Best Doltish Poems

Tethered by life's boundless gyre;
doltish in the headlong plunge.
Swirling in its turbid mire;
mock demur feigns to expunge.

Inchoate thoughts swell pathos' rosters;
errant guides whose hack beguiles.
Pay...

Read more of this work...

Behind those hidden marked wrists
Are lies, skepticism and fears
Behind those calloused, clenched fists
Is a cauldron of uncontrollable tears.

Behind those evident scars
Is a constant cycle of...

Read more of this work...

The Shepherd asked the poetess-
Who are you?
Twinkling her eyes, the poetess
said-who am I.

Am I a breath or a death;
breeze or a storm;
am I soothed or...

Read more of this work...

Unconfounded by a doltish lack
of general public adoration,
our poetry we'll offer here --
and bend each other's hungry ears
in supportive, negotiated pacts
of (mostly) mutual appreciation....

Read more of this work...

Micro-Feasting
                        ...

Read more of this work...

"The body, like the oak, is bent and gnarled,
The shallow-rooted mind is overthrown,
When we are near the evening of the world."
---From, 'Runes for an Old...

Read more of this work...

Poems about Dogs

This Dog
by Rabindranath Tagore
loose translation by Michael R. Burch

Each morning this dog,
who has become quite attached to me,
sits silently at my feet
until, gently...

Read more of this work...

You just don’t want me to talk about it
You hate it when we talk about it
You know you are a sheer hypocrite
Why do you think...

Read more of this work...

Our ecosystem and wildlife can no longer be ignored
The devastation caused by the Gulf oil spill must vastly be restored

As anger and frustration surges across...

Read more of this work...

Doggerel II: Doggerel about Doggerel, or, More Nonsense Verse

The Board
by Michael R. Burch

Accessible rhyme is never good.
The penalty is understood:
soft titters from dark board rooms...

Read more of this work...

There's Something I always Keep With Myself ,
Wrap It Up And Place Onto My Shelf ;
My Secret's Land In These Extravagant Books,
Each Connected To One...

Read more of this work...

Dog Daze
by Michael R. Burch

Sweet Oz is a soulful snuggler;
he really is one of the best.
Sometimes in bed
he snuggles my head,
though he mostly just plops...

Read more of this work...

Everything is Free
and I Don’t Want it
6-4-2016

They’re targeted at any seeking cheap or free,
Offers come by email, phone, TV or printed.
Somehow all offers always seem...

Read more of this work...

Imagine that coffee is your soul
Dark and too bitter like the starless sky
As black as hell, as awful. 

Imagine a life without coffee
Pointless, tasteless, doltish,...

Read more of this work...

in the twilight zones
of the ocean
you will find me
dimly lit from within
for camouflage, for
spotting those I fear
would steal my hazy glow

I am surrounded by
others who...

Read more of this work...