Long Abounded Poems

Medieval Poem V

A Proverb from Winfred's Time
anonymous Old English poem, circa 757-786
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

1.
The procrastinator puts off purpose,
never initiates anything marvelous,
never succeeds, and dies alone.

2.
The late-deed-doer delays glory-striving,
never indulges daring dreams,
never succeeds,...

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Winter Awakens My Care
anonymous Middle English poem, circa 1300
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Winter awakens all my care
as leafless trees grow bare.
For now my sighs are fraught
whenever it enters my thought:
regarding this world's joy,
how everything...

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   Symbols cry in dry ice theater -
the expanse of aesthetic visa-
drawn-
from the romance of the silvery eye -
as it golden advances the lid of covenance 
in dynamic enzyme.
Open faced type interpreted-
interpreter-embossed embol-
in...

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Mission Control, this is Flight Z924693744, do you read?
We're having some technical trouble. How should we proceed?

We have spotted a planet, that appears to be suitable to abort;
But, to return to earth, we will need...

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The Rhymed Poem aka The Rhyming Poem and The Riming Poem
Old English Poem (i.e., Anglo-Saxon Poem) from the Exeter Book, ca. 990 AD
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

He who granted me life created this sun
and...

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The Rhymed Poem aka The Rhyming Poem and The Riming Poem - Part II
anonymous Old English Poem from the Exeter Book, circa 990 AD
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

He who granted me life created this...

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Onerous task confronted teachers and parents

As prospective students
ably ready themselves to matriculate
and/or first set little feet 
inside halls of learning,
I rebroadcast a poem crafted
at the height of Covid-19.

A couple years gone back educators
adaptation regarding coronavirus...

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In the beginning after God had finished creating this land.    
Satan boldly challenged the heavens for the absolute control of man.
Gods’ architectural blueprint stretched for ages across the sky 
He watered the...

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POTW

When Wishes were made on a shooting star
The Heavens looked down and smiled
With sprinkles of stardust on a whisper of moonbeams
They created for us a child

Soothed you were by twinkling stars
In a crib that faced...

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It was a dark and moonless night. The lights were out. The TV low.
My hubby and I were relaxed, cuddled close, as the TV set the room aglow.
The telly had a “Flying Saucer Abduction”, with...

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Goodbye Miss Heidi Only For Now…….8.3.14

Remembering that day I first brought you home the sun was out a warm July day, meowing never stopped on your first ride to your new home, waiting
Seeing you the...

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My Halloween party was in full swing. I had gone all out this year and rented an old crumbling, reputed-to-be haunted mansion for the evening's Dionysian festivities, and all the invited guests were present and...

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driving our kids west . . .
our past life vanishing in
the rear view mirror

I don’t recall many details about our move to California. My husband’s job had transferred him two states over to California where...

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As I trekked uphill,
mind was filled with joy,
cool breeze caressed my body, 
place abounded in greenery,
I was glad I came alone,
I could enjoy everything peacefully.

I watched the mountain flowers,
of different Hues and colours, 
I picked...

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In the tapestry of time, a story is spun,
Of hearts entwined beneath the sun.
It began in the halls of youth's embrace,
Where two souls met, face to face.

In the halls of Primary, their eyes did meet,
A...

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Why I keep a low profile i.e. namely remain invisible

Alternately titled -
dear readers ye each saddled as exegete
to make sense little known excerpt
referencing obscure passage printed
calligraphy style groovy and neat

found scrawled in book of Matthew
which...

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The Druid lived far from people in a simple cave 
once or twice a year he came down to sell his potions
trinkets and bits and bops said to cure all ills.
He would sit with others...

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Panting, running, paying, fuming,
Bumping, swearing, hurrying, driving,
All because today is the thirty first
Of the month, why are we all nigh to burst!
Got to buy groceries, go the butcher
The dry cleaners, the florist, the baker,
Did i...

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The morning dawned grey and cold
Shock and fear had taken hold
Blinded and struck by disbelief
We rushed, jolted beyond belief
 
I still remember how Mother screamed
As she ran up the stairs
To confront that of which I...

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In the year, nineteen an’ thirty-nine, 
in a small town that seemed not to care,
a little girl tried her very best
to dress well, and groom her dark hair.
She’d fight for her life—whatever it took,
an’ survive...

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Rewrote our History books for the world to see
A worthier Icon there could never be,
Born and died over the span short of a century,
Baba Madiba became South Africa’s first Black 
President in April 1994, finally,...

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When the Moon moves between the Earth and Sun
then comes a rare happening that can stun,
above all a syzygy alliance,
the term from the Greek in astro-science.

Once solar eclipses in history
were viewed as a frightening mystery.
Cultural...

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OTHER THAN THAT MRS. LINCOLN,HOW WAS THE SHOW?

Gettysburg has long since grown cold by too many graves
Because a tall man yearned to free the slaves
Those who white thought darkness a curse
As John Wilkes Booth stood...

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Mary knew John before you
Who knew Jane before Sam
Obviously there was Sally, Melvin and Tim
The Tim who wore glasses 
Since the other Tim did not

The brother of Mary, who's name escapes me
Visited John's mother yesterday...

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Ice Ages Come With Colder Days
By February March moves on to centuries
Still the sky comes laden with atmospheric vapor
As light as ice, clouds abundance falls to the ground
As thaw fails to gather life’s potential 

If nature could take her pulse...

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