Long Toy with Poems

You’re sick, demented, and twisted and you want to judge me for my sins? What about yours? The ones that lie deep within
The ones that sculpted you into the person that you are, the ones...

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“Son”...”say goodnight to grandpa”

Spurred by mother dearest 
as well as other politesse
drummed into her second born
fobbing blandishments as incentive
tumbled off fingers of prodigal son
tripped wordsmith to splutter forth
forthwith the following lines.

Back in the day 
quaint...

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Near Sainthood
by Mirza Ghalib
translation by Kanu V. Prajapati and Michael R. Burch

On the subject of mystic philosophy, Ghalib,
your words might have seemed deeply profound
and we might have pronounced you a saint...
if only we hadn't found
you...

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Poems about Things that Break I
 
These are poems about things that break and/or shatter: a bubble, glass, a mirror, a twig or tree limb, a thunderstorm, cities and towers in times of war, old...

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You are a narcissist and a gas lighter although you claim that you’re not, can’t you see inside, the decay of your soul? The turmoil, all of the rot
 I guess that you can’t because...

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Last Night 
by Faiz Ahmed Faiz
translation by Michael R. Burch

Last night, your memory stole into my heart
as spring sweeps uninvited through barren gardens
as morning breezes revive dormant deserts
as a patient suddenly feels better for no...

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Botched and bungled interpersonal opportunities viewed...

tonight October  25th, 2022 
terrifically summarily requoting 

poetic outdated iteration,
I share the following lines
echoing in the valley 
of love and delight.
courtesy 20/20 hindsight
October twenty fifth
two thousand and twenty two
admirable,...

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The Quality of Mercy.
A mouse doesn't ask for mercy from a cat. It can't meow the syllables.
Though its stomach is full, the cat,being unacqainted with mercy, 
will toy with a mouse. 
Does the tiny heart...

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Fear haunted me, taunted me, daunted me. I was not the overcomer, but the overcome. Fear played with me the way a kitten might toy with a mouse, eventually leaving the mouse despondent, discouraged, darkened...

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Botched and bungled interpersonal opportunities viewed...
(summarily iterated June 30th, 2020)

I share the following lines
with utmost delight
courtesy 20/20 hindsight
June twenty ninth
two thousand and twenty

corrigible, fallible,
and intelligible light
hearted fella (aging
baby boomer) usually polite
doth not trend toward
superficial nor...

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They stick labels on broken things that say damaged

Damaged but still usable 
because why would you throw something away when it’s just a little broken, battered or bruised, we pride ourselves in preservation and welcome...

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My Worth?

Am I not worth it to you?
The care? The focus? The understanding?
I long to love you, but do you long to love me? 
Do you long to be with me? 
Or maybe I'm just...

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Death...death...like a cold, distant fog
it looms over these beings
these frail human beings, myself included
attacking their defenseless, quarrelsome - filled minds
like ravenous carnivores sprinting upon their prey
I've counted three, thrice has death sent for the reaper
to...

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Something extremely wicked tears
    at the very fabric and nature of his form.
Where he yearns hopefully for a small piece of demented sleep
    but his mind lies stripped and...

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I often find myself pondering on
a rather uncomfortable fact,
that some of the big issues we all face
seem ever-present, all solutions lack.
We shout, we fight, we squabble over them,
and of course we all think that we’re...

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Your nothing, but a liar
Your nothing, but a home wrecker
Your nothing, but a dick
Your nothing, but a lazy asshole
Your nothing, but a narcissist.

You think your right all the time
You think that emotions don't matter
You think...

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"Do it, come on, what's the harm?"
I pondered, thinking, this raised alarm.
"You know you want to, it'll make you joyful!"
I sweat, pressured, I'd end up remorseful.
"God didn't mean what He said. Go ahead and do...

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11/6/22

Still I struggle to find the words
As I fight the urge
I'll either go under a tidal surge
Or make it out in the end I might emerge

Everyday, I've been getting carried away
Just putting myself closer to...

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You said you loved me
I let down my robe
I gave you a sight of what I had 
never let
any other man behold,
Then you said you needed me,And 
just
like Isaac lay still on the altar
Without a...

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Senescence concomitant
and best buds with malaise
despondency inescapable as
infirmity ages formerly young gals guys
though age just a "number"
father time not shy to apprise

every mortal wakes to the
inescapable truth that never dies
each living species mainly
one known as...

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Written 20 February 2024
I AM Poetry Contest
Sponsored by Unseeking Seeker

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Huntress
by Michael R. Burch

after Baudelaire

Lynx-eyed, cat-like and cruel, you creep
across a crevice dropping deep
into a dark and doomed domain.
Your claws are sheathed. You smile, insane.
Rain falls upon your path, and pain
pours down. Your paws are...

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It was some time ago I offered you my love
You took my heart , my mind , my body and soul and you ran with it
We built a union and we built a trust
So tell...

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I’ve put up all my defenses.
I don’t know if this time you’ll break through.
I’m hurting so bad we’re not like we used to be. 
I now take love as an enemy invasion. 
My heart is...

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