O' Where Baby Did You Hide That Key


Where, O' where baby did you hide that key
THAT UNLOCKS THIS RUSTY CHAIN HOLDING ON ME
Is behind shadows in yesterday's floor
OR THERE FAR AWAY ON SOME FOREIGN...

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Have you heard about the two tribesmen who were cannibals?
  They're names were "Zee" and "Zoo" and often met in the forest to discuss their meals.
  One day, Zee says to Zoo, "Have...

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The Lyrical man of passion’s sacred song,
Gave his heart away to the Caribbean Queen,
In the fine crystal glasses of fine champion of desires lust,
Did he so drown, beneath the frothy waves of the tropical sun?
In...

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We are the sons of valiant blood
with a past crowned with glory,
and that richness is still ours
to build a brighter tomorrow for others
who will come after us and thank us:
many didn't give up their swords...

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Scars, like lace etchings, a pattern
Rippling indentations against porcelain skin,
What is that? I ask her, never quite
So humble as my heart when she pulls her arm
Away, like a secret not ready to be opened,
An ache...

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Gentle ripples of clear water trace the banks
Where there are stones washed perfectly smooth
By the silent waves caressing their sleek veneer
And whispering echoes of tenderest serenity
Through the air that is so very fresh and clean

Bright,...

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The breathe of summer is nearly past
Oaks and maples collect dreams, belief
Pouring out the tenderest promises, gentling
The spirit with a grace so warm, like a whisper
Caressing the moon with soft tendrils of firefly
Kindness, kindled by...

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Kindness comes in silent notions,
Lifting hearts more vast than oceans
Kindness whispers joy and light
Erasing the blackness of the dark night
Kindness lingers in faith and peace
Promising hearts, our hope won’t cease

Compassion comes in beauty and grace
Inspiring...

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Sintered from the dust of dying stars
This vessel of mine was,
By hands that reached down
Through the veil above,
And together with one generous breath
Bestowed upon it
This uncanny spark—this soul—
That man so very hubristically
Dared to name so.

From...

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In the very warm May' afternoon,
I decided to take a stroll instead of being blue,
and getting a little adventurous was to discover
another pansy or violet bloom;
these flowers were the precious gifts of a little and...

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My youth once was a garden of many flowers
that bloomed in each fragrant spring,
and the canaries and butterflies flew over them
with irresistible charm and supreme gentleness;
when winter came with a bitter chill, frost followed
without showing...

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[Our perspective]
Blackness superimposed by glowing blue
Smearing white spiraling cloud icings
Appearing applied by a painter’s hand
Soon to stretch and then to transform
As eventually will happen with all belief systems

The curvature and reflection of oceans
Vast emerald forests...

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Gentle, like the tenderest dewdrop,
	Kind as the rain who bleeds hope,
		Quiet, like the whisper of light,
			Tender as the heart who sings praise.

Joyful, like the guitar’s rhythmic chorus,
	Elated by the wonder of a priceless psalm,	
		Jubilant, like...

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