Long Tentacled Poems

Epitaph for a Palestinian Child
by Michael R. Burch

I lived as best I could, and then I died.
Be careful where you step: the grave is wide.



Autumn Conundrum
by Michael R. Burch

It's not that every leaf must finally...

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Poems about Fathers and Grandfathers I

I translated the first six Native American poems for my father when he chose to enter hospice and end his life by not taking dialysis …


Cherokee Travelers' Blessing I
loose translation/interpretation...

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To a Daughter More Precious than Gems
by Otomo no Sakanoue no Iratsume
loose translation by Michael R. Burch

Heaven's cold dew has fallen—
and thus another season arrives.
Oh, my child living so far away,
do you pine for me...

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When Love And Dark Unite, A Shiny Tangled Web Catches Prey

There were hidden tentacles of hate in her heart
That her coils had not consumed me, I gave thanks
My soul nearly erupted, my mind suddenly went...

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Refrain
You shimmering waves on the ocean blue
Dance not again, he cannot dance with you
You weeping forests where the winds wail too
Let your bright tears fall in the pool of dew
The world of pop will never...

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Nirvana protégé podcast/youtube
phenom quite mature
talented young lass promising future
media attention did capture
overnight starlet exhibits bravure
generates profuse nonstop
outstandingly positive conjecture

nine year old greeted in France bonjour
mademoiselle so innocent and pure
guaranteed future success 
near anonymity one day
household...

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              ...

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Harpoon Loouey - Pseudonym Pen Bukowski

although just a pint size Notre Dame 
hunched quarter back 
     with rock solid state frame
Pen (short for pennilessness), 

     a generic...

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FROM SUNSET TO SUNRISE

Her clinging mermaid-figure, auburn hair - french braid-chaste.
Pearl’s arms circumnavigate his nautical-neck. Strong arms gird her waist.
His hands, like the current, draw her in. She inhales with fingers laced.
Like the sublime shoreline,...

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ABIDING IN THE STAGE OF PEARLS

When first we met,
Red paper hearts,
Sailor-Clipped,
Arrows piquing interest.

He saw three O’s
In a bonnie row,
Ripe for the picking.
He chose Friday
And she chose a prince.

Aladdin, a rough diamond
Would shake the snowglobe.
I’m dizzy...

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George Fulwider
1837-1918

My beating-heart age,
Reached the half century mark,
When I and my “better second,”
Found hopeful roots,
And an oleander trellis,
On burgeoning Philadelphia street, 
Here in this Quaker colony, 
Of a thousand trees.
Our small wooded house was, 
Most...

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Phobia? Irrational?
When was that the case?
Empire, art thou factional?
Fractioned by the chase?

Satisfaction? Where to find?
Thousand-faced, age-lined?
Freedom lurking in thy mind?
How the dark sun shined...

Vehicles, flutter about!
Effect what ye can!
Ailing aged, random rout?
O for, fate of...

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In hushed whispers, Mariners told stories,
           Of a octopus like cephalopod creature;
With a tentacled beak and jet thrust power,
      ...

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Sea surreal in darkest nets
Nocturnal-ness in jaws and tentacled breasts
still the thrill, breathless at my thoughts
the sea - a catch

The sea a catch, oh my stars
that settle like flickering candles
on tremulous waves
The sway, the dance,...

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Anteater's with their incredible 2 foot tongue
Bison their hides, one time under the gun
Cheetah's my, can they run
Dolphins bringing so much fun.

Elephants, Indian and African by the size of their ears
Fin Whales hunted, we share...

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'Starfish!' said I, 'thing of a moray eel.'
Be it black ocean space;
Or in the breathing coral seas;

Back into my memories squiding;
To warn me about the sea turtle;
The cetacean coral reef crabbing;
Sharks and piranhas kidnapping;

I heard...

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Shattered, 
A city skyline weeps within
Tendrils of the deep
A broken world, time's cruel grin.

The compass needle spins insane
Lost in a dreamscape's refrain
Echoes of what was
Whispers in the silent mist.

The sky bleeds into the labyrinth
A canvas...

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Monster Trees 

Monster trees reaching down through insane skies like spiders,
They see something coming in the green benign stretches,
We are the onion ring bearers wearing dark-day secrets.
We know what happens when bearded eyes shut tight,
When...

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Sister Mary Catholic never tells a lie
Trust her in her order to be pure
Every word spoken under the habit screams
Penance requires suffering
Nuns are likely to be abducted
Taken aboard an alien ship for treatment 
Bug eyed...

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Will you marry me?...enamored the deep gaze.
Twenty years ago , I mesmerised into your maze.
    
Razzled dazzled life, beleaguered in  myriad phase.
Pristine peace I found, hugged in your embrace.

Those quarrels and...

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A SPIRACLE LEAP

The spiral staircase made her high heels sing.
Round and round, Suzette tapped a snazzy dance.
Her smile sparkling, ears dangling with butterfly wings.
Curves on fire, tights and a bodysuit, tighten his trance.

Her sugar cane...

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Written By:  D. Collins 6/21/25


The longevity of hate has a wide-ranging girth.
It lies dormant for a while then has a drastic rebirth.
Since the 12th century hate has destroyed many populations.
The glimmer of gold, theft...

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A night tide expels it,
leaves it 
wallowing.

Salt has blistered,
nippers gnawed.

The carcass tumbles.
Tattered flesh flaps,
bone snaggles bone.

A figure emerges,
as if a mangled person
was escaping 
the weakening clutch
of tentacled coils.

Waves lap
at the lolling mound,
cavities rupture,
gas bubbles take
luminous...

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Sunset
by Michael R. Burch
								
This poem is dedicated to my grandfather, George Edwin Hurt, who died April 4, 1998.

Between the prophecies of morning
and twilight’s revelations of wonder,
the sky is ripped asunder.

The moon lurks in the clouds,
waiting,...

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We are of One Mind -
a tentacled,
ethereal monstrous mind,
not inherently vicious
but nevertheless
                prone to random acts of terror.

One Mind swims,
slips...

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