Long Treetops Poems

Observance
by Michael R. Burch

Here the hills are old and rolling
carefully in their old age;
on the horizon youthful mountains
bathe themselves in windblown fountains...

By dying leaves and falling raindrops,
I have traced time's starts and stops,
and I have...

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For All That I Remembered
by Michael R. Burch

For all that I remembered, I forgot
her name, her face, the reason that we loved ...
and yet I hold her close within my thought:
I feel the burnished weight...

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Juvenilia: Early Poems IV
I wrote this around age 17.



Bible Libel
by Michael R. Burch

If God
is good
half the Bible
is libel.

I read the Bible from cover to cover at age eleven, ten chapters per day, at the suggestion...

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Juvenilia: Early Poems by Michael R. Burch



Smoke
by Michael R. Burch

The hazy, smoke-filled skies of summer I remember well;
farewell was on my mind, and the thoughts that I can't tell
rang bells within (the din was in)...

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Juvenilia: Early Poems VIII

These are early poems of mine, written in my teens as a high school and college student. 

Moon Lake
by Michael R. Burch

Starlit recorder of summer nights,
what magic spell bewitches you?
They say that...

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With summer nearly gone, we all wanted to do something special,
And decided it should be daring, rather than the usual and dull.

So, we listed the things we desired to do, but hadn't yet tried,
And we...

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Our Year Of Months (January - July)

1. Intro

Divided into months is our Earth year;
fixed firm in space to meet with climate change,
relation with our Sun makes it so clear
we will be blessed with seasons that...

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For several years I'd worked as a life coach, assisting clients day by day,
Like blazing colors in the shank of the evening, chases deep blues away.

It was an occupation that I enjoyed, as helping others...

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For years I was an aspiring singer, performing in trendy nightspots,
And I sang my heart out each evening, in all of the local hotspots.

Among the enthusiastic locals, at long last I'd made myself a name,
As...

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I was rehearsing for an upcoming play, but it wasn't going well,
For I somehow lacked inspiration, and my delivery did not excel.

If only I could read more feelingly, I uttered with a sad sigh,
I would...

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It was in the mists of morning, beneath the rising morning sun,
We had come to conquer Ft. Langley, It was me and Al and John.
We had all teed off quite nicely, on number one I...

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I was a diligent safety engineer, modifying the hazardous work practices,
Like the thrilling festive celebrations, when you open up pretty packages!

I took my work very seriously, and my motto had long been safety first,
Like waiting...

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I'd been caught up in the middle, of one of those awful days,
When nothing seems to go right, with glitches and delays.

I was having a rough day at work, and the boss was now irate;
And...

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I so adored late hours. I was what you would call a night owl,
As fireflies seldom appear, until creamy moon is on the prowl.

I loved the quiet and peacefulness, and staring at a big moon,
Just...

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I belonged to a family of farmers, we had farmed for generations;
And we were true to our land, as blooms loyal to sweet sensations.

I knew the fierce satisfaction, only derived from working the land;
And sometimes...

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It was jazzy June and green butterflies, filled the air with magic.
Then butterscotch days were long, until the purple sunset panic.

Sunny June, when music festivals, were staged in shady parks;
While in treetops purple martins, warbled...

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When I was a youth the earth was our friend, as it was our means of escape.  We would run and chase each other across great distances, far away from the confines of home...

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I was a learned college professor, who was forever eager to know more,
As blue-gray waves, finding sandy beaches, turn to seek another shore.

I drove to work smiling, in those tangerine days, so glad for avid...

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I was a happy, fluent linguist, fruitfully helping revive endangered languages,
As colorful rainbows walk across the sky, in buttery hours, turned languorous.

I enjoyed doing practical fieldwork, and establishing useful literary programs,
As the honeysuckle sun loves...

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Odyssey from Africa 15c (Southland, continued...)

Being rich in skill and talent
He soon gained the feel and measure 
Of the boomerang’s employment 
Sent it arching near the treetops 
 
Then returning where it started
As the king...

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It started the 8th of June
moving away from too familiar
into too alien,
finding no sane oasis between.

Vibrant greens relentlessly fade
to wilting monoculturing drought.
Brown patches emerge with dulled loss of inspiration
of what might have been a family
an...

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I was a fashionable horticulturist, for elegant flowers keep eternally in style,
Like the saffron sun, coming and going, always causing dark skies to smile.

Plants were a jade preoccupation, long before glad days of my rosy...

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I was a compelling abstract painter, engrossed in the world of vibrant colors,
Like the endless intensities of rainbow hues, that cancel any need for others.

Beauty was was always in my naked eye, in warped images...

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The poet Basho, whose name is acclaimed
worldwide for haiku esteemed,
wrote myriad works for their greatness famed
and frequently nature themed.

Japan in the sixteen hundreds was where
his lyric verses were penned
mid trips solitary in open air
which continued...

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CHAPTER 6 (d, continued)

Several times he threw the wing-form
With advice from Han succeeding
To produce a soaring flight path 
Then returning to his duties 
 
As troop leader; now the females 
Brought forth food they had collected
And their business turned...

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