Long Gruffly Poems

“Forever”



When The Terrors came,
The Uncontrollable Ones,
she closed her eyes
and listened for the notes
her mother had planted
amongst the deep blues,
beds of Forget-Me-Nots,
she followed the 
labyrinthine trail 
and through a gate unhinged,
it would seem destroyed, thrown aside,
she...

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     We sat at the end of the bar in a seedy place on Seventh street.  Nursing our drinks, we both had a bit too much that night.  My...

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Green eggs, Spam and grits
Sam and Pam had their fill,
Then made their way to Main Street
Down WhoDat’s Whatsup Hill.

Waived "Hi!" to their neighbors
To show them that they cared.
All smiled except two who
Just stood there and...

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The enchanted forest- what a sight! 
With glorious rays of the dim sun,
 Shining through the peaks of the wise old trees.
With massive faces carved in the rough bark, close to the shiny multicolored leaves.

Whisking...

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DynDoeth took over the conversation,
     “Now you know the story of your father.  I am sorry for putting this off for so long.  I simply did not know how...

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I.
Luther Deits was a good friend of whiskey,
not fond of cutting herds or pushing plows,
a young buck full of juice, barely twenty,
he lived only for the thrill of the now.

His home, a town in the...

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Such a devious plan we concocted one day. 
Kind of mischievous in an ornery way. 
The goal was to throw an innocent curve, 
knock people off the routine that they serve.

We showed up early to...

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How offensive that must’ve felt!
I’m seated after having said this in bewailment like an ox
Not thinking of the grandeur but of her buttocks
Gloriously, as an ambler, I lift the embargo on this thought
Not letting myself...

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He told me without so much as a flutter of the eye that he was on the river by all accounts alone.Picking and eating the dew berries growing along the fence row that bordered the...

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The black wall reflected my white-washed skin 
and disheveled jacket, above the chattering din...
Loosly lopsided glasses hang limply on my face,
Cold, dark, black, they somehow seemed to fit this place. 
The smooth memorial seemed to...

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We sit in the forest, admiring the trees, my dog and I.
The roosters behind us are in full racket form.
A dog barks, gruffly and hoarsely.
My dog does not look up.

I have stacked the pile high
Every...

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I, Too, Sing America (and did so in my diapers!)
by Michael R. Burch

I, too, served my country,
first as a tyke, then as a toddler, later as a rambunctious boy,
growing up on military bases around the...

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Spartan

Some men are born to play, 
and some… are not.
To them life is without common joy,
at least the kind others partake. 
But it is instead more tempered with
the metal of red blood;
courage, bravery, loyalty, tenacity!

Laughter...

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We have Cousins Camp in Kansas City in the summer.
Any grandchildren who cannot come, says, “That’s a bummer!”

One year I let four of the bigs fill a garbage can up with water.
Each jumped in their...

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An Ogre is mean, an Ogre is ugly
An Ogre is smelly, grumpy and gruffly.
They are so big they can block out the sun
If you ever do hear one it's better to run.

Some want to eat...

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Black balloons on the gate,
The sky so dark and cloudy. 
Dad hadn’t wanted us out late,
But we begged quite loudly.

“Trick or treat,” we spouted, 
The words just an expression,
We had never doubted, 
It wasn’t a...

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Delicate, fragile 
secreted away beneath your beautiful bract
always hiding from the world
you live in a dream shared only by you
alone, lonely
but better alone then afraid
better alone then dejected 
better alone then hurt
shrouded in your cloak...

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I became Debra Joan at the age of six
Formerly known as Debbi Jo
Up until then that's what I'd know
Something my new parents thought they'd fix

Adopted then and a bit confused
I wasn't quite sure of who...

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A short Note for You  
This is a little missive written in some haste as we have 
to go back to hospital for more tests. Only you could get 
me there and wait 4...

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glib glassy green-eyed gruesome ghoulish goblins grabbing gloriously
glitzy glimmers of gourmet garnish.  Giants give garbled ghosts gruff
growls.  Gargantuous groups of glamorous gargoyles give greeters
goopy green gravy.  Garbanzos grab globs of giant gamblling...

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There once was a poet who screeched like a monkey
Belligerent cuss and stubborn as a donkey
Was quite disputatious
Boringly vexatious
In fact, I'd be inclined to label him a bit wonky

Others have mentioned he's much too bodacious
Unyielding...

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