Long Roasts Poems

(4.)
As Midnight Hours Call In More Darkened Hosts

Slow flows a river of doubt and regret
foaming its swirling eddies and sad pits
cavernous echoes one can not forget
nor withstand jagged cuts and hardest hits!

As sun retreats and...

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those early attempts at a Mexican food
no store bought cardboard taco shells
she had to prepare her own
the appearance of the tortilla press
the arrival of the tortilla holder
became a beginning to a menagerie of new tools...

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*LETTER TO  MAMA*

Iye omo to r'ewa 
Iya ni iya mi owon
I know you wonder if your  prayers don't ascend to heavens
You keep asking if the promises won't come true
You're beginning to doubt the...

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Author’s Note:
'Christmas in July', which is also known as Yulefest or Yuletide in Australia. July is generally the coldest month of winter, so celebrations emulate the atmosphere of the northern hemisphere winter. So that means...

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Sappho Translations XI by Michael R. Burch


Sappho, fragment 92
translation by Michael R. Burch

“Sappho, if you don’t leave your room,
I swear I’ll never love you again!
Get out of bed, rise and shine on us,
take off your...

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Towards the Horizon

Sitting in a corner, absorbing the incandescent hue,
A malt for company, awaiting a magical cue,
I often wonder, all these years, where were you?
I reflect upon the days which could have been,
I reminiscent our...

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Now Christmas in July seems crazy - I’m sure I hear you say
That has got to be plain silly - but this is the Aussie way
Christmas is in December you insist it’s a well-known fact
But...

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He was only a sheepdog
But his death has bitten 
Into my soul ever since.
As a pup we brought 
Him from his home
In Ireland
Where supernumeraries 
Are drowned
No small   farm needing 
More than one mutt.

His...

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Making up dance routines to the top twenty,                           ...

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Remember when suburban and small town stores were closed Sunday morn?  
Remember when they rolled up the sidewalk at night at nine-thirty or ten?

Remember when the attendant pumped your gas for less than 20...

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“SCENT TO REMIND ME” 

 Favourite fragrances of nature, newness and food  
that gently trigger a memory response
 familiar warm fuzzy feeling of contentment and happiness
link between present day senses and my sub-conscious past

...

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It was her breast I suckled on
Her lap that I gladly sat upon
T'was her who banished all my fears
The one who wiped away my tears

Taught me right from wrong as a lad
Made us a loving...

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Galleries of life, ignorant and tough,
Sometimes as sandarac’s incense, usually morose.
I erase bluntness that grew a cravat around my heart,
Abominable inheritance riveted into the soul of farce,
But there is nothing more valued in life than...

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Back in the eighties, wild and free..
A golden time for you and me.  
We'd ride our bikes through streets unknown.. 
No screens, no apps.. just flesh and bone.  

Vinyl spun and cassettes played...

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That's When Innocence Ceased To Be

Frilly dresses decorated with flowers
Giggles that could melt the coldest heart
Good night tickles and hugs and kisses
Crayon colored pages of revealing art
Displayed proudly on the fridge door
Near the height measuring...

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I tell you this weather
Could almost turn skin to leather
For quite some time one thing we've missed
Is those lasses hashtagging #sunkissed 
By the beach making toasts
While tearing up some roasts
Adding another one of #cheerstothegoodlife 
While...

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(Spiro T. Agnew Looks In A Mirror)

Tea party’s lasting epitaph
The “walking dead” today
Reactionary to the core, 
At home, at work, at play,

All Muslims truly terrorists
Might strike next in my town,
Why try to hide your racist...

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She's a girl with fashion and passion 
Full of life and adventure
She loves her shoes and bags
She loves her custom jewelries 
She loves to accessorize her outfits 
She loves jumpsuits and long dresses, they shape...

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There's a chill in the mornin' air as autumn in Vermont unfolds.
Splendor is revealed as trees assume their cloaks of reds and golds!
Fodder shocks gleam in the risin' sun and 'punkins' sport a tinge of...

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Her hair, blonde, is twisted in the wind.
The whipping strands are the colors
of the shinning cropland 

by which she is standing. She is alone 
by this golden feed that is bounteous; wholesome as breast milk,...

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How can it be that autumn so soon again is stealthily approaching,
With its pleasing sounds, scents and varied hues steadily encroaching!
The bouquets of summer have faded and their petals they have shed,
Now, the maple and...

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A brilliant harvest moon hangs beneath the ebon Colorado sky.
Scudding clouds dare not darken its lustrous glow - tho' they often try!
Silhouetted against the moon are geese winging to warmer destinations,
Mysteriously guided by That Master...

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The month of October is a most delightful time of the year.
Though skies at times may be gray and the weather drear,
It proffers so many splendid opportunities for our delight,
Like the glowing hunter's moon casting...

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As Dawn Weeps Its New Fall

To the old fallen barn 
where fine horses once stayed
Life spins its never ending yarn
through an old vanishing parade.

Within your rotting boards
termites eat long dead trees
Life existing in massive hordes
busy...

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The cry 
                      of a wailing  
      ...

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