Long Preened Poems

Poems about Flight, Flying, and Birds (I)



Flight
by Michael R. Burch

It is the nature of loveliness to vanish
as hummingbird wings, batting against nothingness
seek transcendence...



Southern Icarus
by Michael R. Burch

Windborne, lover of heights,
unspooled from the truck’s wildly lurching...

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Won’t you please take me back
To the brown couch at my Gramma’s house 
With the big gold-framed antique mirror over it
And hand me Grampa’s old transistor radio
Covered in leather with glorious knobs
That brought me the...

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All my life I had loved music, and rapturous harmonies thrilled my soul,
As the sound of a wild driving beat, causes eager feet to take control.

As a longtime concert pianist, I'd been fortunate to follow...

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It was jazzy June and green butterflies, filled the air with magic.
Then butterscotch days were long, until the purple sunset panic.

Sunny June, when music festivals, were staged in shady parks;
While in treetops purple martins, warbled...

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I was a whimsical, interior designer, bringing colors and joy into living spaces,
Subtly changing neighborhoods and lives, like vibrant arcs the rainbow traces.

People were as dissimilar as their houses, the both of them rather fascinating,
Like...

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What mountain’s top holds truth’s last stand,
 its vista viewed as life’s specific grandeur;
 promised above earth’s horizon,
 soon home to you, this present era’s raconteur;
 prized perch upon and soon so manned,
 spirits to...

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You wrap yourself 
in the feather boa fantasy of his dreams
sinuous you; X-rated and never sated
dancing to rock ‘n roll— 80’s dated

welcome to the conjugal jungle 
of not-so-rusted lust
sixty-something-shapely
your 25th anniversary groom
growls a naughty thought
“you...

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The Monarch Who Thought He Was King

Once there was a butterfly
	who fluttered by a gate. 
The gate was closed, that’s when he said, 
	“O shucks, now I’ll be late!” 
He danced and pranced and shouted...

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Once upon a time...

Once upon a time, in France, a storyteller fella
Wrote of a girl named Cinderella,
Meant as a fairy tale romance.
Her daddy died when she was young, and she was forced to share his...

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A warm sultry summers night, a silver crystal formed in
the corner of an eye. Trickled and rolled a gentle cheek,
fell to earth where all was dry. Whence it touched the 
ground did speak, an Orchid...

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* This one is for my Mommy, her Mommy ETC- the lucky ones.


Nourishment- encouragement.

Minister of all heart's treasure
Donor of the kindest pleasure 
Infinite love, no measure
Powerful embraces, your leisure.
 
Sublime being, forever proud
Never shallow, nor...

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Ode To Pretty Cat

My cat has female inclinations when it purrs
It does not speak in English using words
But has a perfect soul
Pretty Cat gets by, with its billowy fur

Prefers not fighting and takes flight
At any...

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The many winters I had seen
When  once I was a teen
Gathered inside our small living room
Joy and simplicity our faces illume
Warm with laughter at striking stories
Light is the heart and empty of worries
My sisters...

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In a night,
my flight turned into a storm.
Both rocky and calm,
Full of gusts and minor debris.

Rain pelted me,
The thunder struck behind me,
The wind chilled my body,
I am all alone.

My nest is gone.
My family is gone;
The...

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There’d better be something, or what’s it all for?
I’ve preened my importance, reached my high rank,
Aspired to heights, while many men sank.
All of it, just to be kicked out the door?

“It’s there in plain sight”...

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For only a penny you can buy two sparrows, yet not one sparrow falls to the ground without your Father's consent. (Matthew 10: 29)

I was a little sparrow
Perched on a little ledge
I warbled out my...

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tell another lie tonight,
the shadows around her commanded.
the vanity lights accentuated her crimson red lips.
she pursed them and added a final touch of shimmer on her cheekbones.
she dressed herself in sultry, black leather,
and boots that...

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I

An ode to the courageous hummingbird
The tiniest bird, but bravest of all
He flits about without saying a word,
When most unexpected he comes to call
Fluttering gossamer wings rapidly,
He graces the feeder in an instant
While hovering in...

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Every afternoon she picks up her pen
then and only then dose her emotions
bend, they bend to connect with her pen
her emotions descend to her pen, her
honesty and truth her beauty and vibrant
youth sheds on paper...

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LOVE IN POST WORLD WAR 11
3rd and final episode of trilogy

My Grandfather was incredibly anglicised
Studied in London and qualified as an optician
My mother learnt English at school,
She was my Grandfather’s jewel!
He arranged a huge party...

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You possess me with those eyes of pyromania
a tidal wave of temptation thrashing into my need for euphoria
romanticized on appetite for agile reckoning of kiss ravishing, harnessing my hysteria,
plumed with lashes lent from love's wings,...

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You possess me with those eyes of pyromania
a tidal wave of temptation thrashing into my need for euphoria
romanticized on appetite for agile reckoning of kiss ravishing, harnessing my hysteria,
plumed with lashes lent from love's wings,...

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In to the future times, eons from now
My friends and I in newest time machine
We flew to reach a world, enchanting! Wow!
With rose thickets, meadows and lofty pines

No heat; no Sun, in there; a lone...

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Once in Hong Kong I sang a song
Chong ‘n Wong pulled along
Choir it became strong
Lifelong those throngs now belong

Once I was assigned to refine a mime
I pined to realign the divine design
Couldn’t shine it brine...

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Summer spring bright colors, smells, flowers blooming welcome feast
Amongst these bees so irresistibly attracted to sugary nectar 
A thought occurs to me, to see these little buzzing specters 
What kind of journey , these perfect...

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