Best Storefronts Poems

In heat
the pulse of your streets.

I've heard the crack
of hard political whips
that pinch the air.

Cores of human topography,
your aging neighborhoods.

Your people kick cans
counting gravel like jewels,

while chiselers roast dogs
in the courthouse.

Swine flu kills
the papers.

And already the sky is
feverish.

In your train tunnels
a violinist plays pianissimo. 
I've...

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The dust devils swirled with grit as their lacing,
and dark Sonnet storefronts boarded in despair.
The Senryu Saloon shut its cafe doors
and the Couplet Church-goers fled in pairs.

She thought he wouldn't live in all his Paeons.
She packed her Blank Verses in one simple case
and went to...

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Color, beautiful colors so fair.
Decorates life with beauty, gemstones.
Days without splendor could bring despair.

The human retina, its rods and cones,
Designed to paint man’s world with grand hues.
View majestic colors on earth’s throne.

Hues that paint nightlights with great amuse.
Storefronts, theaters and streets bedecked.
Beautiful colors: reds, greens,...

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Pastoral country
Where folks wave to passers by--
Farmers plowing

Exit 386
Wal-Mart, fast foods, and hotels-- 
Tourists stop

Modern businesses
Of every type one might need--
The short road to town

Refurbished storefronts
With arts antiques and barbers--
Downtown businesses

Houses big and small
Fill the local neighborhoods--
Quiet streets

State Parks, music fests
And neighborhood barbeques --
Entertainment

Outside of...

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All abroad! Amazing airplane aims above Asia ascending at an ample airline.
Bestowing big buildings, busy businesses, beautiful beaches...
Camera captures candid cascading countryside.
Dozen dandelions display delightful destinations.
Everyone easily escapes enjoyment.
Families follow festivals featuring favorite foods.
Guests grow generating grand group gatherings.
Happy hikers holler, "Hello", having heartfelt hospitality.
Itinerary...

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Bundled in a horse-drawn sleigh  
warm and snug on Thanksgiving Day
the children restless, we went on our way
as the shedding forest began to sway
and the gusts of wind set astray
the vestiges of autumn's display
that unveiled the cabins along the bay
 
Past weathered barns fraught...

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The earth was void and without form…
And the voice of the Lord was upon the waters…

	In the roll of a tsunami wave across the Pacific
	Born of a collapsing mountain deep in the sea
	And in the tidal surge bearing down on Mobile
	Miles ahead of an approaching...

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I peer back through the mists of time to muse and ponder,
Christmases when a lad, giving my mind free rein to wander.
'Twas a simpler time when life moved at a slower pace.
Wonderful memories flood my soul that I cannot erase.

A canopy of lights arched over...

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A white wash of striated clouds
stretch expansively 
across the arid desert sky
where Joshua trees commune
lifting up crooked cactus-like arms
towards the searing sun. 

Massive layers of brown boulders 
jut, forming endless sculptures 
hidden places where the ancients 
made their penitence with words
swept away by unforgiving winds....

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Figurines


Lace up your shoes
Wear your black hoodie 
And your Timberland’s, too
You’ll never know what ‘ll happen to you 
Or where you’ll end up
On your way home 

Your ancestors have walked this land
In shackles and in chains 
And labored for but one cent
Their names have since...

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SEPTEMBER   SUNSET    OVER     ST.  PETERSBURG


Final fling  of color and movement from the sun
Celebration of  life  before it’s   done.
Bits and pieces  of beauty  criss-crossed
And all is higgledy,  ...

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THIS WAS BASICALLY ORCHESTRATED BY CIRO GARGANO IDEA MAKING DONALD PELLEGREN BELIEVE HE AND I WERE PARENTS AFTER A BREIF ENCOUNTER WITH HITMAN PELLEGREN HE BECAME OBSESSED WITH FATHERING A CHILD WITH ME HE RANTED AND RAVED LEAVING HIS WIFE MARILYN PELLEGREN OF 47 YEARS...

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weathered fences broken slacks 
covered the shores of tan grit 
that stained the walk way

of uncharted territories  
i frolliced about tainted steel 
the hidden smell of poshed hair tonic 
as i reached for the door handle 

quickly comforted by thought 
mingling about stirring about...

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No One
by Michael R. Burch

No One hears the bells tonight;
they tell him something isn’t right.
But No One is not one to rush;
he lies in grasses greenly lush
as far away a startled thrush
flees from horned owls in sinking flight.

No One hears the cannon’s roar
and muses that...

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Upcountry thunder
turns the plain milled storefronts
to shades of muscat-grape
and citron, dusky rose. 
Pavement ripples with reflections
never thought before, 
as clouds pass
dark as bedrock, molten 
at the core....

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