Gawky Poems

Enigma

Missed links
Clawed wings, blue cheeks,
Rufous crest, maroon eyes
Gawky gait, baffling diet, odd
Bird stinks*


*Hoatzin bird

Environmental shots

Unique
Elite swimmer
brown, tailless, Pied-billed Grebes
can float, dive or simply submerge
graceful

dark eyes
cinnamon tone
heard but not often seen
rear end feet, lobed toes, poor flier
gawky

small bird
solitary
widespread, but rarely seen
dramatic silent crash-diver
decent

patient
near to nest bowl
I hide in marsh water
to capture still clear reflection
I wait

no one wanted me either

no one wanted this unusual canary
I related totally
no one wanted me either

I will take that one, I told the shop keeper
That one!
He was incredulous.

I said that one, I said, nodding.
The tall gawky weird-looking one?
I glared at the guy, who popped him into a sack.

Everyone at my house laughed at me.
As usual
Called me names, as usual

the gangly awkward canary and I became close
understanding what it feels like
when you are rejected by those you want to love the most

Politicians

Ham player  that by
                             strength of
                            DANGEROUS LINKS,
                           performs
                            the best roles...
                            wrong individual
                           that  imagine he is GOD,
                           but he is the Dog....
                            He is a GAWKY PLAYER
                            that
                            by means other than"
                            we imagine"
                           play in the best
                           teams in
                            all positions...

Too Polite To Say No

Morty’s feet were as graceful as a gawky giraffe on ice.
He asked Morgan McMillon to the dance, not one time, but thrice.
She could not refuse him a fourth time, for it would not seem nice.
They are married now and have sixteen children, so she’s paid the price.

Route 66ish No 9

Route 66ish No 9

There once was a girl from Milwaukee,
Who was terribly thin, even gawky,
Her brother, called Pat,
Was exceedingly fat,
So she always addressed him as "Porky"!!

Gift of Glory

God gave me a great gift of glory
A gift of a good gracious guardian, 
Gifts of Gaiety, Gumption and Grief
God’s gift grants no gates for groveling
Nor are they gimmicks, glitches, nor guilt
Thus, the gift so grand gives Gypsies and Greeks
The same kind of gratitude and grace
All kinds of genders and gauche gawky geeks
  Are equaled as gifts of the Glory God
I have no time for gibbers and gabbles
But to glean through ungarbling gospels
Giving boys and girls no chance for greed,
No chance for gruesome grueling gossips
My gift is not gullible for gambits
Plus, my gift of character speaks no arrogance

Wished We Danced

Oh how I wish we danced
  what a sight it would have been
  the dance I took from him,
you
  floating on air, without a care
  angelic wings adorned,
  music swaying at every soft turn;
me
  stepping on your toes
  unsure of which step should flow,
  teetering on the edge of the ballroom floor,
  the sad-faced klutz moving toward the door.
What magic interlude would play a tease
  as you hummed every note on key
  then broke into soft melodic ease
  setting the romantic night moods free.
Just a dream, that's all it was
  wanting my love 
  to fit you like a glove,
but I was always the wallflower that sat
  on the sidelines feeling gawky and fat
  and in hindsight, looking back
  I regret not having trying harder to act.
Wish we danced
  had I only taken the chance.

Lance-Lot

Lance-Lot
by Michael R. Burch

Preposterous bird!
Inelegant! Absurd!

Until the great & mighty heron
brandishes his fearsome sword.

Keywords/Tags: Nature, Animal, Bird, Birds, Heron, Herons, Fish, Fishing, River, Ocean, Ardeidae, Egret, Egrets, Bittern, Bitterns, Great Blue Heron, Goliath Heron, Gray Heron, Great Egret, Crane, Stork, Ibis, Spoonbill, Beak, Bill, Sword, Lance, Spear, Inelegant, Gawky, Awkward, Ungainly, Gangly, Preposterous

Takeaway On Lunch Dates From An Introvert

Exchanging cloddish giggles
Gawky, flailing limbs
Quota, reaching, nibbles
Cloth to dot our chins

Predictable mindless chatter
We must appear intrigued
An opening to flatter
Allows a moment of relief

And during this scenario 
Our hearts will both, descend
At the transition of the , stereo
Subject ends, til next begins

Once the fresh tape rolls
Our joy just won’t be tamed
It may not feed our souls
But sets aside our shame

Introvert Issues

An awkward chuckle
Escapes my lips 
White knuckles
Teeth grit

I don’t poke fun
Or humiliate
I get your pun
It isn’t great

I bear the burden
Of your ego
My introversion
Takes the blow

The problem is
You’re not clever
As lame as it is
I must endeavor 

Feeling abashed
And quite dumbfounded
I chose to stash
How bad you sounded

I lose the grace
I had before
To save your face
I shake my core

Asymmetrical 
Gawky, inept 
Your spectacle
My debt

I Did It My Way

His shabby house sat on my street, and he
was like that run-down house - unwashed; unkempt.
So Barklay, with his slick black hair, would be
our school yard’s crow, one pecked at with contempt.

Another on my street was also jeered.
Poor Janno, homely girl with eyes that crossed.
The birds that mocked declared that she was weird;
though smart, she had a sparrow’s wings less glossed

And vaguely I recall the taunting words
that followed Janno and the gawky crow.
And not among the flock of strutting birds,
I could conceive an inkling of their woe.

Befriending rare birds, I did it my way.
I'd walk them home, for I don't shun a stray!

June 15, 2014

Let the Dead Bury Their Own

As my weary eyes give in
I become entranced.
A day completed now
and so I give it back a glance.
Every chance I'm given,
I break it all apart
I break it all apart
I'll break this all apart.
I can be your monster or your hero
it depends upon my heart.
If I was all that smart
I would break myself apart.
We've lived so gawky from the start
and handled stones in this glass cage,
these last days are fast paced
please hurry up and wait.
Don't believe a word I tell you;
I'm a liar, just kidding.
I love dichotomies and irony
and riddles in the city.
Hey, I once escaped a mind trap
and regretted it...
because a mind trap only benefits
if you simply stay embedded in it.
So instead of salvation,
I live in a glass prison, waiting
for the walls to crack like windows
and have what I'm hiding from
come and take me.

Nature Prepares For Winter

Leaves have fallen down
Making colorful bed
Children hide and seek
Parents came with rake
Took the leafs away

Trees stand gawky 
Bare to the bones
No leaf for dress
Not intended

Season new
Welcome change
Birdies flew

From nest 
Empty

cold

The Nest

In the vines by the rear door
She built her nest
Sat on her little blue green eggs
With all her mother care
Warmed by her maternal heat
Garage doors opened with a clatter
Snowbirds unloading winter stuff
Frightened, she left the eggs unattended
She gradually tolerated humans
Walking barely three feet away
Her head, beak, peeking out
Keeping a watchful eye
Then the blessed event
Four little squirrelly feather bundles
I even helped supply worms
Although she never acknowledged
This act of inter specie kindness
Gentle nudge to the nest
The babies instinctively stretched
Their scruffy scrawny necks
Upwards to be the first to lunch
Gawky youngsters
All yellow mouths and bills
Stretched wide for supper
Then they were gone!
I'm left with an empty nest syndrome.

• Short Gawky Poems
• Famous Gawky Poems
• Best Gawky Poems
• Read Gawky Poems
• Long Gawky Poems
• Gawky Quotes