Long Tires Poems

Dandelions…
They flutter, now I see
Fiery lions…
They're dancing with me
Sunlight…
Come out and shine down 
Moonlight…
Shun out my darkened frown

I am the infinitesimal stars in the tranquil, terrestrial night
I am the scars minutes before the sunlit dawn...

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Spiritual Mahjong
Your Move Lord

Is there a God?
A benevolent entity.
An eternal presence presiding over me.
A creator, watching and observing.
All knowing.
Is my end determined and conclusive before it begins, before I begin?
If so, then to what purpose...

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The Tender Weight of Her Sighs
by Michael R. Burch

The tender weight of her sighs
lies heavily upon my heart;
apart from her, full of doubt,
without her presence to revolve around,
found wanting direction or course,
cursed with the thought...

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Skin of Terror
- Daniel Henry Rodgers

(The stage lights come up slowly on Michael's face, which is crisscrossed with wrinkles from his fuming anxiety. He peers out into the gloominess at the wheel and tightly clutches...

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- - Chapter 2: Adult Responsibility (With Some Breaks) - -     

By ten years old, no weekends off, 
Or Saturday cartoons, 
Although I did have cash to spend, 
I felt my...

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

                 first comes...

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We were off,                                ...

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Victorious flirtatious foreplay

I awoke early - now my body will sleep,
though thoughts rise like the Azores
of snuggling next to such an adorable atomic
bombshell of a beauty - boars
into my mind with 
sonata fantasy syrup passing
overdrive...

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Gold is your soul


The drive there will be boring.
The arrival so momentous!
The disappointing greeters;
The sights not quite as expected.
The smell at times will be rancid.
The art of it all will be lost.
They will say “Welcome...

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There is a new mythology emerging, 
Howling from the hind end of the pack, 
Scorching the composted leavings 
Of established orthodoxy as a pillar of flame 
Showing the way for true rock & rollers. 
It’s...

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Dear Linda,

It's around 6AM, and I just wanted to share                         ...

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Summer Memories
Summer Realities

This, the first day of summer, two thousand and two, finds me,
slipping back into what once was my desire, my need, my reality.
This step back into, and into times passed, has allowed me...

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Turkish Poetry Translations I



Ben Sana Mecburum: "You are indispensable"
by Attila Ilhan
translation by Nurgul Yayman and Michael R. Burch

You are indispensable; how can you not know
that you're like nails riveting my brain? 
I see your eyes...

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Sipping cherry limeade, driving in the car parade, 
we're cruising in the Lone Star state.
Didn't want a bucket seat; the thing it couldn't beat, 
was sitting up close to your date.
One hand on the wheel...

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It was a hot summer day.  Harry had stopped by Grandma's house and offered to take the two little girls down to the store and treat them to an ice-cream cone.  Grandma, thinking...

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My bike and I go everywhere,                             ...

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Under a tree of wet blossoms, shimmering to life in the sun, one honey bee is circling around two burly men, who wave it off,  with childlike dramatics...arms flailing.   One of them,...

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You don’t know how it feels
To be misunderstood and jaded
You won’t ever know till it kills you inside
To you, I speak words of wisdom
And it feels like I’m a million miles away
Just to feel isolated...

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Time for a road trip, my  dad, mom and us three kids all packed into our old station wagon. I guess it wasn't so old but it sure seemed that way at the time....

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The ride to the country is uneventful
Except that I feel a little like
A man riding inside a cannon ball.
Yuliya's father Igor drives
I'm also up front (the honored guest)       ...

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Coffee or tea?

Fragmented frogs frolicking fruitlessly freeing flavoursome fairy freckles,
But what of the speckled hound in the bin?
Well he growled,
He snarled,
The sole paw pilot pivoting,
How interesting was it to note though that the frogs although...

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Shame on you for trying to kill my thrill
Shut the hell up and be my friend for real
Stop acting so arrogant and such a pill
You know I need your shoulder to lean on…
It’s really no...

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I feel like hurting myself, I’m sorry, Lord
Don’t know why I feel the urge crawl into me
With crooked, malicious, wicked discord
I need scars of soaring, eager sympathy 
To be my shadow beneath me
I love the...

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Kitchen counters alive; the vivid colors of red, green, purple and yellow glass jars. Your garden flourished.
.
Pickled beets mingle boiled eggs; a pretty periwinkle purple.
.
Yellow and purple tinted fingers; dandelions and elderberries distilling; musty aroma...

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The Poets Duel


I consider myself the poet
Of historic love affairs
Not the Romeo and Juliette’s we all know
The ones mirrored in lesser history of lore
Like Heloise and Abelard
I was the king of this poetic style

Then came...

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