Long Plucking Poems

Sappho fragment #155
translation by Michael R. Burch 

A short revealing frock?
It's just my luck
your lips were made to mock!

*

Sappho fragment #156
translation by Michael R. Burch 

She keeps her scents
in a dressing-case.
And her sense?
In some undiscoverable...

Read More

"The Strange Case of F.T."



They say the dead don’t talk
the stories I have calculated
to deliver a saving grace 
confessional shared amongst 
my equal peers, or so I deem 
you somewhat sometimes seem,
less than me, you...

Read More

THE FRIENDS

They were the best of friends to the best of friendship
They did everything together to the best of friendship
The three wise men that came together from different locations
One from the north, one from the...

Read More

I got friggin heebie jeebies

Cuz buzzards circle o'er me
eyeing these lovely bones prithee
id est Roy L. T. Canard, Si
hence impossible mission 
to be lovey dove vee.

Vague remembrances of dream  
which recurred with frequency
transfixed by...

Read More

"Skinwalker"


That one’s mind 
is like a scene from Chagall
dreams flow like blood bleeds
across the cortex page curtain call
an audience with the silent speakeasy 
cerebellum with its swift
matter-of-factness 
logically guides the fingers 
to dance across keys...

Read More

After winning a sweepstakes, I determined to go on a lengthy trip;
And I wanted to tour the mainland, after I had disembarked the ship.

The countryside was quite beautiful, and had myriad charming towns,
Some with the...

Read More

It’s the Thursday morning before valentine’s day. Lisa and I are scrambling to get out of our suite. We share an Organic Biochemistry class and we’re running a hot minute late. As we pulled on...

Read More

Kitchen counters alive; the vivid colors of red, green, purple and yellow glass jars. Your garden flourished.
.
Pickled beets mingle boiled eggs; a pretty periwinkle purple.
.
Yellow and purple tinted fingers; dandelions and elderberries distilling; musty aroma...

Read More

Sebastian looked at the moon, the source of his inspiration. When the Moon appeared in its silvery glory, he was profoundly moved to write. Sadly he could only write during a full moon. This was...

Read More

I was a diligent safety engineer, modifying the hazardous work practices,
Like the thrilling festive celebrations, when you open up pretty packages!

I took my work very seriously, and my motto had long been safety first,
Like waiting...

Read More

“Irish I am,” my mam speaks in hushed tones to the air
She questions still, seeming to her alone
Intones, “Ireland, O Ireland, what are you?
Where do you keep yourself, so I may rediscover you?”
Her speech unknown...

Read More

Variations On A Theme...
of hodgepodge strewn helter skelter
wonky inviting reader to mentally swelter.

Ach'n (ache Ken and burn'n) 
kickstarting existential and proverbial struggle
me species classified as generic muggle
analogous to entertainer 
with namesake of yours truly
starring an...

Read More

Ohh I could have sat with my heart 
--elevated with dribbled echoes-- 
ahhhhhh until it yet exhaled the tarnished seams 
capturing only the quiet current lapping
and soaking dirty steel embankment	
along the river’s edge beneath the...

Read More

Checked by www.howmanysyllables.com>syllable_counter

"Time is the wisest counsellor of all.” Pericles
**************************************************************

                         ...

Read More

Diary Notes: Lamentable laissez-faire

                     …the lêche cul is
back
       ...

Read More

I was an active, vibrant, happy person, and I was captivated by the moon,
In the way that summer lovers, are ofttimes charmed by romantic  tunes.

Since early childhood, I had been enamored, of that limpid,...

Read More

Edna Morris lived in the town of Shadow Fells, in rich green, hilly country,
With doting parents and sister Violet, plucking fruit from their plum tree.

Pretty Edna was twelve years old, but she and Violet played...

Read More

Ruminating vagaries of life May 2nd, 2021

(conceived while in utero
which loosely summarization in toto
of this ordinary Joe Schmoe,
who did wade nine months for a roe
at mercy of obstetricians status quo,

giving me a jump start to...

Read More

The darkness, now descending, floods the city as it dies
while shadows lurk in legions 'neath the looming Evil Eye.
Its frozen stare envelops all, it penetrates and pries,
denouncing loathed dissenters to the keepers in the sky....

Read More

Was it worth
Butchering the butterflies 
We gave each other? 

Were they not 
Pretty enough? 
Or were they just too fragile 
For your unstable world? 

Your world of
Mismatched jigsaw puzzle thoughts 
And drunk high school riddles...

Read More

Many passions I have had
and many I have practiced long and hard.,
but it was not until mid-life, I opted for a hobby more artistic.
I got myself a new guitar with books to teach myself the...

Read More

"Baroque Spring"


Viewed externally
I am the Winter House
Internally I am too too much 
I am eternal Baroque Spring

He watches his 
mirror twin 
and assigns fatal love
to the mind swing

pushing away feelings
logic surely is the burning
answer to...

Read More

Tears for a Mother
Fears for a Father gone
Fate deals an unfair hand
The door to youthful joy closing
on adolescent shoulders imposing
grown up responsibilities instead

Eyes sadly deprived 
See not the panorama
of pursuing cloud shapes
that conceal a frivolous...

Read More

Oh, what a crisp, beautiful morning,
Surely this will be a wonderful day,
For every cloud that we will see
On our way, I’ll wish for a silver lining,
Designed just for you and me.

Adventure was nearing, I felt...

Read More

#BEHIND CLOSED DOORS, OH WHAT WE STORE! SILENTLY ABHOR! TO OUR DETRIMENT, {CHANGE}THAT SHOULDN'T BE IGNORED. DOING NOTHING OR LESS, WHERE PERTINENT, INSTEAD OF MORE!  TURNOUT/BURNOUT...AN UNEVEN SCORE. 

EATING, DRINKING, SMOKING, "YOU NAME IT"...

Read More