Balk Poems

Translated by Przemyslaw Musialowski 8/30/2019

Since centuries 
he has been dressing
native land
in beautiful colors
- into the robes of rotation, 
that all the seasons of the year 
could come true: 
from the harsh winter
to hot summer.

That early spring
could flash with autumn
among the...Read More

Ole Shall We Kiss

Ole, shall we kiss,
Allow it to flourish…
I awoke and flung a kiss to you in my subconsences
I felt obliged so to admire your resists;
Could we first spiritually embrace…
Please,
Darling craving I…
I crave the romantically, yon romance refuse;
Yonder kiss,...Read More

I didn’t do it, I swear to you;
I would not intentionally, that much is true.
A bat flew in here, 
and showed me its rear,
into a stew, I flew.

I know that you want to talk,
so at that, I will not balk.
Your...Read More

What is strength if not compassion 
For the weak and those in need,
Does a smile not show more prowess
Than a fist that makes you bleed.

Is a weapon the first answer
In every situation fraught,
Or will wise words spoken with purpose
Achieve some...Read More

The dog seemed injured, moved but limped; it hurt to see him walk!
As cars drove by on either side, the center's curb too much
(It seemed) with injury to scale, he'd try, but then he'd balk,
His left front limb, I ascertained,...Read More

the yard was in a state of disarray
the caretaker there 
had been perceived
as being obtuse for offering as a quay
the promise of the gift of a coming day 

suspicion and rancor did hold prevail
surely it is too 
good to be...Read More

There was an old pirate named Greg

Who found a big hole in his keg

With no time remaining

And rum quickly draining

He plugged it with his wooden leg



Now, normally Greg would not balk

But this placed a limp in his walk

Yet each one...Read More

Translated by Przemyslaw Musialowski 9/7/2018

By a field road
paved with dust, which is ruled by the wind
and stacks it up into layers, sometimes
you'll encounter a painter
when he travels into a rural landscape

he brings out from the pouch of imagination
colorful palette, taking...Read More

Walk with me, hand in hand.
Welk up the tears, O my friend!
Wack! Don’t shy away, one day your foes too will commend.
Don’t Balk to share your pain, give yourself a chance to amend.
Bilk the defeat! Rest assured, the surges will...Read More

Each afternoon my mom and I would walk
          Two miles along the old lake road to meet
              ...Read More

It must be tough to edit,
Searching calmly for mistakes,
Whether spelling or grammatical,
That every author makes.

Still, it bothers me when reading
And some errors have slipped by,
Causing me to wonder, how much
Did this edit-person try?

First an idiom I noticed – 
“Chock it...Read More

When Love forgets, for once, to pass me by,
And bats her lashes, smiles, and slows her walk,
Then, I’m a baby chick, that wants to fly...

Oft, Fortune, not forgetful, makes me ply
My patience, when I’d rather jump in... talk...
When Love forgets,...Read More

I mustn’t write it in a poem                 
someone will moan if I do
It begins with s and ends in t
perhaps it’s a load of...Read More

I mustn’t write it in a poem                 
someone will moan if I do
It begins with s and ends in t
perhaps it’s a load of...Read More

I walked with Colby,
  he never walked with me

His spirit to guide us,
  his love in the lead

We circled the globe
  a time and a half

His tail was my compass
  to guide us steadfast

In all kinds...Read More

A family pet’s a family member;
Deserving no less; you must remember;
Than anyone else in the household;
To do them less; it is so cold.

They love you all; despite your faults;
At this advice; you must not balk.
They live and die, just for...Read More

Cherry Tree Music Co-op
(Saint Mary's Church -
3916 Locust Walk; City)
(Circa mid nineteen nineteen eighties
after the common lee
washed out tide dull era - CODA).

Naughty bits and pieces asper
     an uneventful memory came back
in a flash prompted by...Read More

Had to recover from three days of Kentucky windage
Jerked the protein from an omelette full of old spinach
Rippled titans in my wake, ‘cause they ain’t losin’ 
I’m still losin’, ‘cause my storm’s passed, but I’m still oozin’
My Brother’s thirsty, but...Read More

Killer jeans ... 
sidewalk recombinant retinal lethal
Hazardous faded denim optics
Mahogany bombshell — 
moving target  drop-dead beautiful

Double helix ... 
T-virus (Tantalizing) traffic stop double take
Gazelle graceful mitotic movement 
cause pedestrian pause,
magnetic gawk gyroscopic directional

DNA dynamite dynamics ... 
(Double-digit Numerical Anomaly)
Short...Read More

She gives me a sassy knowing dare me grin as she begins to devour her ladybug sandwich.
I watch her crown nod up and down in rhythmic quiet as she eats in gargantuous bites.
In fascinated horror, I try to imagine taking...Read More

That men have no emotions is a misconception
But we drop them with little reception
So we bottle them up inside
Ironically finding the bottom of the bottle to confide
Men are taught to be strong
And that any weakness is wrong
But in my 28...Read More

Sole rider in the cold night air, sky looming as town expands.
The silent shuffle of snowy hooves — subservient, rough lands.

The cowboy freezes alongside a cheerful amber window.
Clang of his rustling spurs silenced suddenly...he’s come for Joe.

Cul-de-sac of frontier buildings...Read More

Kate Spade and Anthony Bourdain
both beloved affluential cognoscenti,
     (took their life via cerebral hypoxia)
     neither death can one explain

left family and friends to speculate
     without lapsing into speculation
...Read More

She was her own person
Until she met him.
Him had another idea for her.
He wanted to mold her
Into a new person, 
Someone she tried hard 
To be
For him.

She tried for years
And years, hiding her
Lights under the burdens
Of trying so hard to...Read More

When I was a kid and I got the croup,
My mama would make me chicken soup.
Then as a special treat just for me,
She'd add an animal cracker menagerie.

Animal crackers, oh, what fun,
Like Noah's ark, only one by one.
Dancin', and prancin',...Read More