Grief Myth Poems

He Lived: Excerpts from “Gilgamesh”
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

I.
He who visited hell, his country’s foundation,
Was well-versed in mysteries’ unseemly dark places.
He deeply explored many...

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At dropping of night comes the wind,
bringing sweet dreams filled with magic,
until I awake with the morning.

The bright light of morning
displaces the wind;
all dreams disappear,...

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Written: August 23, 2023
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In the realm where rebels reside,
A vessel of jade, a genre spontaneous,
There lies a poetic rebellion, untried,
A cathartic presence, quite wondrous.

Beneath the...

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My friend, don’t struggle so
Not much longer to go
No more working for the all-mighty buck
No more lusting after the…
Ahhh your dirty mind 
Will be the...

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The Curse of the Faceless Woman

Lost in time, this story is told, about a woman, dark and bold. 
She walks the streets on a foggy...

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Soul of love and soul of peace
Somewhere on heavens interwine
With grief, on earth their lips were freeze
In heart of sky they breathe and shine
They gaze...

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Thou airy ship, thou whitish mist! 
Thou float on ocean and the dale
Thou art a painting by my Lord! 
A painting which is not for...

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In fact, at first, 
By fiction’s thirst,
To thrust my sight in curse,
‘Tween nurse and verse,
For better, for worse,
At least I can rehearse.

Before the former:
A stench...

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Fill your heart with not pain and sorrow
But remember me in every tomorrow
Although the living cause pain and grief
My going has given me a heart...

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casting away all pieces and parts 
of an existence full of casual talk 
of board rooms full of rage
lost bodies in burning classrooms

full of philosophy...

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Velveteen...

blue to black 
never meant to last 
call it all back 

Blue to Black

the turning of the screw. 
The flame is hot and it’s seers
everything...

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Something inside me is calling
Some things are caught on thorny thoughts 
Sometimes I radiate and deviate as thoughts linger

I bleed icy dreams
Dark as ink, silent...

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Aurora, the beautiful goddess of dawn
Mourned the death of her son now gone.
Memnon, by Achilles's spear, was killed.
His mother’s tears, by the fire, now spilled.
Aurora...

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No sooner had the melodious rhythm stuck with the ears than the drums went silent

Grim Reaper couldn't hide her temperament

She snatched you secretly  to...

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the sodium arc light hums 
into the frosted night
Bathing all in acidic 
sickly amber that of a toxic wound, 
splashing through the skeletal trees 

the...

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