Monet Manet & Morisot
make an impression wherever they go
Most definitely t'was an art nouveau
'plein air ' and inside you know
The night was not for sleeping.
It was for the drag of headlights
against the skin of wet asphalt,
for the torn-down column
spitting its weight into the earth —
too heavy for a backhoe,
too stubborn for goodbye.
EMs Barrio curled in on itself,
a hive of borrowed beds
and half-finished dreams.
I sat outside its hum,
counting the breaks between engines,
each jeepney’s arrival a breath,
each departure an emptying.
The last one wore its driver like an afterthought —
shoulders pressed forward,
face carrying the rust of decades.
The radio died mid-verse,
as if ashamed of how thin it had grown.
I do not smoke.
But that night
I inhaled the exhaust of his leaving,
kept it in my lungs
long enough to taste
what it might be like
to disappear slowly
past a stranger’s gaze.
(Legazpi City, 1997)
It sometimes feels like I am the only one on the street
that is suffering from the pain of an addicted child
I know the feeling that this may be the time I lose him
as he lies in an ICU bed unconscious
It feels like I am walking in solitude
when someone asks me how I am doing
yet, I know they really don't want to know
and it's easier just to say "I'm Fine" than tell the truth
It feels like I am the only one in the world who has had to call
EMS when my son lies in his apartment so drunk that
he can't move and a part of me feels like I can't move
I can't go forward and I am stuck in solitude.
You can have all the produce in my garden except the Ems.
What are the Ems? I asked my more enlightened friends.
His magical mushrooms, they have minds and they talk.
I laughed at their imaginations; my laugh much like a squawk.
Einstein was here, and he declared these mushrooms wise.
He doused them with empathy, intelligence, no surprise.
I stared at the speaker. Was she insane, crazy, or worse?
She took a tiny brain out of her magnificent purse.
I captured his brain, she told me. It is right here, listening.
It was dull and gray with bits of pink, in no way glistening.
Is that an EM? I asked her, wondering still about those.
No, and you’d best not ask anyone about them, they’re froze.
Frozen Ems, mushrooms with minds, and Einstein, all in one day.
I started making excuses, and I sidled quickly and comfortably away.
Did you get any produce? The farmer asked me with concern.
No, I replied. Then I ran over the hill and hid under a miniature fern.
shroud of mist entombs
eerie silence takes a hold
~
sun hauls back those drapes
Written 14th January 2021
Contest Hi-Ku(7) place promise
Sponsor Brian Strand
10th Place
Tones blare
Heart pounds
Prayers sent
Station bound
Turnouts on
Nomax too
Helmet, gloves
And rubber boots
18-15
That is me
Sirens sing
Engine gleams
Airpack on
Arrive on scene
Cars on fire
Patients scream
Hoses pulled
Scene assessed
Flames put out
Jaws of life spread
Patient care
EMS on scene
Life-flight inbound
Punctured spleen
Patient gone
Hospital bound
Head back home
Til next time around
2/19/2020
Metrics,
Real concs.
Problems,
Solve ‘ems.
Nature,
Culture.
See slave,
Behave.
Faction,
Action.
Mating,
Dating.
Suckle,
Chuckle.
Test tube,
Stat loop.
Scope read,
Nodes said.
Bi drive,
Lat hive.
Theory,
Clearly.
Method,
Deft thud.
Method,
Deft cod.
Select,
Chain checked.
Gather,
Blether.
Science,
Finance.
Science,
Distance.
Freedom,
Kingdom.
Freedom,
Random.
Where are you going? The EMS workers are wondering
As a thousand screaming people run out
The EMS is running in
What can we do to help? The EMS workers are asking
Helping each other triage, in every way possible.
Children are being spoken to in soft voices as
Other EMS are putting sheets over their parents' bodies
All working together to help the child not see
Fully what has happened.
Where am I needed? The EMS workers are listening.
Hearing what they need to hear, travelling hard and fast
To rescue, comfort, and hold someone's hand that last time
Because Moms and Dads cannot be everywhere.
Grandma's prayers do not always cover everything.
Grandpa's sometimes leave their Super Hero suits in the closet
So we have angels, spirits, and EMS workers
In the form of firemen, policemen, nurses,
Doctors, medics, EMTS, and paramedics,
Picking up the slack, running in when everyone else
is running out, running away, and running amok.
They keep us calm, they listen, they encourage, they coax,
But mostly they show us the love we need when we need it.
To husbands who are mystified
We offer here this marriage guide.
You'll have the finest union yet
If you accept this alphabet.
A dopt a female point of view.
B e strong, but gentle, kind, and true.
C ompliment her hair and clothing.
D on't let inlaws see your loathing.
E xercise so you'll be trimmer.
F udge the truth and say she's slimmer.
G ems and roses cool her rages.
