Long Upstart(a) Poems

I suppose it isn't rather nice
to think of us this way,
but to the squirrels
and the trees,
the robins and the grasses,
human natures are Earth's great transitioning immigrants
on this block
we call a planet.

In this newest arrival sense,
I...

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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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CONTINUES PART II:

Then she departs, ... his newfound friend
stands (clueless me, no intro of her) I with Rick ... waiting
wife comes--(Hellooo Oh) newfound by brochure stand
he says, "My wife Kris." "Hm" <--(My utterance--smiling, as I'm...

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[Non-Fictional Preface: Fictional Old Folks Home/Apparition] "This is the story of two friends, both considered themselves start-up writers, whereas, one who was a bit more of an upstart, was merely known as, Robert Frost. Frost's...

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A boy and board in Brooklyn
bedeviled by the breath of baroque battles
bemused with a belligerent brain beauty
and befriended by battlefield bravado, 
the chessmen championed his ego
wickedly warring to a visionary's voodoo,
those soldiers of black and...

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Two Poems on Musical Themes


Salieri Speaks

His genius brought me to the brink of a fearful inadequacy.
What does one do when you reach a mountain top
only to find yourself on a foothill?
I thought posterity would acknowledge
the...

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Inside my elegantly intuitive,
but SupremelyWhite Male neglected,
and cooperatively We-managed RightHemisphere,

Grows a nutritious nuancing
and nonviolently
nonverbally communicating
win/win systemically curious
dipolar co-arising
(not so much bipolar distancing
and often furious)
courageous sense of win/win 
bicamerally accessible humor

Like when is green
the new black
is...

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As they threw her to the ground
He quickly drew back into the crowd
Adjusting his clothing
Hoping to go unnoticed
To fit in

He watched her
Cover her bare breast
With his prayer shawl
Why hadn't he been smart enough
To grab that...

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I write this down not knowing what to think,
or how to make sense of what I went through,
my name is Blake Jones, I was S.A.S.,
and everything that I write here is true.

This tale tells how...

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Last Autumn we invested in a 0.5 acre
of Mother Earth's aria,
as sung to Thames River swell and tide,
New England new sprouting this our virgin spring wedding
with this home place,
space of grace.

My urgent first task, now...

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In 1963 Dr. King gave a speech in Washington D.C.
it was a most stirring address that became a prophecy
he made mention of a dream of an America he had invisioned
one with justice, equality for all...

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...The devil didn’t hide, he strutted right out,
a smile painted on his red face.
“Why my dear sheriff, how in the world
Did you ever find my new place?”
Abner stared on, seething with hate.

“An old friend told...

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2016 Motor City Open Champion

It has to happened, this day has to come...
When a low ranking player defied the odds as they come..

In a place called the Motor City, showcasing a world squash tournament...
All the...

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The bell of the high church tower
Rings every hour
The sound echoes with power
As in the skies shooting stars shower

Beyond the castle wall
There is suffering of a lonely soul
The chestnuts fall like hail this fall
And leaves...

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On a Good Friday at 3PM
He was called into the office by
Pontius Pilate and told that he would be put to death.

He had waited for the execution and worked the full week after being
warned that...

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I'm a speech punk; kind of a menace
Not sure if the word is permissible in these parts
But that's the word I need, life's a furnace
So flush that. Gosh, you leave me no choice
I'm trying to...

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Boohoo is bidding for Boo-Boo
But Yogi’s not seeking a deal,
He’s scanning the park for a picnic
Looking forward to his evening meal.

Warner Brothers deny their involvement
So investors are kept in the dark,
But rumours are spreading ’round...

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NOVELTIES
by Thomas Campion
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Booksellers laud authors for novel editions
as pimps praise their whores for exotic positions.

This is my translation of a Latin epigram by the English poet Thomas Campion. In Campion’s...

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the upshot constituted a figurative straw
     that broke the virtual camels back
where yours truly fingered as scape goat,
     who meekly, passively, and subserviently
    ...

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  bub-blub tump-tump-tump-tump
I was bitten by my wrong choices;
Invited and enticed by my voices;
The ineptitude seemed happy portraying,  beating heart
In there stepped desperate loneliness, bleeding heartbeats
Of unfortunates that are decaying 
chess rising WAIT...

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Of some mad American empire 
were Angels rage in the suicidal age
Of TV stars and failed billionaires 
Upstart demagogues tyrannical 
Wanta-bes who rule with lies on knees of glass
And feet of tin, and rings of...

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SOMETIMES        RED



It happens when  I see  a little boy kick a kitten
Or someone’s  three-year-old children 
Having a tantrum in a supermarket
And the parents doing ...

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Twist in your dark deep eyes flit me, your body engulfs the thoughts. 
Crazy upstart, floating lock, graceful body dexterous striptease dance,
Walk me to your room, steroid zombie in moves, rave, exult to crave.
I hold...

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NEXT  STOP  :   DUBLIN


Glad to leave the stonefaced Russian labyrinth of passports small
And stamped documents for every footfall
A bureaucrat’s wet dream  - checking each other’s bureaucracies
No walking on grass, no...

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thick hair, no hair, wow
young man, then older man now ...
it snuck up on us





3/18/2023

Poetry form: Senryu

Photo credits:  Billion Photos via Canva Pro

At times like this, I'm drawn to the lyrics of "A Hazy...

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