Best Mountainsides Poems

“In solitude, the mind gains strength and learns to lean upon itself.”   Laurence Sterne
far from the human humdrum
solitude shrouds mountainsides
subtle snowflakes fall on spruce
I run towards the cabin

the heat is enjoyable
I open my fine laptop
type chapter three of my book
no characters spoil the...

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The Power of One

Slowly shadows devour the day’s light,
The silhouette of fear draws breath 
From the soul left gasping,
A firestorm of fury gathering,
Like mists of plagues escaping
From an ancient land of sand and tombs
With locusts warning of hope’s starvation
To escort the darkness rising 
Turning pleas...

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Wildflowers

Your words scream out the relative cynicism
Of an age that doesn’t believe
	In anything –
		Not God nor Goodwill
		Nor possibility:
You label me a Pollyanna,
		Mary Sunshine,
		And a fool
For believing – 
	For grasping onto every positive mystery,
	For staking claim to promises
		Made in an ancient land of promise;
But,
	Remember, my friend,
	When...

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Miss Allegheny Mountain

On her stone back the sleeping lady lies,
while on upward ride to the Western skies,
in blue lavender treeline's veiled disguise,
Miss Allegheny Mountain grows in size.

Azure cheeks are kissed by the dawn's sunrise.
Toward morning stars point her tree lined thighs.
Appearing on horizons in surprise,
Miss...

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River Findings

The Ohio winds around hills
and streams down the hollows
passes steel mills, brick yards and scrap yards.
It carries tug boats, pushes barges, and hauls
black coal stripped from the mountainsides. 

The Ohio’s littered banks 
are home to train yards 
filled with graffiti-covered box cars
rusting relics of...

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Warm breezes upon pale cheeks

song birds chirping in oak trees

yellow daises and pure white calla lilies 

calls out from nature, "come and see"

Come and see my beauty

my vibrant greens and blues

Come and see me smile

I'm refreshed, cleansed and new

Come and see my apple blossoms

exploding on...

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Breathe laden islands rise and fall
beneath the steam graced surface of clear water,
capped with rosettes, red-brown, silken, warm,
beaded with water running in rivers
down mountainsides of flesh, puddling,  
in the darken depression of navel.

The water rises, about kneecaps
pristine and alabaster in hue.
Angular shoulders hug the...

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Baby blue skies extending forever
through verdant valleys 
and hugging mountainsides 

Eagles glide gracefully
on a butterscotch breeze
captivating lost feelings in me

Oh to soar   so solitarily
away from pain strapping me
in to a dreamless scene
where windows are tinted and freedom's only hinted

A glazed gaze away from...

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Sixty thousand pounds
One hundred sixty horses
Snorting like leviathan
On uncharted courses

Eleven feet of width
Thirty-two of reach
Tank-like tracks that crush the rock
With a metallic screech

Carving up the hillside
With the greatest ease
Playing toss with boulders
Plucking up huge trees

A tree that falls is heard
Some even make a sigh
A sound...

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The sun descends
Every single day
I'm alive.
The reds and oranges
Blend to purple,
Exploding out of a bright
Center, circle that closes
More and more every
Minute
Until everything evaporates suddenly
Into the night.
If you're lucky,
It's just an introduction to
The glittering ceiling
Sphere of stars.
Feel free to applaud.

It drips down mountainsides
While painting the endless...

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A winter white blanket melts turning Aspens verdant green.
Buds sprout on mountainsides in a sunlit golden sheen.
Clouds like fresh-picked cauliflower sink low and drift on by.
Distant sun after her show takes a bow in purple sky. 
Each eager bear escapes its hibernating cage.
Frozen waters thaw...

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As the snow falls around me, I marvel at God’s wholesome and worthy entity.
The Lord, on his special day, has given me a gift so precious and special;
He has opened my eyes to his wondrous glory.
The Lord above all has allowed me to see the...

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The Haggis lives a solitary life
On mountainsides and braes
Foraging, for slugs and snails
Is how he spends his days

But come the rutting season
A change in him you’ll find
He’ll go out searching, high and low
For others of his kind

His plumage changes colour
From brown to scarlet red
A pair...

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Too long, my soul,
Uninvited city noise
And fleeting seconds
Separates us 
Then robs us of moments
To meet through blended rhapsodies
In pure hues of solitude 
And soft shades of serenity
Yet, reassuring arms gather us into
A bright hallowed heaven sent sanctum,
Bidding rest with folded hands in sacred stillness
When I...

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Lament to the Spirit of War
by Enheduanna (circa 2285-2250 BCE)
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

You hack down everything you see, War God!

Rising on fearsome wings
you rush to destroy the land:
raging like thunderstorms,
howling like hurricanes,
screaming like tempests,
thundering, raging, ranting, drumming,
whiplashing whirlwinds!

Men falter at your approaching footsteps.

Tortured...

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