Long Coastal Poems

The Amistad Mutiny

Slavery, a dirty word no matter how it’s pronounced:
Abducted and herded to the slave fortress of Lomboko1 for trade.
To be tossed in chains below deck on the Portuguese ship Tecora,2
Sailing the Atlantic Middle...

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You've heard that self-unfulfilling prophecy?
"I love humanity--
it's just people I can't stand."

I love healthy humanity--
it's just uppity and/or snooty people I can't stand

I love cooperative humanity--
it's just overly-competitive individuals I can't stand.

Not so distant from,
I...

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Merciles Beaute ("Merciless Beauty")
by Geoffrey Chaucer
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Your eyes slay me suddenly;
their beauty I cannot sustain,
they wound me so, through my heart keen.

Unless your words heal me hastily,
my heart's wound will remain...

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I remember several prayers
to invoke God's blessings on America,
a reminder of traditional political 
mindfulness?
Fundamental lack of awareness 
of righteous economic investments
in win/win GoldenRule
positive social-psychological security.

No one "keeps"
or "makes"
this confederation of uniting states great,
unless we democratically...

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A prayer for God to bless NativeAmericans
is also a reminder of traditional political mindfulness,
basic awareness of our economic investments in security.

No one "keeps" this confederation of uniting states
safe with alien immigrants
unless we invite them.

Second, prayers...

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'Continental Drift' - The Metaphor

In the seventies (1), few people dreamed ‘it’ was true,
guessed by scientists first when rough coastlines compared (2)
matched like parts of a puzzle (a jigsaw), found place
that joined ‘drop-offs’ waves hid...

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Dear Toni,

I saw you on The Daily Show
the other day
having your way
with Trevor,
or was it the other way around?
Not sure.

I'm also not sure where we first went wrong,
but I'm sorry for once having thought you...

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Here's the scoop, friends...like a bunch of my pieces now posted - and coming soon - this is, as indicated, the 1st HALF of this fairly lengthy poem. The 2nd half had to be posted...

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Huge fluffy clouds began to form over 
Sanibel Island as the salted gulf splashed 
against the rocks around the lighthouse 
coastal waters rose up as a calming coolness 
carried this gentle warm breeze over to...

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These two lived through a devastating hurricane -


The morning started out like any other standard day. The sky was partly cloudy and the breeze was soft and warm. 
An empty little rain cloud drifted by...

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Invisibly tortured courtesy existential nihilism

Psyche wracked with agony
impossible mission to extricate lovely bones
they wanna remain permanently abed.

I chiefly function to amass knowledge
courtesy assiduously, habitually,
and judiciously reading
an eclectic assortment of written material.

Yours truly woke
with ambition, disposition,
inclination,...

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Book Three of the THIRUK-KURAL on Un-Authorised (concealed) and Authorised (religion-ordained) LOVE: Cantos 109 THAGAIANANGKURAITHTHAL to 133

(Note: Love between mainly the wedded pair from the standpoint of the fair liana-like “lady” of the pliant bamboo-shoulders,...

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Many of you live
humbly and heartily
patriotically and industriously
nutritiously and faithfully
in Western and Southern States,

United in this time of shrinking reservoirs,
dying rivers,
hurricaned coastal residents

Displaced by floods,
invasive mold,
voracious rot and rats,

Barren top soil,
failing electrical networks,
drought,
inhumane heat,
decimated forests

Bereft...

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margins stimulate and juxtapose
  edges greet with troubled, disturbing friction
  faraway forces exert influence and combine relentlessly
  how the Sun and Moon dance together about the planet Earth
  their grasping hands...

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The date of the celebration
(the second day of February) coincides
with medieval feast of Candlemas,
and its pre-Christian predecessor,
Imbolc, a day also rich in folklore.

An old Scottish prophecy foretells
sunny weather on Candlemas
means a long winter.

The tradition is...

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In the year ninteen eighty one on the nineteenth day of December
A day the town of Mousehole in Cornwall, will always remember
An R.N.L.I. Watson class wooden lifeboat, the 'Solomon Browne'
Launched from Penlee lifeboat station in...

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Life for a child at this seaside Village, wild and free
A band of misfits come together, boys and girls
They Gathered overlooking the village, a day of adventures waited
Through grassland over boulders, passing fisherman’s cottages
Clothing colours...

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Turning my back on typhoon skies, 
a pestilent past, I pitch my mistakes 
into a forgiving wind. Standing barefoot 
at the edge of apologies, 
coastal tides carry hope, tomorrows stir
on a mariner’s horizon. I search...

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He retired to his sanctuary
on the Eastern shore of the Thames River
three years ago,
an often frustrated permaculture organizer
for building cooperative social health
by creatively communicating climate wealth
growing ZeroZone positive multicultural tao-energy.

This proves reclusively frustrating
in large part...

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Living in California is a brave thing to do, I’m convinced
Any time the ground around you could break into pieces, but residents seem so indifferent
of this threat that the ground they stand on could take...

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Alaska; the wilderness state, the last frontier:
Where majestic mountains,
Deliver streams into flowing rivers:
Down slopes covered in forests
Of Sitka Spruce and Western Hemlock,
That dominates the landscape.
The name Alaska originates
From the Aleut word ‘Aleyska,’
Meaning the ‘mainland’ or...

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My (bleeding) heart is filled to overflowing, 
To see any growing glad(iolus), garden glowing;
Each sun peached, (petunia) petaled delight,
Is frozen in precious moments of pure delight,
From bursting buds, to the spicy boom of blooms,
Nature is...

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Going for a drive then? What now? Yes.

Conglomeration of Mr and Mrs Mooses were sitting near the central reservation on the dual carriage way. They had ordered some fruit, wine, beer, and some milky cream...

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Kahlia Akasha Is Back
We armed our jet with 8 anti ship missiles. Every single under wing weapon pylon was spoken for. Under fuselage drop tank full of fuel, in front of that  a twin...

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My name is Paul Carter and I want to tell you my tragic story
About the wrong path I chose in life, that wasn't one of glory
I was born in the state of Maine in the...

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