Long Pelican Poems

 Translation of Eric Mottram’s Poem 33 in Interrogation Rooms by T. Wignesan

33.  on a vu un homme courir/ de la scène de crime un homme est maintenant en train d’aider/ la police avec...

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Limericks
by Michael R. Burch



Clyde Lied!
by Michael R. Burch

There once was a mockingbird, Clyde,
who bragged of his prowess, but lied.
To his new wife he sighed,
"When again, gentle bride?"
"Nevermore!" bright-eyed Raven replied.



The Platypus
by Michael R. Burch

The platypus,...

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Limericks VII - Naughty, Bawdy, Risque, Absurd

There continue to be modern sequels of the famous "Nantucket" limericks, including this bawdy one of mine:

There was a lewd whore from Nantucket
who intended to pee in a bucket;
but...

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Limericks III - Grab Bag

Being a peace activist, I once wrote a limerick in an attempt to stop needless wars:

Of Tetley’s and V-2's
(or "Why Not to Bomb the Brits")
by Michael R. Burch

The English are very...

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"Ground Level Entry"

“She fits the bill”,
they say it 
insouciantly

visions of being 
carried in the beak 
of a bilious pelican 

where it builds
its rudimentary nest, 
it uses sticks and debris

no stones, yet,
from irreverence
thrown at it

no higher...

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                      I
 Remember when days were long
   and all de children do...

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“Everybody duck, everybody run, and everybody hide. Quickly now. Hurry. IT is happening now. All run run run” In haste the message spoke. Radiating booming voice from the tissue box placed in the middle of...

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I am looking forward to the coming days when the earth will flourish again, the plants will grow, fresh air will flow and visitors will flock to our shores. Our beaches are white and clean...

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I see them lurking around the streets with vicious eyes that are sinking deep; they are hungry for your flesh, and they are walking with blood pumped up in their chest. They have machete and...

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I have invented a nonce nonsense form: the "dabble dactyl." A dabble dactyl starts out like a double dactyl, but forgets the rules and changes horses midstream. Anyone who prefers order to chaos should give...

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The Platypus: Double Limerick
by Michael R. Burch 

The platypus, myopic,
is ungainly, not erotic.
His feet for bed
are over-webbed,
and what of his proboscis?

The platypus, though, is eager
although his means are meager.
His sight is poor;
perhaps he’ll score
with a...

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" A Sense of Humor ... "

( A Satirical Moral )


'Somewhere,  There's A Sense of Humor'
Said The Jack In The Box
'We Keep A Sense of Humor'
Said The Gambler's Tokens At The Slots

'I Don't Like...

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I stand on top of the big board chair looking at you muttering something privately to yourself over there.

 I couldn’t figure out what you were saying, I could only read the message on your...

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To say today has been a strange day would be an understatement. It started off this morning when I went into the den where our eldest cat, Paint, was meowing up a storm. I petted...

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My god, red bra, orange pants, and green socks, I’m making love to a traffic light.

Get on with it.

I can’t, where do I start.

What does it matter?

It matters a lot, if I start with your...

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Inland Empire Prairie Corn Garden of the West Land of Lincoln                        ...

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The morning dew spreads out on the grass adding moisture to the thirsty ground, the birds gather in the treetop flying around in curbs, and circling the interior of the earth. 

They are trying to...

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Funny Story and unfortunately true. When I was in Prison at Pelican Bay State prison in Crescent City, Ca., one of the ways I made money or "cantene"  as it was called was poetry...

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Blueberry Festival In Sioux Lookout

Travel north off the Trans-Canada
On Highway seventy-two,
And cross the Frog Rapid Narrows
Of the English River system
To enter Sioux Lookout,
On Pelican Lake,
‘Hub of the North’
And gateway to Lac Seul.

Legend has it and...

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The pointed ears of a snail can be quite ornate really. Especially if adorned with precious stones as earrings. Buffaloes bulbous brows bear banging bunions. Marvellous. Just marvellous it is to watch the glass moving...

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Show me a place where I can be in a little island far above the sea where the skies touch the hills and transmit a message to my window sill. Show me a place where...

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The bayou sky flies a catfish moon over swamp gators 
And cottonmouth vipers. Accordions, fiddles, and rub board vests 
Make their ramble through the undergrowth hot on the trail
Of a sultry midsummer house party in...

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Have you ever listened to The silence of God? I have 
The tear shaped raindrop as it Plops splattering upon a leaf 
Forming a stream that rushes as a river from source to mouth 
Once...

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The Pelican 
such a comical clown
A stranger bird 
I’ve yet to have found
The longest beak
The  largest mouth
Though not too many
Here to be found
St James’ Park London
Where a trio can be seen
A gift from Russia...

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Walking along the ocean shore
Kicking up the golden sand
I feel the warmth of the rising sun
On the back of my freckled hand  
 
The willet and the sandpiper
Dash into the approaching waves
As the sand...

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