Long Quintains Poems

Sweet Rose of Virtue
by William Dunbar (c. 1460-1530)
loose translation/modernization/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

after William Dunbar

Sweet rose of virtue and of gentleness,
delightful lily of youthful wantonness,
richest in bounty and in beauty clear
and in every virtue that...

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What are words other than coffin nails be?
Who does it belong to when it rails me?
An empty vessel at best that bails thee.

Lend me your ear and draw your heart near;
my words might seer, but...

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The root word for religion is not kind – 
Latin verb that means to tie or to bind – 
as it tends to play tricks on anyone’s mind. 

For some, the edicts lash; they mercilessly...

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Determined to read and plant the seed fast
   to emulate poets of the present and past.
I staked the library display Whitman, Kilmer, Frost, unnamed arrays
   including Sandberg and St. Vincent Millay.
It...

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On a shattered pebble beach my kernel,
becomes this dervish dancing to the maniacal symbol rash tune,
of inchoate monsoon grass beat timpani,
that’s dimly frowned on by sonic virtuoso,
but terms like briny carrageen sea sweep gain purple...

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In youth, I wrote many poems of rhyme,
	quatrains flowing freely on the lines.
Here and there a couplet would unwind
	and on occasion quintains undefined.
As time progressed, I tried my hand
	at Japanese Haiku and tanka you
	but mine...

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Decisions sometime results in failure;
we start analyzing our behavior.
Many times it is really painful.
Regret comes as natural emotion
can't decide what next, completely broken.

With failure we reflect, ponder defects,
know flaws, look for the ways to solve...

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Football, for long a game of kicks, 
To viewers oft of bare fists, bricks,
At times a show of gun,
At others filled with fun,
But now more of kickbacks it reeks.      ...

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Failing to get enough sleep or
getting poor-quality sleep are
resulting to health hazard; it
is known fact, it makes us unfit
to discharge daily acts with cheer.

It's voluntary let’s admit
but unintentional, can’t quit.
Sleep deprivation is seen more
in young...

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Thank you to the PoetrySoup community,
for being really good friends to me...
Thank you for for comments and collaborations,
And for posting awesome poems for all to read!
Ya'know, every word has the power
to change the course of...

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"TWO SYLLABLES WENT MISSING TODAY"
Last seen with commas, running away.
The poet seems distressed and frantic
said it might be a Clerihew's antic.

Or wait, he cried, could be even worse--
hiding away in a single verse!
Or, wooed by...

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Each February brings that special chance,
One day a year to say the words of love,
Without a love to share the wined romance,
Instead I look up to the stars above,
While remembering days when we would dance.

Those...

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A young man leads his girlfriend to a tree
one sultry summer eve as night is looming.
the branches of the old oak form a canopy
under which he leans in for a kiss, assuming
his new love also...

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  "Involved to Evolve"


shattered emotions swallowed your heart and invaded my peaceful space
another romantic escapade eclipsed and then turned sour
deciding to "crash and burn" disrupting family home place
wallowing in quicksand as crumbled dreams did...

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A swarm of whispers kisses my face
Like tender blossoms, a full view;
In morning’s bid, I find thrilled embrace
Through good-bye romps as sunrise debuts
On fragrant petals carousing dew.

My eyes follow his parting tracks on wings
As day...

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Here in the middle of every day,
A peace between the frying bacon strips,
And eggs that are cooked the sunny way,
The brief thought into the heart gently slips,
While sprit dreams surge through fingertips.

The power of light...

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I’ve never been to Sicily, and yet
it’s always felt a part of me.  Who knows?
Another life, another alphabet?
Alongside Archimedes, jotting prose
in Agrigentum I, with each vignette,

imbibing wine, as bitter as regret,
harangued the hellene farmers,...

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The call
sent shivers up my spine
and raised the hairs upon my neck ~
frozen, pondered on what the heck
its owner liked to dine.

A twig
shouted its betrayal,
bending, snapping under pressure,
made my terror that much fresher,
awaiting my assail.

Shadows
passing...

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I am lord of romance, red roses are my game
I like to kiss aplenty, and shower with lace
I bring you your flowers, written in your name
I watch you light up with a smile on your...

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He's never romantic_wooing to him a chore
He's got other things more important to do 
But sex he always wants and still wants more 
When others get his attention, he bids wife adieu 
Always doing for...

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I heard my little bird singing the breeze,
I heard her singing on a breath of air,
The air that slowly moves through forest trees,
The old, oak trees where initials declare,
Declarations made upon love’s high trapeze.

Old memories...

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