Long Tentative Poems

Erin, for a girl who embodies Ireland
by Michael R. Burch

All that’s left of Ireland is her hair—
bright carrot—and her milkmaid-pallid skin,
her brilliant air of cavalier despair,
her train of children—some conceived in sin,
the others to avoid...

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Here We Shall Remain
by Tawfiq Zayyad
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Like twenty impossibilities
in Lydda, Ramla and Galilee ...
here we shall remain.

Like brick walls braced against your chests;
lodged in your throats
like shards of glass
or prickly cactus...

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These are early poems of mine, written as a high school student in the 10th grade. 

as Time walked by
by Michael R. Burch

yesterday i dreamed of us again,
when
the air, like honey,
trickled through cushioning grasses,
softly flowing,...

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Unidentified extraterrestrial(s) willingly abducted me

As a divergence 
from the apocalyptical, dialectical, 
geomorphological, judgmatical, 
metaphorical, philosophical...,
I share an out of this 
(webbed wide) world,
light hearted anecdote 
ye may find far fetched.

Believe me you,
an unspecified number of...

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     by how many badbyes can you measure the length of your day

                 first comes...

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Unidentified flying object abducted yours truly,... 

a willing experimental subject 
to escape untenable married life.

Upon falling into a deep slumber, 
the following subconscious 
somnambulant scenario arose 
allowing, enabling, and providing 
temporary alleviation from 
outa harried...

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Universal elegy grieves and yet embraces shifts of paradigm
New beginnings consciousness initiates comprehends and thus proceeds from
Illusion’s delusion collusions misconceptions in the irritating
Vortex whirlpool immanent void of false containment

Enlightenment modern postmodern retro visionary futuristic aspirations
Resound...

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Absolute deafening silence...

during and after a moderate snowfall
today January 19th, 2024,
within Southeastern Pennsylvania
and elsewhere across the Eastern Seaboard,
whereby blanket of whiteness
muffles sounds of civilization.

I hate a spoiler alert
regarding weather forecasters prediction,
especially when meteorologist
wannabe spouse doth...

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The monumental bane of OCD - obsessive compulsive disorder

As origin of Homo Sapien species surged ahead,
harboring nascent predominance
asper said primate reproductively bred,
(albeit via incremental fits and starts)
evolutionary forebears didst dread
Tom Tom Club former members
an American...

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The year has finally yawned and turned       
Upon a half-revealed shoulder.
A vibrancy, intrinsic to a reemerging 
Enforcement of the strengthening light, 
In its deliberate and unconcerned   ...

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(alternately titled: Typical daily mindset today – 
July 17th, 2020)

The following words
mostly unredacted, nevertheless finessed
for curbed poetic/prosaic appeal
lock, stock and barrel
codify, and edify (hoopfully not mortify)
any reader unbeknownst and/or familiar
with unsteady state of yours truly,
(an...

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Living in California is a brave thing to do, I’m convinced
Any time the ground around you could break into pieces, but residents seem so indifferent
of this threat that the ground they stand on could take...

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The Undertow


The two could feel the undertow
Pull at them both - then let them go
He wondered if she could know
Or sense it too and let it flow

The undertow in the fast-running tide
Ebbed and flowed at...

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Global pride! Greatest story-theme worldwide! Oceanic!
Voyage liner - Atlantic! British cruise ship! Titanic!
Born in the yard of Harland and Wolf! Floated to venture!
Who did ever dream of a deadliest wreck- adventure?

Christened after Titans of the...

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Is ARANJUEZ a pining after the composer's mother ?

(Joaquin Rodrigo - 1901-1999 - who composed the " Aranjuez " concerto on piano in 1938/9 and which later was destined for the guitar and orchestra, turned...

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A couple of twisted shacks composed in Card Board City in Everywhere 

County the nameless man or woman spits out another tooth with 
           ...

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Stokey 2014

I am working the door

At an all night bar

Sometimes I think I have spent too much time alone.  These long nights remind me of flowers and effigies. I drink too much.  There’s...

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A damp, dank odour pervades the saturated forest; pungent. acrid;
The stench an assault on the human senses:
Working subtly, slowly permeating every pore until it compromises the very heart of the forest.

Seeping easily between the debris;...

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Electorate witnesses wounded beast...
flailing, lurching, and writhing in throes of agony

Trumpets blare acknowledging
crack hunters lucky strike,
i.e. bullseye salvo shot at
innocuous yet brutish
and nasty looking Homo sapien
courtesy elite militia incapacitates,
(yet doth not kill) mortal enemy.

Tis a...

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"Wolves"



Pulchritude is not a beautiful word.

Dark can be beautiful
when walking with wolves
hearing their stories
sad songs of love lost 
soft they begin 
and then hungry
for the essential missing elemental,
they can be heard harshly calling, 
after a...

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January juxtapose
More cold now
Beyond hot heat!


Cold cold air
Windy surprise;
Minus heat therapy?


Winding way whirls
Shiver seeding shiver
January jostling juice


Lotus sunbathe --
Muddy pond flavours
Mid-afternoon glare


Misdirected
Whim and fancy;
Windy detours


New year in late January,
Oozing days forfeit;
Scent of the times!


Why do...

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Light this fire of love within me for you lord.
Ignite the passion for fulfilling your purporse for my life.

A maddening disposition towards sin, I need.
A craving desire for your presence, I long for.

A living vessel...

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‘Twas but a mist-enshrouded speckle
dark-painted on looming horizon.
Petty worker holds unwavering watch,
silently, stealthily keeps his eyes on.

Forward motion undeniable,
each passing minute size increasing.
Small heart stands alert and viable – 
beating fast and tremulous; though, never...

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He draws the curtain open
His weary legs haul him over gravity's threshold
He sways, the water leaving through the drain with the rest of his will, his strength
He steps past his minds mistress
And crumples onto the...

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LITANY   OF   CAT   COMPLAINTS


Why so glum Rusty? Offered Max  as a tentative 
One-no-trump   opener.
     Well, it’s all down to you guys ...

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