Long Harnessed Poems

"The Payload" 

The payload 
came crashing down
like rain expelled
from the fat belly 
of a ruinous pregnant cloud 
bilious with buxom promise

it came crashing down 
like school fish released 
from the tight confines
of a course rope...

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Each of the new deer adjusted quickly to the pace of the ones they had been paired with, and the sleigh tracked smooth and true.  The effects of the extra four deer were easily...

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A Place Not Meant To Be
           
PART: I            (810 of 1487 words)

#1: A Day...

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’Twas the night before Christmas Eve and it started to snow
And a raw bone chilling north wind was starting to blow
Mrs Claus and Santa were relaxing with a glass of mulled wine
Santa said, "I hope...

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We have been observing the expanse of the parched land for many years, a land that stood the test of time and captivated by myriad dreams unfolding through the footsteps of the ages thus penetrating...

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The experience of leaving the ground was a sensation that she could never have imagined.  Her stomach felt strange and at first she felt light headed, but that subsided in a short while. ...

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I awoke early that morning

to an unfamiliar familiar sound.

I rose from the bed with cacophonous singing

ringing in my ears, separated the curtains

with the breast stroke of an Olympic swimmer,

and opened the blinds to the on...

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A ramble in a bramble kisses a shoe horn in a window box

Having deciphered which tunes and vibrations cause reactions it was time to make everything the same really. Shame it was that day for...

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From the age of three, I do remember,
The kitchen window, in mid December.
My grandma and grandad, would let me stand,
By the window to view, a garden so grand.

In December I’d see, a blanket of white,
As...

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In the copper-clad cradle of time
where gears whir fugues to forgotten dreams.....
the fog—a somnolent specter—drifts.....
veiling the calculus of progress
a manuscript etched by steam and soot.

Hark The hiss of pistons proclaims
a triumph—or perhaps a dirge—
for we...

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My love for you
is beyond prophecy or endowment
and lay before you a love letter from the heart
beneath the moonlight's glow
where our eyes find a silent understanding
that embraces each passionate emotion
swirling and entwined in the depth...

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'Twas the night before Christmas and all were asleep,
Not a creature was stirring, not even a sheep.
The cattle were snoozing, the pigs were at rest
And the chickens were settled asleep on the nest.

Apart from some...

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I've always admired 
horses
and I guess I most surely 
always will
No legend without em' 
complete
The unsung heroes of 
any heroic battle

Pony, colt, filly or mare
ride it bareback if you 
dare

Ride them to a trot, ride...

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glanced at one last rose in my garden!           
                      ...

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What is social complexity?
asks and answers  Robert Wright
which also reads just as right as
What is regenerative density?
to me
and perhaps to Bucky Fuller,
and then again Gregory Bateson's 
What is sacred ecology?
comes to reweave Laotse's
What is...

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"The Cost of War through Peace"

She had spent 
some elaborate 
time 
with snakes,

learning
their ways,
yet in the very 
back of her mind,

in her memories,
she remembered
the stories told
long ago,
the sleepy songs sung;

curiously,
they were always
delivered in the dark,
as...

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I sit and stare at the skies hoping an
infusion will change my snares of
confusion. Deep down our hearts we all
yearn for positivity in all aspects of our
lives. It is not a walk in the park...

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Ares
by Hesiod
translation by Michael R. Burch

Ares, exceeding all men in manliness, bronze-harnessed charioteer, golden-helmed gladiator, strong-armed spear-hurler, dauntless shield-bearer, courageous of heart, father of warlike Victory, able ally of Themis and Divine Law, dauntless defender...

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In the quiet corridors of my mind, where thoughts flow like rivers through ancient valleys,
I ponder the nature of wars and the battles fought not for land, but for the dominion of words.
Language, the most...

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My love for you
is beyond prophecy or endowment
and lay before you a love letter from the heart
beneath the moonlight's glow
where our eyes find a silent understanding
that embraces each passionate emotion
swirling and entwined in the depth...

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Odyssey from Africa, Chapter 11 (d) cont...

Thus the boarding of the parties 
Was a speedy operation 
Very soon the whole flotilla
Sailed toward the open ocean

This wide bay from which the ships set
Sail is called the...

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The Seed of God

First there was only the void,
A deep well of nothing. 
And it came to pass that deep within the void, there was a great explosion, 
And that explosion was a primal scream....

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Earth crosses her heart at midnight
Shaking loose dust upon battered edge
Scorn mocks the piercing night as daylight 
Moves swiftly with open jaws waiting for a fight.

I can recall the days when she was in full...

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When I was young, I would mock the raven,
Never dreaming her harsh call was a cry
Across the water to the castle of her brother
King Bram, the Raven, ruler of the British Isles.
Never did I dream...

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Sappho Translations IV by Michael R. Burch

Sappho, fragment 133
translation by Michael R. Burch

Blushing bride, brimful of rose-petaled love,
brightest jewel of the Goddess of Paphos,
come to the bridal bed,
tenderly entice your bridegroom.
May Hesperus lead you starry-eyed
to...

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