Long Greyhound Poems

Doggerel II: Doggerel about Doggerel, or, More Nonsense Verse

The Board
by Michael R. Burch

Accessible rhyme is never good.
The penalty is understood:
soft titters from dark board rooms where
the businessmen paste on their hair
and, Walter Mitties, woo the...

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Dog Daze
by Michael R. Burch

Sweet Oz is a soulful snuggler;
he really is one of the best.
Sometimes in bed
he snuggles my head,
though he mostly just plops on my chest.

I think Oz was made to love
from the...

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My Daughter

My beautiful Daughter, walks life’s paths alone,
She does so, by design – not of hers – on her own.
She travels heavily !, from place to empty space,
from space to vacant place – in what...

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On the plane I meditated or at least I tried to.  Most of the time I get a seat to myself.  These days it’s just a ****ing Greyhound in the sky.  I...

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Here we are fans this fine summer day,
to watch Trash Can Cats, versus Downtown Stray.
The field is grand in this deep wooded glen,
pitchers are warming up in the bull pen.

Pitching for the Cats is Crazy...

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Pittsburgh, hammertown, Chuck Knoll and his boys
established the best Superbowl Era dynasty
with the "Steel Curtain" defense and the "Blonde Bomber" Bradshaw,
a defense disciplined on shrapnel and elite ego,
"Mean Joe Greene" and Jack Lambert, a compulsive...

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Sometimes everything seems fake to me, and I am so tired of people acting like they remember what love is. 
Everyone says it. 
“I love you, I love you, I love you.” 
No words are...

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Jessica Casey the punters dream- Sequel to Shy Julie 

They came from near - they came from far
Bus ferry and train and some by car
THE GOLDEN EGG GRAND FINAL
One greyhound in mind
Jessica Casey -The Select...

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Ballaraat’s known for its bounty of gold,
and the days of Eureka Stockade,
plus winning horses, on racing courses,
where flanks of the horses are flayed.

And the offer of prize is a bountiful one,
for a winner that’s greeting...

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Innocent Love
The 10th grade-I was hurt, had a lot of pain I wore, thought that everyone could see it on my shirt, I felt incomplete, tried to be neat and do all the things I...

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It was in late October in the year nineteen seventy three
That the war in South Vietnam was finally over for me
I boarded the seven o seven and couldn't wait to get going
A non military plane,...

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Father Daughter Dance

He told her “don't you worry”, but he'd be a little late.
He promised when he made it home he would take her on a date.
She squealed in her excitement, soon they would be...

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April 30 In Search of America 1975 – Hitch hiking Tales

When I was young and foolish
Broke and stubborn 
I hitchhiked across the USA 

Started in Salt Lake City 
Where my greyhound bus pass 
Was stolen...

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Sitting on a rusted blue bench the sun blew down on me a cool 
     green and yellow as the afternoon tucked me into 
     bed, ...

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the Bus – Travels Through America’s Underbelly

I am a bus rider
That makes me unusual
For a white male 
From an upper middle class family

Our people are not bus riders
Though some are subway riders

Bus riders are other...

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“The Big Blues and Baptismal Alice”



In the land of the dirty politician
Steely resolve was borne bidding
farewell to thinly veiled conceit and division
that particular brand of milk had long in the tooth turned sour
in her red-hot...

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I once traveled around the U. S. on a Greyhound bus,
My wife thought I was crazy, but she made little fuss,
It was, by far, the most awesome adventure I ever took
Three changes of clothes, lots...

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do you remember this place by the ocean?
these coastal mornings with their Arena air
the wind from the crab dock almost strong enough 
to be swept away,
running from growling raccoons
randomly reading names on boats-

The way I...

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The Doberman Pinscher

A Doberman’s known to be picky
With friends so to greet one is tricky
To kiss is a bummer
Undoubtedly dumber
Is to sneak up and give one a hickey

The English Setter

The reason we call them a...

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"The Right Eye Removed"



intuition guides a feline mind
to feel vain glorious 
in the poetry of dreams
stretching limits of awareness
velvet pawed 
a burnt orange 
bittersweet marmalade coat
delicious to kiss 
the point between 
the ears that listen...

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In the quiet twilight, we gather here today,  
To honor my dad, remember him, and pray.  
From the promised land, he flew with no regret,  
To the fifties U.S., a different mindset.

In...

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My heart torn apart by a love gone south, poorly taped together with blow and green,
Methaqualone was the only spackle of my survival

Lori was smart to leave, for her own safety, health and welfare, the...

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The thought of Parades, Fireworks, and everything in between from Macy’s Herald Square. It was the capturing moment of the heart by a Five Year Old boy being the writer. I was a member of...

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I have traveled the world over but like the United States best
From Maine to California, north and south, east, and west.
Born in West Virginia, I live in the Commonwealth of Kentucky
Have visited Vermont, New Hampshire...

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(presumably still alive
predicated on rumored sightings dive
ving fast as blazing saddles, 
     her blitzkrieg, 
     nothing but a blurry beehive.)

Swifter than Usain
     (lightening)...

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