Long Vexed Poems

Limericks
by Michael R. Burch



Clyde Lied!
by Michael R. Burch

There once was a mockingbird, Clyde,
who bragged of his prowess, but lied.
To his new wife he sighed,
"When again, gentle bride?"
"Nevermore!" bright-eyed Raven replied.



The Platypus
by Michael R. Burch

The platypus,...

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Limericks VII - Naughty, Bawdy, Risque, Absurd

There continue to be modern sequels of the famous "Nantucket" limericks, including this bawdy one of mine:

There was a lewd whore from Nantucket
who intended to pee in a bucket;
but...

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Southern Icarus
by Michael R. Burch

Windborne, lover of heights,
unspooled from the truck’s wildly lurching embrace,
you climb, skittish kite...

What do you know of the world’s despair,
gliding in vast solitariness there,
so that all that remains is to
fall?

Only a...

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Limericks III - Grab Bag

Being a peace activist, I once wrote a limerick in an attempt to stop needless wars:

Of Tetley’s and V-2's
(or "Why Not to Bomb the Brits")
by Michael R. Burch

The English are very...

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Poems about Things that Break III
 
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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Merov’s Ghost (1) and Other Shots Across My Bow!

In mid-November of Fourteen, I published my first web verse here, (2)
the earliest spanned sixty years, composed for Senior English class
one night in Nineteen Sixty-One. Assigned just...

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Forever forgive me
For my one and only iniquity
Please forgive me
With forbearance eternally

Lots of anger and lust
Got a hold of me…
So, I must...oh, I must…
Set my soul free

Forever forgive me
Determine my footsteps to the light
Emotionally unhappy
Intervene...

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Eu-e,
Eu-e-e,
Eu-e,
Bucky Fuller Big Bang.

U-C,
U-C-A-G,
U-C,
ribonucleic acid.

Yang-Yin,
Yang-Yin-Yin,
Yang-Yin
Bucky Fuller Big Brain

My Friend Bucky Fuller
came down to me today.
He said,
"Lao-tse's Time
grows not-not binomial
radiates fore
and gravitates aft
Space and Time
poetry as rhyme
Convex and Concave!"

My Friend Rumi Gloomy
said to me today,
"When you...

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 A sense of belonging 
Is amongst your nobility
Peaceably, truly longing
To give praise to You entirely

Take me all the way with your sway of youth
Give me physical poetry, please, beyond the truth
You are more priceless...

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On the extremity of  a tall bank 
Of big broken stones in round circle done
We reached up a more cruel clutter flank;

And there, for the horrible and strong stun
Of rotten stench which the deep...

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[Continued from ‘Terror Bugs: Part 3 - A Freezer Mice Adventure’]
__________

The Terror Bugs pursued them through the skies toward the river
Cody flew just fast enough but still he felt a shiver
“Any slower and we’ll stall...

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Limericks IV - Donald Trump

The Hair Flap
by Michael R. Burch aka "The Loyal Opposition"

The hair flap was truly a scare:
Trump’s bald as a billiard back there!
The whole nation laughed
At the state of his graft;
Now the...

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Warped up lies
Illuminated goodbyes
The reason I hear his cries
Hopefulness and its highs
Amid the optimism, hidden inside
Utopia and its understanding lifts me higher than high itself and ultimately wins the window of my heart's mind
Tribulation and...

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There was a time throughout this land 
    when all was well and kind.
Where Wood Sprites, Fairies and Pixie dust 
    were not that hard to find.
But times have...

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(continued previous part 1)

The duke then: “Tell now: of others indeed
Some Latin among sinners do you know 
Behind pitch?”. And he “I  had to secede,

It’s not much, from one who near had to stow.
I...

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"Perspective of an Invisible People"

Struggling for over four hundred years
Drowning in rivers of tears
Throughout the country's history
Accepting black people, still a mystery
Since the country's discovery, we've been abused 
Standing with strength, will prevent us from...

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If you’re a human, a word of advice
Don’t leave computers with cats, rats or mice
If these share your home but you need to be gone
For heavens sake make sure that you’re not logged on.

Some creatures...

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The same speech before hardly could bit me
So that were redden both my cheeks for shame,
And after gave  me comfort as to free;

So used to be the spear, I felt the same,
Of Achilles and...

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The Undertow


The two could feel the undertow
Pull at them both - then let them go
He wondered if she could know
Or sense it too and let it flow

The undertow in the fast-running tide
Ebbed and flowed at...

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My Heart Died A Little Bit Today
 
My heart died a little bit today
I watched the news and felt it skip a beat
Seeing the death and destruction on the streets
I remembered back when things seemed...

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I am the Mozart of my name
And I wait for you my Je’amour
To paint the parfai’d affair
And cross the fur elise of time
O vogue of vogues
Love is written in visions of glory
Even where the vogues...

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Here I am this afternoon thinking
Here I am this afternoon
Looking upon the courage of man

The questions keep coming 
And my spirit keeps growing
And I try my best not to pen this verse
But the pain keeps...

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Candy floss, seaside rock, smoothies, and flags sporting
Union Jacks
Replace the old traditions of striped deckchairs 
And Kiss-Me-Quick hats.
Chipwicks for our salt and vinegar fries
And their pole-and-line freshly caught local Cod;
The Vintners Parrot: For thick sizzling...

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There's A knock on my door,
 I ask "who is there". ?
Standing there are five faces. . 
They answer" IN UNISON "Truth"
I ask" Why the disguise"...?
It is I,"Truth" they all refrain.
 
How will I know...

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I watched the shadows move and the curtain rise, and the moon suddenly appear from underneath the star lit skies, the clouds drift slowly and fade in the dark, and a bright light suddenly appeared...

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