Long Dodger Poems

Medieval Poems IV



IN LIBRARIOS
by Thomas Campion
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Booksellers laud authors for novel editions
as pimps praise their whores for exotic positions.



Brut (circa 1100 AD, written by Layamon, an excerpt)
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R....

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Rejection
a roundel by Geoffrey Chaucer
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Your beauty from your heart has so erased
Pity, that it's useless to complain;
For Pride now holds your mercy by a chain.

I'm guiltless, yet my sentence has...

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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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Translations of the Oldest English Rhyming Poems

The Rhymed Poem aka The Rhyming Poem aka The Riming Poem
Old English/Anglo-Saxon poem from the Exeter Book, circa 990 AD
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

(excerpt)
He who granted me life...

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The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence Chapter L.A.

I like to think of [the habit] as a bonfire or a lighthouse, so that light can shine out into places where there are no resources and there isn’t...

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Opening Day with a Little Delay

Take me out to the ball game
 Of balls and strikes - bloopers and perfect games; 
 Basket catches, ERA’S, country hardball;
 Foul balls, the pick off, intentional walk, the...

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I was born within the sound of Bow bells in the east end of London, this makes me a true cockney, I own a cock and sparrow down by the shake and shiver, I sell...

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The Antics Of A Yoyo Thief

Potential life of as juvenile delinquent
(ala bam mean future streetwise thug)
stopped dead in the tracks – manacles
the above two lines hopefully gives hint
nearly changing changing life of one boy
an undersized...

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I was strolling to the entrance of the Barley Tavern,
when I was passed at quite a rate by angry Billy Brown.
He’s mumbling and cursing before he kicked the Tavern cat,
and blamed it as the reason...

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The 42 Inch Hallway

We’re stepping along the musty hallway now.
I am taking us on a fast-moving memory ride;
A mind-bending groovy slide to 1965,
When Dylan music was seeping loudly like a germ,
Down the green-carpeted hallway of...

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Friendly pirate wannabe flies his Jolly Roger...
while surfing cyber seas today March 2nd, 2021.

Actually yours truly quite a literate codger
(ah shucks just missed being draft dodger)
no not for baseball team, but Vietnam War
circa November 1,...

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In 1960, I was introduced to the world in a place called Rome
A place where gladiators battled at center stage, a place so far away from home
Young, robust, handsome; nah 'pretty', that's right 'pretty'
A product...

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Now scores of years 
after botched minor theft penchant 
courtesy security guard
analogous to inquisitorial trenchant
unforgettable verbal lashing
(suppressing me ululation to vent)
unwittingly arresting snitch behavior
plus potential life of crime.

Not a peep passed thru 
pursed lip o'...

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Hare trigger instincts
always served Roger well
He had an oh, no-no lettuce nose — 
a hyper-keen sense   when to leave
Roger was rabbit good
at knowing when
to skip out    on his responsibilities ...

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During the time before television came to our home,                          ...

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“Chasing Ghosts in Cars” 

Like automata
we walk inside 
winding up the stairs

it’s all mechanical
the romance 
programmed

by steep degrees 
in the 
well-routined

we can walk 
through walls
anywhere

to look out 
our windows 
towards the better view

each cell in...

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As if a child should understand an  adult’s muddle,
putrid oil slick puddle,
the dreadful pain we foist on wide-eyed offspring.
Robotic elders crush with rigid slabs of Portland censure,
 whatever spark remains in tiny rosebud coloured...

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Say bye-bye to these:
    "Hold, please." (Hold what?)
    Typewriter Repairman Ads
    "Dial this number..." (What's 'dial?')  
    Down-time... Offline
   ...

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Dear Lori, my lady, my darling divine
My vision of beauty, my radiant shine
More precious to me than the tulips you bring
That opened for me in the sips of my Spring

Your lips are the dells of...

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Pinioned to   my   world of ambivalence.
I cry,
I   sob,
It will   not let go.
In me it rises like the sun.
I   stare still.
Like a burden I  ...

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BEYOND THE SNOWS OF WINTER

You go on ahead, my son,
I’ll catch up with you when the snow reaches the end of winter
You have your life to live and worlds to explore 
Where you are headed...

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Well I don't want to even think about the world today
I'd rather take a little break and make a way to play
When end to ending has no end well then my friend retreat
To find a...

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Daddy's friend, Mr. Baines, was a Yankee man.
Daddy's friend Mr. Mon, was a Dodger Man.
My daddy was heart and soul, a Cardinal man.

During those early years of my childhood, baseball
was clearly the number one sport...

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I thought for this'n I be a dodger,
But the Cap'n told me to hoist the Jolly Roger.

Skull 'n Bones on Black in the air,
Ye know, matey, that I be thar.

Me peg leg be a clompin'...

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A baseball team hard to follow
Failures really tough to swallow
Many problems from stem to stern
Fans' frustration in a slow burn
Managers don't know what to do
To get the Dodgers out of the blues
Too close to Hollywood...

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