Long Undertaker Poems

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Kind Of Blue (For Miles Davis)

Woodlawn Cemetery, Bronx Ny 1991


Before they could lower Miles 
into the damp, dark ground
Two of the PALL BEARERS
Thought they heard musical sounds

Before the Preacher could say
Turn your BiblesTo Acts, 
The...

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A Coffee Merchant was the first man to find,
The corpse as he started off on his daily grind!
What he saw filtered through, so he had grounds
To send for the Police, to investigate what he'd found!

He’d...

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It's sometimes interesting what you learn about someone you thought you knew quite well when you visit with their family members, or their other, much better friends, particularly at that person's funeral! 



Remember Ezra Whitney…from...

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Mr. Smith and Mr. Wesson
A brand new sheriff came to town
I'm sure he's not the last
We've had fourteen in the past year
They leave here mighty fast

Some can't stand the pressure
Others end up in boot hill
It...

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Bill hates to go to parties but he loves to go to wakes. One of the advantages of being old, he says, is that there are fewer parties to go to but a lot more...

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It is dark! I could not see
I grasp on the night and I held on to objects that I know not of so tight
Dark! I hear strange voices from afar
but I see not their faces
Because...

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I'm in the thought process of mankind
Live and died, Live and die
I'm in the midst of them
Lived and die, live and die
To be whole again
To be birth from man and woman
To be joined in the...

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Am I the Assassin 
        or the Undertaker

                   For Palani...

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he slipped into a dreamland
as the grass was turning brown
the king was in his castle
on the town he looked down
three men rode six horses
half of them for sale
and the undertaker hammers
down his last nail

the sun...

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Experts tell us you originated in Wuhan province,
But these days its difficult the masses to convince,
When fake news, conflicting information and conspiracy theories abound,
Tell me where, O where can the truth about you be found.

Your...

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The sun rose in the east creating a bright orange hue
Tom lay in his bunk thinking, can it really be true? 
The good townsfolk had agreed Tom was a key player
And decided that Soup Creek...

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Love has us immeresed,
in an endless fathom.
Like tears that fall to the sea.
A symbol of loves' fleeting-
Phantom- 
bemused unto the deep.

Our understanding, 
a shifting current,
carrying us to some far shore-
Between summit and sands,
of the Isle...

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Another showdown in Soup Creek, I s'pose
Someone's got a wedgie in her pantyhose
It's another outcast
who likes to lambast
A bad attitude she chose to expose

Folks in the Creek asked why she was a crank.
What she has...

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It's time to get the stockings out of storage
before those who are nosey, begin to forage,
in my saloon, lookin' for their Christmas gift.
I know if I catch em' they'll plead the fifth!

In these parts, there's...

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It's about time we talk of ruins.
So, let us talk, for you never know,
How long ears of hope will remain receptive.

Your lips are missing, and your kisses fall,
Like ripe plums and tint my confession,
Like coffee...

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Martial Translations

Coq au vin (Cook or wine)
by Martial, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

1.
Hosts always invite you to dinner, Phoebe,
but are you merely an éclair to the greedy?

2.
Hosts always invite you to dinner, Phoebe,
but are...

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It was now growing dark as the sun was going down
When a stranger rode into Soup Creek, a frontier town
No one could see his face, he was all dressed in black
An old boy was heard...

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On a shattered pebble beach my kernel,
becomes this dervish dancing to the maniacal symbol rash tune,
of inchoate monsoon grass beat timpani,
that’s dimly frowned on by sonic virtuoso,
but terms like briny carrageen sea sweep gain purple...

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My parents were too busy drinking to help me to grow
I was moved around In foster care without anyone by the side of me
As a little boy I prayed my dad would finally start to...

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I have a dream
That I'll get another,and better job
I have a dream
That I'll have a 5 bedroom house with fireplace
I have a dream 
This house will have 4 1/2 bathrooms
I have a dream
I'll have a...

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In the saloon gambler Milton, rose from his leather chair to speak
And said we need to make changes for the good of Soup Creek
He read all the meaningful proposals to the townsfolk out loud
And those...

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With a 7-Eleven Big Cup eulogy slurp
And a McDonalds Big Mac pall bearer burp,
it’s Big Boy Slim Jim holiday mourning time
Take a family reunion picnic funeral ride
	to a cemetery last supper barbeque burial ...
shovel down...

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oh! little knife thou art so sharp,
thou can breech the wind,
thou can make a hole
thou can cut in half with a gaze,
isn't it enough to be amazed
I herald thee!
be my undertaker
sweet little knife,i pray thee
fulfil...

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In these a-dying days,
people are given mo’ grief news
Hope cost less than
a jug bottle of dirt cheap booze

While the crying game
is being played
over and over,  time again hence

Death has a new name:
Covid-19
is the ICU...

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