Long Whistles Poems

Auschwitz Rose
by Michael R. Burch
											
There is a Rose at Auschwitz, in the briar,
a rose like Sharon’s, lovely as her name.
The world forgot her, and is not the same.
I still love her and extend this sacred...

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The Game of Hockey 

By Government decree, lacrosse
Is Canada’s national sport,
But in the hearts and minds of Canadians,
Hockey rules supreme.
Hockey is a winter sport enjoyed by Canadians since 1875,
When the game was first played, on...

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Understanding Suicide Understanding Me

Awhile back I had a dear friend contact me to ask if I heard about the young mans suicide at a nearby towns school. I had not. After asking one time on...

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I’ve always been a prankster and a lover of a joke.
I love to see the puzzled look on an unsuspecting bloke,
when he looks around and lifts his hat - totally confused.
Some take a joke for...

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The flames of the furnace (well-travelled by wind
slowly glazing the rags of gray women chagrined
at the sight of a hair fleeing tresses now thinned) 
sometimes billow like waves flooding naves through the night,
when the lightning...

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In the mirror, I see my face melt away in shame
And, yet I still hunt for game…feeling this shame without a well-thought-out 
name

I hunt you down to catch some inspiration
I’m not looking for fame…I want...

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Richard Mcgeehan Poem

Poetic license I employ
to match inventive
wisdom and witticism
regarding (brother in law of mine 
husband of eldest sister of same)
interspersing, initiating, incorporating
fabrication whenever possible,
and only the subject himself
can discern fact from fiction
and get a...

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It was not uncommon to discover a missing Brother Legionary
castrated, and decapitated
with a headless eagle carved upon his chest,
don't speak to me of morals and mercy
for I have seen and dealt the damage of rude...

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In the mirror, I see my face melt away in shame
And, yet I still hunt for game…feeling this shame without a well-thought-out name
I hunt you down to catch some inspiration
I’m not looking for fame…I want...

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Lost
for the children of the Holocaust and the Nakba
by Michael R. Burch

Something inescapable is lost—
lost like a pale vapor curling up into shafts of moonlight,
vanishing in a gust of wind toward an expanse of stars
immeasurable...

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There stood a castle on the summit of a hill
Now fallen to decay, hidden among bushes wild
It perched like an eagle’s nest on the steep hill
It was owned by a Lord, gentle and mild

Blessed with...

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The structure is imposing, massive and fearful.  Built in 1862 as a jail and
gallows for the worst of humanity.  "Living"  conditions were sickening and
appalling.  The top floor was reserved for death-row...

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I was rehearsing for an upcoming play, but it wasn't going well,
For I somehow lacked inspiration, and my delivery did not excel.

If only I could read more feelingly, I uttered with a sad sigh,
I would...

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“Sacred Lakes”



There is magic 
in your shaman bones
stories shaken like strange mojo 
busy under cover of autumn leaves 
turning burnished topaz gold 
idling unrushed roll over

in honeyed slumber

turning back hands
to face a time of 
blushing...

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within these times of war
Within these times of war


Within the times of war

Silence of its terrors calling
Children play within their laughter
Now recedes in cries of torture
Screeching whistles scrap metal clusters
In murderous heat of summers day
rage...

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The not so Great Swami Minister of Health
unleashed a Press Release today.
One member of the O So Commercial Media bothered to show up
and described it as more of an assault, really,
than a release,
more of an...

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Fred’s feeding his neighbour’s pet parrot,
He replaced its water with claret,
Poll dropped off her perch
Now Fred’s in the lurch
and claiming it choked on raw carrot

Big trouble is looming for Fred
As Polly is very much dead
The...

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The People's Coop
is a warm inviting place,
for some
a reading and meditation
and arts practice and performance space,
for others
a place to ride sleek bicycles
with self-and-other improvement book racks
while peddling energy into the cooperative Grid,
sheltered by solar panel...

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My hair has always 
had a mind of its own
Stays doing whatever
it wants whenever 
it pleases
Just never bothers to do 
any of it, at my convenience
Will take its sweet time 
to grow 
When I'm most...

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My name is Devi, a foolish name really for it means Angel, and I certainly am not. The city of Phnom Penh had been our home, father was a professor at The Royal University. I...

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There once was a piano that wanted to be
Anything other than of white, black keys
She loved her parents and her fabulous family
But she lacked love for self and her maroon melody

She asked the trumpet so...

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Twilight, the frolicking hour of the nocturnal animals.
A curtain of gray melancholy slowly shuts out the sun.
There are two gentle remembering streaks across the sky,
Then all is dark.  The master artist knew what He...

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Interview With Rock Star - Johnny Bravo

So Johnny, what happened? Why did you quit your musical career before it even got started?

It was that guy with the crazy curls, Greg Brady, who quit Johnny Bravo....

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TRENCH  CURSE 1918
BY
JOHN M. ARRIBAS

	
Patriotic songs give us reason to cheer
Except when “ over there” becomes over here
Mounting casualties are easy to explain
Men on foot crossing open terrain
Synchronized whistles signal the attack
Rise out of...

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Owl Parliament is now in session, so be quiet please.
All whistles, hoots, growls, grunts and screeches need to cease.

As the largest of you all, I’m in charge, you see.
Not to mention, I have killed four...

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