Long Thatch Poems

Radiance
by Michael R. Burch

for Dylan Thomas

The poet delves earth’s detritus—hard toil—
for raw-edged nouns, barbed verbs, vowels’ lush bouquet;
each syllable his pen excretes—dense soil,
dark images impacted, rooted clay.

The poet sees the sea but feels its meaning—
the...

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At Tintagel
by Michael R. Burch

That night, 
at Tintagel, 
there was darkness such as man had never seen...
darkness and treachery, 
and the unholy thundering of the sea...

In his arms, 
who is to say how much she...

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These are poems about Dylan Thomas, as well as poems "for" and "after" Dylan Thomas. Dylan Thomas was one of my favorite poets from my early teens and has remained so over the years. I...

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Myth, after Dylan Thomas
by Michael R. Burch

Here the recalcitrant wind
sighs with grievance and remorse
over fields of wayward gorse
and thistle-throttled lanes.

And she is the myth of the scythed wheat
hewn and sighing, complete,
waiting, lain in a low...

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Hear my poem announce, then refine and restate
its life lesson suggestion Surrender YOUR Fear!
Yes, Surrender Your FEAR, watch stick rafters release
(note: I’m ‘Missing, Roof’ too, and I still love my life)
see life’s cobbled roofs fly,...

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Reaping short terms benefits...

before marital savings bond matured
as a then quinquagenarian.

Courtesy gerontologists medical practitioners
allowing, enabling, and providing
the elderly population to live
longer and healthier lives.

Linkedin with longevity loosely translates
to resurgent libido spurring
older folks predilection
to participate in...

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Inextricably rooted with hair fixation

As a lad in grade school,
yours truly, (a diminutive, intuitive,
oversensitive, and vegetative potato head kid,
whose voice exhibited
a severe nasal twang)
felt envious at other boys,
especially those young bucks
who sported budding antlers
plus thick...

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Strategically placed when raised 
Upwards
By your masterful and well 
Practiced hand.
To mingle with ever changing 
Skylines 
That frown down with arrogant 
Scowls
Upon the indigenous populous of 
This just and tolerant island.
To study and pontificate upon...

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“Irish I am,” my mam speaks in hushed tones to the air
She questions still, seeming to her alone
Intones, “Ireland, O Ireland, what are you?
Where do you keep yourself, so I may rediscover you?”
Her speech unknown...

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Humus me? My vegetated chokes ingest!
(jokes all in jest)

Hard to believe, I orange in a lee
started life as barely visible speck!

Just in the course of healthy growing
season, this former minute nearly
microscopic entity developed into
quite pleasing...

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She, the queen of glamour, they say,
Loves making things flow her way.
Fortunate she was, having earned 
A prince as he, so delectable,
Amidst the beauty of hills,
He made her, the dream castle.
As lovingly, She delivered to...

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Cowpoke
by Michael R. Burch, circa age 16

Sleep, old man...
your day has long since passed.
The endless plains,
cool midnight rains
and changeless ragged cows
alone remain
of what once was.

You cannot know
just how the Change
will rape the windswept plains
that you...

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dark matter(s)
by Michael R. Burch

the matter is dark, despairful, alarming:
ur Creator is hardly prince charming!

yes, ur “Great I Am”
created blake’s lamb

but He also created the tyger
and what about trump and rod steiger? 


The Echoless Green
by...

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Chinese Translations III

Quiet Night Thoughts
by Li Bai aka Li Po
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Moonlight illuminates my bed
as frost brightens the ground.
Lifting my eyes, the moon allures.
Lowering my eyes, I long for home.


Lines from Laolao...

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*Aphorisms/ Idiomatic expressions*
(Short, pithy, instructive sayings passed down through the years)
Composed: by Tom Wright
7/12/2018

The man who coined the aphorism “Seize the Day”
Didn’t always mean “The Ends Justify the Means” but may.
Many have said “Rules Were...

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Mr Green  moved into a fertile neighbourhood,  the soil felt pleasant  underneath his feet,  and the landscape looked good but right above him, he saw Men with broad shoulders, throwing shades...

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Joseph Robinette Biden
now commander in chief yay
manning ship of state
tossing anchors aweigh
heavily pierced tattooed
donning sheepish pirate(s)
at heady roiling waterway
fending off trolling rapscallion
much more thrilling

than watching cabaret
January twenty first two thousand
twenty one marks his first full...

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My father's tattered house breeds red demons,
and my mother's kitchen feeds black spirits, 
We grew up loving demons and black evil spirits that flies in the afternoon.
Our neighbours keep their eyes away from us, 
They...

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Here I am
    Stranded between this and your goodbye.

    You,
Whose thatch is a-glow with fires of Beauty
  That burns my heart,
    unkempt and wild,
Sits atop...

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Butterflies 


I sent her an email with butterflies attached, I was hoping she'd open it, her heart would I snatch. 
It was ten past four when she read it-after quite a very long day. 
They...

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In my loneliness, I lie in my bed
hopelessly listening to the chirping of crickets
The consoling breeze blowing from the cracks of my window
whistling tunes that re-echo from my bamboo bed
sending every hanging object to a...

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-
Terence a Griffiths of Tyrone or Leitrim!
Did he know but later of 1820 he would be there born
A Flax Grower a renter from landlords of Lord Leitrim's domain
To thresh and sack and cloth and sow...

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1Hundred6 
1Hundred6 
 
 
CharlaXFabels 
 
Easter2 
 
 
Christ Crucified. 
 
The Cross 
 They took him from the crowd apart and nailed HIM both hands and feet unto the 
instrument of torture the...

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Catch the latch under the thatch
Roof within the hut
In your village where you snatch
Every chance to balance the gut
 
That propels your vision
To embrace the trace of the future
You believe lies in the diffusion
Lying at...

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The cold would just as soon you didn't make it home
Till spring, when frozen bodies thaw,
Gaunt coyotes bless their stars and drag you off.

The only thing that's stirring in the crystal strath
Is deep beneath
Waiting for:...

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