Long Vivant Poems

"The Beetlejuice Past Your Eyes"


“Well, where would you suggest I commence? Should we begin with the concept of pasteurize?”

This said to the earnest listener, who views the protagonist with a bon vivant confused expression. To...

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Harriet Harris née Kuritsky...

Despite being a nineteen year old bride
she wed Boyce Brandon Harris
half a decade her senior,
(where I ranked less than a twinkle in their eyes)
during the month of June 1955, 
not quite half...

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The ship came like a flying horse, at an inexact time
Our brother-sailor, from the Pantheon of Poets, was on board
Jean Pierre Basilic Dantor Frankétienne D’argent
Who wrote, in haste, the last act
Happened to be miraculously on...

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uncomfortableness, and hesitation arose that you might reassess a possibility for friendship or.... whatever with me.

A disappointment set in place in the event that based on some facet of my being (inexplicable flaws within this...

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                           Expectations high did not pan out  ...

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Lisa and I finally tested covid-free! When we saw our results, we began an impromptu dance that felt like levitation.

Although my covid case seemed much milder, Lisa’s been nothing but supportive. Why just yesterday morning,...

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Harriet Harris circa November 13th, 1935 - ~ May 4th, 2005

untimely death sentence ordained 
approximately six months prior 
to mother dearest celebrating 
her seventieth birthday,
though the last three years of her life
impacted courtesy hysterectomy
to remove...

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Harriet Harris née Kuritsky circa November 13th, 
1935 - ~ May 4th, 2005
(untimely death sentence ordained ~ early February 1935)

I trot out a poem acknowledging birthday
of dear ole mom, who succumbed, 
lost lease on life
nearly...

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Steve: This sounds like the traditional Hindu caste system. I get it; all that Kama Sutra stuff.

John: You mean Kama Sutra IPA? It’s a local brew. Not bad.

Steve: Douche bag say wha?

John: Wha?

Steve: Please continue,...

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"50 Words for Poe: Strangelove"


Strangelove was waiting  
in Holdnerness
He was anticipating 
with a certain glee 
The “Arrival” of 
Ms Bon Vivant, her sharpness
and sharing conversation 
over Kumquat Jam, Scones and 
clotted cream at High...

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Harriet Harris circa November 13th, 1935 - ~ May 4th, 2005
(untimely death sentence ordained ~ early February 1935)

Test teasing prophylactics embarrassing
purchase never made at local drugstore
unsurprisingly, obviously, invariably...
birth control taboo subject, best to ignore
subsequently intercourse...

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Le Rat Noir – Translation of Iris Clayton’s « The Black Rat » by T. Wignesan

(Iris Clayton of the Wiradjuri tribe in New South Wales was born in 1945. One of nine children, six of...

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Since the bloody Battle of Hastings
When 'Arold got killed by French Bill
We've seen an endless invasion of French
And I've just about had my fill

Don't we have enough words of our own
In this wonderful language of...

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(continued from part 1)

But we’re all witnesses here, 
Right from the very start,
Veiled from conception,
Driven by Heart.
Dieu vivant grâce à vous et à moi, 

You ever think to wonder,
Who it is that smells the rain,
Or...

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je n'ai pas choisi mon nom
ma couleur ou ma religion 
je n'ai pas choisi le liban
ni d'etre arriver dans ce temps
cependant mes amis 
je vais choisr ma vie
il ne me reste plus beaucoup de temps
profitons...

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     Unswallowed lumps of lobster immodest
     Crustacean returns to pincers persimmon 
     Waitress whisk indiscernible clears linen 
     Custom...

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Little did I realise when I swung
Into the car park at Calder Glen
That by the end of that week in August 2009
My days of teaching would be over.

It all began so well
Meeting an old colleague...

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                           Dark angel baring broken wing, 
  ...

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I wonder now, 
If the life of an elephant is worth less than the life of a man,
Men are so vulgar, wicked and vicious,
Men are so inhuman, poor country,
Why shouldn’t an elephant be allowed to...

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Lugubrious blue mood skies funereal  and morose shed raindrops,
they unleash tableau vivant torrent’s wet tranche,
blessing,  bane or boon from vault of heaven,
damp pearl blob  bewitching moisture mellow morph form, 
the stuff of...

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It’s fall of 1888, the south of France,
In the verdant fields of Arles,
Two artists shared a single dream,
And so began their quarrel.
Vincent paved the way for Paul
With bold sunflower sprays.
Paul dissembled, stating plain,
“More practiced effort...

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VIRGINAL GIRL
begin the beguine..
Make your music mine
LAUGHING GIRL
joy's outflow-from eyes aglow
GIRL WITH EARRING
a look of love-
into eternity's mirror
LACEMAKING GIRL
intricate detail
patient design-
portrait of time
MUSIC GIRL
when the music ends-
we no longer can pretend
LETTER GIRL
a few words
can make...

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A bon vivant lyfestyle 
of the Bohemians de Paris,
has always saddened and deluded me...
by seeing it in someone's happy smile.


Mademoiselles and jeunne hommes, 
exchanging artistic and poetical ideas
at the Cafe' de Flore, or at the...

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Candid and fully exposed as the theatre’s light dims
She stands poised, dauntless disciplined and statuesque  
A stance both stalwart and defiant yet supple are her limbs
Mango hued flower, shoulder's thrown back thrusting her breast

He...

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© Ben Burton Feb 5, 2014

I view beauty with desire
But am seen through abstract eyes
Which begats a mystery
For I don't try to be that kind

The shattered pieces in my wake
As tea leaves wither in the...

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