Long Vaster Poems

Sonnet LXXXI-LXXXIX

Day, and Night
by Michael R. Burch

The moon exposes pockmarked scars of craters;
her visage, veiled by willows, palely looms.
And we who rise each day to grind a living,
dream each scented night of such perfumes
as drew...

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Increase In Head Size

impossible mission to encapsulate notion 
flitting hither and yon, to and fro
within cranium attached to mine body,
whereby irrefutable proof prevails
predicated when yours truly
scrutinizes other people visibly aware,
I a modest married male 
blessed,...

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Juvenilia: Early Poems XIII

Davenport Tomorrow
by Michael R. Burch

Davenport tomorrow ...
all the trees stand stark-naked in the sun.

Now it is always summer
and the bees buzz in cesspools,
adapted to a new life.

There are no flowers,
but the weeds,...

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You know sailor man,
You woke the spirit in me
I thought you were drunken and carefree
I could not hope or dream
The whore of the seas must take her place
I was of the lowest cast
The lowest morale
After...

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POEMS ABOUT SHAKESPEARE by Michael R. Burch

Fleet Tweet: Apologies to Shakespeare
by Michael R. Burch

a tweet
by any other name
would be as fleet!



Fleet Tweet II: Further Apologies to Shakespeare
by Michael R. Burch

Remember, doggonit,
heroic verse crowns the Shakespearean...

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POEMS ABOUT POETS IX

Fleet Tweet: Apologies to Shakespeare
by Michael R. Burch

a tweet
by any other name
would be as fleet!
@mikerburch



Fleet Tweet II: Further Apologies to Shakespeare
by Michael R. Burch

Remember, doggonit,
heroic verse crowns the Shakespearean sonnet!
So if you...

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noah wide dee ya when,
where, why or how then
thine ark of in sight fullness, pen
(viz uber taurus), men
sans quirky physiological ken
focus a ford did afore hen
chosen poetic themed word den.

this tire less un escort head
eureka...

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EARLY POEMS XIX

Bound
by Michael R. Burch

Now it is winter—the coldest night.
And as the light of the streetlamp casts strange shadows to the ground,
I have lost what I once found
in your arms.

Now it is winter—the coldest...

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I was born to love people, to be a traveler through their hidden hearts,
To discover the inner gardens, where the flowers of triumphs rise from the soil of sufferings.
Every smile evaluates me with a luminous...

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Robert browning and Me (2)

Where was I with that book on Artemisia?
No Internet or Amazon back then,
So I got busy trudging round – then busier.
No joy. “American?  We’ll call you when …”
“Import it from...

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This planet whereon we reside
gave nature’s bounty far and wide.
We’ve seen our Mother Earth from space
who barely shows her fragile face
as Pale Blue Dot, sunbeam enshrined,
and still we humans are so blind.

The cosmic reaches hugely...

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We stand on the edges of the silence's abyss, you and I, in contemplation,
Looking at each other, but in silence, against the backdrop of a tumultuous world.
Separated by a deep silence, vaster than any chaos,
In...

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The old Hittite came through the gate
Battle sharp and dripping
With the blackness of an Ethiopian night
The Kingdom of Zion to replicate
The compass star of David's sight
And through that gate walked with him
A destiny invisible of...

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Within the mind we are confined;
the body shuts us in.
And sadly sometimes humankind
throughout its thick and thin

has suffered serious disease 
that tests our mortal grip
on evolution’s risky seas
to keep afloat our ship.

These illnesses that sweep...

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See the Sky which is vaster than the Sea,
We are all given by that miraculous glee,
Fee for that is not even a single Rupee,
He is blessing you and of course me!

Delight gives Sky in the...

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Loneliness is just an ivy,
It creeps through your window, unhurried,
It doesn't diminish the darkness of the night, nor chase away hidden demons,
It just sits there, with legs crossed, letting the gentle breeze
Kiss its damp alabaster...

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My boyfriend (Peter) and I went down to New Haven Harbor today.

Let’s face it, we’re surrounded by oceans,
and most of them are downright inhospitable.

I live near the ocean, (pointing) it’s right over there.
I love the...

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I wandered in blissful darkness;
My arm outstretched,
Hanging in limbo.

The hardwood floors creaked beneath me.
The rain pattered patiently on the glass
As though asking to be let in
To make acquaintance with my sodden breath.

So dark the woes...

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And
The truth changed like a simple lie
The truth, which I believed
Changed smoothly

At the time
I was richer than the earth
Vaster than the sky
And more innocent   than a child

Suddenly the truth changed and 
I was...

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I have always asked myself
what it means to exist and laugh
in this very brief and mysterious tale
that we simply call life...
fearing the force of an unexpected gale;  
there a few lucky ones
and the ones...

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Sometimes the 
lines between
happiness and sorrow
love and hate 
are thin (barely visible
to the naked heart) – 

(a healthy heart 
needing more than 
a steady-beat
to be truly healthy) – 

hearts not created 
merely for pumping;
nor for...

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Prisoners of Time

There is nothing secret
nothing sacred from man
He reaches beyond the 
infinite to scatter dreams

He will employ 
extraordinary means
Alone or in the company
of those with like heart
he can stream to
undiscovered places

Which brings, the opening...

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The Poet's Words

The words came, and he wrote. In dreams by night
  Labor and deep grief that ages gone were dead
Stole from the past, and stood about his bed;
He sought no words; they came;...

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They couldn't have chosen a nest-bed more complex, or vaster. 
I lauded their industry (toiling through Sunday, no qualms!), 
and almost felt guilty for loitering by their pilaster. 
My wife was the hold-up. Those scanty...

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As sun is about to wake
I set my eye on a great lake
As I breathe in the cool breeze of that lake
Small piece of its soul with me I take

Beyond the lake hills roll
There is...

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