H and to her your weekly wages.
I nsist you love her every day.
J ust say you're sorry, come what may.
K eep bathed and shaved if you want sex.
L et her select; just write the checks.
M eet no new women on the net.
N o anniversaries forget.
O gling beauties is forbidden.
P ast affairs are best kept hidden.
Q uickly heed her when she bellows.
R arely go out with the fellows.
S hower her with gift surprises.
T ake it when she criticizes.
U se your head; obey her wishes.
V acuum and do the dishes.
W hen walking with her, hold her hand.
X -rated movies now are banned.
Y ield to her as if she's Caesar.
Z ero in on what will please her.
There is No Last Page
Tweet out green songs everyday
Hours always tend to start anew
Endless sensations crowd around
Raring to come to your perception
Evening looks for morning smile
I know you will be always there
Saying sweetly, ‘Here, I am here’
New bowl for old words appears
Old is never slain by swords
Love your mirror, clean it daily
Allow the sun and shade in it
Smell the garden for fragrance
Towards a poem of fluent rose
Pens are ever eager to respond
Across green and red pulsation
Gems flash in the swing of time
Exist and extend, sings the robin
___________________________________
17/01/2017
For the contest, Message in an Acrostic
Sponsor, Kim Rodrigues
UNGRATEFUL CHILDREN A parent's lament
Children
with Wings
and Talons
Pounce on the fleetest of hearts
their
Memories
Soar
over the
Blood Transfusions
Hospital frights of prematurity
of EMS sirens
HIV trembling tests
Asthma Tents
Breathless Worry atop cloud kissed Trees
Sleepless Nights of bully battles
Struggles with Education’s foes
Mad Escapes from Fathers of Violence
The teary wave good bye for fledgling endeavors
Day night day night day night…unending
and
Land on
Slight Imperfections and Imagined Slights
or the
Shortage of Cash
for
Trips
Technoshit
New Shoes
New Cars
or other
Dreams
You
Couldn’t
Buy.
When The Torch Came In June--In Memory of my husband:
Robert A. (Bobby) Burch--Died 6/22/1996
O' June...June...I can't believe how fast time
Has gone. It seems like only yesterday
I held him close...kissed...his lips on mine.
It's been sixteen years since he went away...
That HOT, JUNE, DAY--the Olympic Torch came
Through town. Everone there--needing him too...
He sat down beside me--his face--I knew
When he said, "I don't feel well"--that glazed stare.
Everyone always asked him what to do!
Twice...he came back to assist his own care...
EMS, Doctors, nurses--all were there!
But, still, it was not enough to save him.
Two minutes from the ER--WASN'T FAIR!
'Prayed in the ER as they worked on him...
The people: loved ones, community, friends,
Were everywhere--pacing...standing...crying...
But I kept praying--"Don't let him be dying!"
Finally, they 'called it'...then let me go in...
I kissed him-- goodbye-- but felt they were lying--
Then told our son...he'd not see, DAD--again.
O' June...June...your mem'ry serves quite well...
Wish it'd been me...and he, this story tell.
deborah burch©
5/26/2012
Dizain
I express my self through Po-ems
But, do you hear me
Care to understand
If I jesture
Only one can see
But, if I write
I'm sure more shall read
My words
My thoughts
A hope not to fall
Upon the deaf
Or turn to stone
Sink within
Time's abyss
Please, if not
Use them!
Make them your own
I Give You My Word on this P D
I could find myself falling in love with you easily,
and everyone knows that you're hopelessly in love with me already,
but alas, such a passionate love affair shall never be.
I will never allow myself ever to fall in love with PD.
Yes everyone, P D is a she and this sparky firecracker can't keep her hands off of me,
Not now PD. We have company. Keep it under your dress for now my little PD.
Also PD, I order you to go all day pantie free
just in case theKidster drops by for a quick one from his little PD,
and PD, there's no way to say this easy
but there's much needed room for improvement with you hygienically.
You really do smell my little PD.
Remember my last visit? Your odor knocked me unconscious immediately.
P D then had to call EMS (911) everybody.
It took a whole medical team to revive me from the odor of PD.
The only thing that smells worse than P D to me
is PD's so called poetry.
No P D & Me Ever, so sadly.
I've broken my poor little PD's fragile heart. P D wants me so badly.
Eternal Soulmates
Remember when we made mud pies from the sand
We walked, skipped, and ran
Pretending
I was you, and you were I
Oh! How we laughed
A sparkle in our eye
Thinking it would always be the same
Life ------ was just a make believe game.
But the sands of time
Unfolded a different line
And God took you away
Through that invisible door
To be with him forever more
The pain was so great
I thought surely------ my heart would break.
Then in my sorrow one day
I heard our Lord whisper my name
And say
Dry your tears and ease your fears
For you shall join him------ with me someday.
EMS
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