Long Decorous Poems

THE RUIN 
an Old English poem about fate & destiny
modern English translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

well-hewn was this wall-stone, till Wyrdes wrecked it
and the Colossus sagged inward...

broad battlements broken;
the Builders' work battered;

the high ramparts toppled;
tall...

Read More

Wrapped into a cocoon of impenetrable meaning and faith he followed the light

Doom and gloom had once shadowed his library of dreams and contentment

Scattered in his loony resemblance of a rational mind words rearranged reason

Analyses...

Read More

When in having or showing a seemingly moderate,
most humble estimate of one's great merits,
and importance, free from ones vanity,
egotism, boastfulness, or grateful pretensions.

When free from ostentation or showing extravagance.
Can you a modest house,
white washed as...

Read More

and Par-Policy:  Dump Rotted Produce…
and Pitch-Pit-Grain- Pro-Ruse

It Was Due To Prior-Parent’s Vain-Disobey, 
so They Diminished, That-Dare-Day…
The Delectable…
 and Passed Up The Palatable –
 Main… Held-Accountable
Course (so  not  hard !) 
But They Failed...

Read More

The bowl of fruit left on the table
to wither and rot by those unable.
Those whose minds are shattered by death,
whose minds are weakened and bereft.
There cliché exhibit they concede,
tells of their leal for their dead...

Read More

In the land of dreams the past
Make no my spirit within me burn
For the scenes and the hours that may not return
Therefore disturbing dreams
Trouble the secret stream
Shall i then fear the tone?
No it is not...

Read More

Long time no see
Possibly display pic thee
How are you with chores aplenty
Along with thy sweet son dainty 
Suddenly we stopped communication
Due to heavy schedules and perspiration
Worried a little about you
And thy working hard true
You can...

Read More

Pope Frances 

It is a warm sunny day in Lisbon, the pope sits atop of 
Mercedes Jeep, he looks like an easy target for assassins
Men in black suits and open jackets hurry alongside the jeep
except...

Read More

Into the indigo sky 
the planes climb
at regular intervals,
like clean, slow-motion 
signal flares
fired by a punctilious soldier
fighting a decorous war. 

From this distance,  
the planes’ engines
are little pendant earrings, 
swingless beneath
ridiculous cantilevered ears, 
their...

Read More

Your face contorts in a twisted effort
Plaintive in non-decorous reverberation
A terrain around a pair of distant orbs 
Lost in extemporaneous consternation
To ward off the fear of unwanted evanescence
Upon the wanton revelation
Of a day you wish...

Read More

The old saw "Go West, Young Man" is attributed to Horace Greeley,
But it was coined by a writer from a Terre Haute paper, really!
Horace was agin' westward expansion and was filled with doubt,
So in 1839...

Read More

A chorus of the hungry
Father, we are here, singing choruses
To a crowd of witnesses 
A scattering of utterances among crows 
Muttering things 
About this and that
Unknown quantities of baloney  
Seasoned with desert salt
As the...

Read More

Jesus didn't remain at the manger scene,
Nor was time drawn out on the cross.
His stay wasn't long in a borrowed tomb,
But our earthly gain became Heaven's loss.

So this year don't search for the manger,
Hoping by...

Read More

Rancorous bile spits from the screen like a dragon’s bad breath

Venom and distasteful acrimony captures an innocent monitor

An irritating display of malicious vitriol exposes malevolence

Vindictive malevolence achieves to exhibit a self-righteous tongue

   ...

Read More

Ah! To be a child again and from worry to be free,
To mimic Mister Squirrel and scamper up a tree!
God made trees for climbing by little girls and boys,
And to build a treehouse in, is...

Read More

Relentless yearning tints unrestrained
the spectral edge of the halcyon horizon,
where the nascent scarlet sun unveils 
the facade of the decorous dawn,
brings to me across the million miles 
of dreaming detour corridor,
the sparkle of the sapphire...

Read More

The Captain had a penny whistle 
Which he wore around his neck
And he played it every morning
As the crew danced on the deck.
Sometimes it was a Hornpipe
Sometimes a Palais Glide
As the crew danced fore and...

Read More

For the angel in my dreams…

 

In your devout embrace, I feel my arctic emotions unfreeze

Heeding those sacred words that murmur like a hypnotic breeze,

Your unfeigned saintly tempest, emancipated my lovelorn shackles

With each unfettered breath,...

Read More

While we’re renaming things,
can we please rename “United States” to “AAAmerica.”
I know I’m tired of scrolling to the bottom of every pop-down country list.
And ARE we united? Really, even a little?

That awkward moment when you’re...

Read More

Tinkling trickles everywhere - bathroom, rain and coffee pot
Roaring warmth from the heat source after clicked up one half notch 
Old soles of slippers whisper tales to the hardwood as I stroll
Cars swoosh by, tires...

Read More

Without light, the world is cold and dark.
Sans decorous evergreens to light up the park.
Cries in the night, flesh hidden from view.
It’s a nightmare - a deep, unsettling brew.
The sun, moon and stars, lightning flash
all...

Read More

The altar showed anomaly,
an orb of light, 
a foil for small realities 
that I could easily forget 
but for that twilight cast, 
to things I touch or dream--
that spirit song sequestered
where I cannot go.
 
Thoughts...

Read More

Decadent perimeter a decorous 
tray doth betray
Polished cart a nubile mask doth 
display
From black, coiffed locks baited line 
doth sway
From slippery, glossed lips a sweet 
nectar doth spray
In dark corner, sleek, painted lashes 
lustily fray
On...

Read More

Silly tenderness’s wanted with body
For what reason its brilliant bloom
Heart was hurting more often, it’s hurting
It was tempting to somewhere like doom.
Here the banal things took their beauty
And the vicious things will be the saint
And...

Read More

Oh, the face of love be the moon ever lit so bright
With the pelvic pull of desire on this summer’s night
Thus we enchant & entwine before the mornings' dew
As the titanic tides of love bring...

Read More